Respecting traffic rules

9-12-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

What is the Islamic directive regarding driving above the speed limit? I am asking this question because many people who go for Umrah by Car, drive at 160 or 170 km/hr. Is it lawful?

---

Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Traffic rules are established to control the traffic and to protect people from accidents. Most likely, the violation of these rules results in severe accidents that cause much harm to the one who overlooked the rules or to other people involved in the accident.
Moreover, it is impossible to leave people on their own choices since they will never agree upon a common rule.
Therefore, we conclude that taking into consideration the public interest and benefit is more appropriate than respecting suspected personal advantage. Based on this rule we say that it is compulsory to follow the traffic rules especially, the rules of speed, signals and the like that could cause harms.
Allah knows best.