Photo: Jinnah Ali (left) receives gift of mug from Takaaful President, Aziz Mohammed.

On July 2nd 2009, Takaaful T&T Friendly Society registered its one thousandth member. To mark this milestone, Jinnah Ali, a retired teacher of Hillview College, was presented with a special commemorative mug presented to him by Takaaful President Aziz Mohammed when he became the society’s 1000th member.

Registered in 1999, the Society is aspiring to be the largest Friendly Society in T&T. Now in its eleventh year of operation, the Society already ranks among the ten (10) largest Friendly Societies in the country.

Friendly Societies are voluntary mutual-aid organisations that offer a wide range of products and services to their members. They are also described as “mutual insurance societies” in which members subscribe for provident benefits - in particular sickness, death, dental, optical, and distress. Like co-operatives, Friendly Societies are owned and managed by their members for their benefit.

Friendly Societies had their origins in the burial societies of ancient Greek and Roman artisans. In the Middle Ages (5th - 15th century) the guilds of Europe extended the idea of mutual assistance to other circumstances of distress such as illness. During the 17th and 18th centuries they arose in Britain and were most numerous in the 19th century. They spread throughout the British Empire (1500s - 1900s) as its colonies - and subsequently independent nations - adopted and adapted British legal, judicial, political and economic systems.

According to the Bye-Laws of Takaaful T&T, it operates in accordance with the Act and Regulations governing Friendly Societies in T&T and Islamic Shariah. The society steers clear of interest-related transactions and any type of dealings that are in contradiction with Islam.

Among the major objectives of Takaaful T&T are the encouragement and development of the spirit and practice of thrift, self-help and co-operation, and the promotion of the social, economic and cultural welfare of its members. 

Although Friendly Societies were introduced in T&T in the 1840s, Takaaful T&T is the first attempt by Muslims in T&T to establish a formal society to cater for some of their insurance type needs in accordance with Islamic Law. Like other Friendly Societies in T&T, the Society offers a Funeral Benefit Scheme, a micro-insurance product, to its members and aims to insure all the poor and needy Muslims in T&T.