We are a group of employees working at one the government departments. The official working hours start from 7.30am to 1.45pm. We give our cards to the responsible employee and we knock off approximately ten minutes before the official time of going home because of traffic congestion and also some workers would want to take their children from schools. The responsible employee then stamps the cards at the official time of knocking off. What is the ruling on this? (الانصراف قبل نهاية الدوام (العمل الوظيف

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.

To proceed:

This is not permissible because it involves lying which was prohibited by the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) and unanimity of the scholars. Moreover it is not permissible because it involves deception and not doing what you were entrusted with, whereas Allah the Exalted instructed us to fulfill our obligations as stated in the verse: “O you who believe! Fulfill (your) obligations.” [al-Maaidah: 1]. Knocking off before the agreed time involves disobeying the commandment of  Allah the Exalted, so I advise you to fear Allah and not to look at many people who disobey the commandments of Allah and you should also adhere to the saying of Allah: “O You who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in Words and deeds).” [al-Taubah:. 

Your brother,

Dr. Khalid al-Mosleh

9 / 6 / 1424 AH