Ruling on the use of state tools for personal purposes
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What is the ruling on using state vehicles for personal purposes?
Using state vehicles and other state-owned tools, such as cameras, printing machines, and the like, is not permissible for private personal purposes; this is because these are for public interests. If a person uses them for his private needs, he commits a transgression against the general public; because he has appropriated the thing to the exclusion of others. The thing that is common to the Muslims in general is not permissible for anyone to appropriate to himself.And the evidence for that is: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade ghalul,Meaning: which is for a person to appropriate for himself something from the war spoils; because this is common property. It is obligatory for one who sees a person using government tools or government vehicles for his personal purposes to advise him and explain to him that this is forbidden. If Allah the Exalted guides him, that is what is required. If not, let him report him; because this falls under the category of cooperating in righteousness and piety. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: “Help your brother whether he is oppressor or oppressed.”They said: O Messenger of Allah! How does one help the oppressed?He said: By preventing him from oppression, and that is how you help him, or that is how he is helped.
The questioner: And if his boss is satisfied with this, is there any harm?The Shaykh: Even if the boss is satisfied with this, the boss himself does not own this thing, so how can he have the right to permit it to others?Question: We have a military zone in the Eastern Region. In this zone, there is housing specifically for employees, and there are offices in the work area. A change in the office furniture, such as curtains and the like, took place. Some employees took these curtains and put them in their homes. They asked some scholars of knowledge,So he said: “Since you moved them from the office to the house, and all of it belongs to the state, I do not see any harm in that. What is your opinion, O honorable one, on that?”Answer: If the housing belongs to the state, and these curtains will be benefited from by a person privately, and the state is not obligated to provide these curtains, then this is prohibited. However, if the state is obligated to provide these curtains,Meaning: such that it is not possible to reside and be comfortable without these curtains, but there was a deficiency on the part of the state, or there is no budget item for curtains, and it is customary that curtains should be in the house, then in that case we say: there is nothing wrong with that, on the condition that the first building; the office building, is without need for them.
Using state vehicles and other state-owned tools, such as cameras, printing machines, and the like, is not permissible for private personal purposes; this is because these are for public interests. If a person uses them for his private needs, he commits a transgression against the general public; because he has appropriated the thing to the exclusion of others. The thing that is common to the Muslims in general is not permissible for anyone to appropriate to himself.And the evidence for that is: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade ghalul,Meaning: which is for a person to appropriate for himself something from the war spoils; because this is common property. It is obligatory for one who sees a person using government tools or government vehicles for his personal purposes to advise him and explain to him that this is forbidden. If Allah the Exalted guides him, that is what is required. If not, let him report him; because this falls under the category of cooperating in righteousness and piety. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: “Help your brother whether he is oppressor or oppressed.”They said: O Messenger of Allah! How does one help the oppressed?He said: By preventing him from oppression, and that is how you help him, or that is how he is helped.
The questioner: And if his boss is satisfied with this, is there any harm?The Shaykh: Even if the boss is satisfied with this, the boss himself does not own this thing, so how can he have the right to permit it to others?Question: We have a military zone in the Eastern Region. In this zone, there is housing specifically for employees, and there are offices in the work area. A change in the office furniture, such as curtains and the like, took place. Some employees took these curtains and put them in their homes. They asked some scholars of knowledge,So he said: “Since you moved them from the office to the house, and all of it belongs to the state, I do not see any harm in that. What is your opinion, O honorable one, on that?”Answer: If the housing belongs to the state, and these curtains will be benefited from by a person privately, and the state is not obligated to provide these curtains, then this is prohibited. However, if the state is obligated to provide these curtains,Meaning: such that it is not possible to reside and be comfortable without these curtains, but there was a deficiency on the part of the state, or there is no budget item for curtains, and it is customary that curtains should be in the house, then in that case we say: there is nothing wrong with that, on the condition that the first building; the office building, is without need for them.