Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
We understand that driving over the speed limit is breaking the civil law, and therefore, shariah will also prohibit it, thus it would be a sin to go behind the speed limit. However, my question is regarding driving slightly over the speed limit (e.g.. plus or minus 10 miles/hr): this being considered a normal custom/practice both from the view of public and the traffic departments. Would this aforementioned practice be considered permissible by Shariah?
Walaikum assalam,
I asked Shaykh Mahmoud about this, and he explained that often there are legal limits but there is a certain amount beyond this limit that is known by everyone to be an acceptable overstepping of the limits. This extent is not effectively considered to be disobeying the law of the land.’
He used the very example of the 100 km/hr speed limit: in most countries, it is known that the police will not object to someone driving 5 to 10 km above this limit. However, more than this enters a grey zone, and something well above this would be a clear offence.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani