Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
In my current job I can only have a maximum of 3 weeks holiday at once. I have booked this holiday for March – I’m going abroad with my family. My Uncle has booked 4 weeks holiday and my parents want me to come back to England with him. It would be easy for me to tell my company that I am sick and in effect get 4 weeks holiday. I’m aware that this is lying but my boss treats me very badly, my parents are concerned that I won’t be able to get home safely by myself and I don’t know when the next chance I’ll get to go on holiday with them will be. I need to decide quickly because I need to book plane tickets.
Walaikum assalam,
1. Lying and deception are two things that no true Muslim can be acceptably characterized by.
Imam Ahmad related that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The believer could be characterized by all traits except lying and deception.” [Ahmad, and Tabarani, Bayhaqi, and Abu Ya`la with similar wording]
As such, it would not be permitted to claim that you are “sick” when you are not. If you do so, the scholars explain that:
a) it would be sinful, because of the lying, deception, and breach of contract entailed;
b) the money earned for that week period would be considered unlawfully earned money and obligatory to get rid of, unless you are able to inform your company and they ‘excuse’ you from this. [See attached answers for how to do this.]
Walaikum assalam,
Faraz Rabbani.