Summary Mufti said that such a violation of traffic-law is a "major sin," , relating it to a Quranic verse.
RIYADH (Dunya News) -- Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti Abdulaziz al-Shaikh termed violation of traffic signals as ‘haram’ and ‘great sin’, an Arabic news channel reported on Monday.
According to reports, Grand Mufti reiterated his fatwa (religious decree), ruling that drivers who cross red signals commit an act that is not only violation of law, but also a major sin according to Islamic jurisprudence.
Grand Mufti is the senior most religious authority seat in Saudi Arabia, the spiritual home for Muslims worldwide.
Mufti said that such a violation of traffic-law is a “major sin,” , relating it to a Quranic verse which says “if you kill one person unjustly it is as if you killed the whole humanity, and if you saved once person it is as if you saved the whole humanity.”
This is not the first time the Saudi cleric has brought the subject into religious ruling. In 2010, Grand Mufti reportedly issued a similar verdict, saying the person who caused the death of another person because of such a traffic violation is guilty of involuntary man-slaughter.
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of car accidents in the world with an average of 17 fatalities a day, according to recent reports.
Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate for traffic said in its 2010 report that almost a third of traffic accidents in the Saudi capital Riyadh were due to drivers violating traffic signals.
