The debate comes following a recent decision to nearly double the cost of a traffic ticket if the violator doesn’t pay the fine by a certain date. The move spurred a fatwa by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh who said increasing the cost of a ticket over time is “a form of riba (usury),” which is prohibited in Islam.
“The practice of enhancing traffic fines is a form of riba because the fine in this case is like a loan that has to be repaid in a particular time,” Al-Asheikh said in a recent interview on Al Arabiya.
“If it is not repaid within the stipulated time you have to pay an extra amount. That is riba.” But Sheikh Abdul Muhsen Al-Obekan, a Royal Court adviser and Shoura Council member, disagrees.
“The fatwa is not based on the fundamental principles of Shariah because riba is basically a commutative contract between two parties while a traffic fine is a monetary punishment,” he was quoted as saying recently in the Arabic press.
Al-Obekan cited Muslim scholars of the past who have approved compounding fines. For instance, he said Ibn Taimiyah, a widely respected Muslim scholar of the 13th century, quoted a Saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), that half of the property of anyone who refused to pay Zakah could be seized, to support the concept of financial punishments. In other words, not paying Zakah was punished through seizure of assets worth more than the value of the unpaid tax.
On the other hand, Al-Obekan expressed concern the near-doubling of the fine is excessive and would be a greater burden on the poor. He has called on officials to consider a lower late penalty.
Director General of Traffic Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Al-Ajlan said the Traffic Department has no authority to make this change, because “its role is to execute regulations enacted by the Shoura Council and approved by the higher authorities. We do not make laws, we just execute them.”
Falih Al-Harbi, a Saudi who lives and drives in Jeddah, said he felt the late penalty was excessive, considering other increases in the cost of living experienced in the Kingdom. “The new fine system has come on top of the rapidly rising prices of food and other essential materials,” he told Arab News. “It is illogical to fine a driver SR1,000 when he makes SR900 a month.”
