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Fatwa CenterIt is permissible for you to avoid this trial
Question
I have been arrested by the police in canada for putting accidentally a fire to the house of a person. The person forgave me but they still want to prosecute me for causing damages to his house. They will prosecute me according to man-made laws. Is it permissible for me to attend the hearing or should go into hiding or flee the country. I want to know because people are saying that it would be kufr to attend the hearing and that it is not darura.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
If the case is as you mentioned that the owner of the house forgave you and renounced his right, you will be free from liability and it is not the right of any authority to prosecute you. So, try your best to avoid this trial, but you should be smart lest you do something which puts you in a critical situation or entails harm on you, and thus the problem would worsen.
On the other hand, it is not permissible for the Muslim to resort to manmade laws. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to Taghoot (false deities), while they were commanded to reject it.}[Quran 4:60]
However, in case there is no Islamic courts and resorting to manmade laws has become the only way to get your right or ward off harm, then it will be permissible for you to resort to them because Muslim jurists stated that if justice does not exist, semi-justice is established instead.
Finally, we remind you that staying in these countries is not free from dangers for the Muslim in general, so the Muslim who does not have any considerable necessity or need to remain there has to immigrate to another Muslim country. For further information, see Fatwa 86405.
Allaah Knows best.
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