However, making good and having an organised life is not an easy task that can be achieved in the twinkling of an eye as most people simply think. Of course, it requires from the individual a lot of sacrifices, endeavours, mutual understanding, patience and many other attributes that would make people tolerate each other and socialise with one another with compassion and open-mindedness.
During his time as Khalifa, Umar bn Khattab (RA) once said, “If a goat tripped on the road, I would be afraid that Allah would ask me, ‘Why you didn’t you pave the road for her, O Umar!’”
This shows that in Islam the rules and regulations governing traffic are of paramount importance in organizing people’s activities on the roads. And observing such traffic rules would protect the lives of the drivers, passengers, and other road users and even the road.
A provision, which legally accommodates such newly coined and enacted regulations and other innovations, is provided in the Shari’a.
This is because any harmless rule that regulates human activities and brings them peaceful social order is allowed, especially if it is gallant enough for everybody to identify its ‘immediate’ positive effects like the traffic laws. Allah has said, “Do not indulge yourselves into destruction. And do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good.” (Q2:95). He also said, “Do not kill yourselves. Indeed, Allah is to you ever merciful.” (Q4:29). Hence, it is worthy and accepted by the unanimity of contemporary jurists.
For the prevention of the occurrence of accidents and other calamities that may abruptly befall people outside homes, the Prophet (pbuh) taught his Ummah, at least, three different supplications that should be observed carefully after coming out of the house. Allah the Almighty, in turn, would bestow calmness and protection upon the supplicant throughout his/her ups and downs that day. Narrated Anas bn Malik (R.A): The Prophet (pbuh) said, “When a man goes out of his house and says: ‘In the name of Allah, I trust in Allah; there is no might and no power but in Allah’, the angels also pray for him/her: “You are guided, defended and protected”. The devils will go far away from him saying, ‘How can you deal with a man who has been guided, defended and protected?’
The second supplication reads, “O Allah, I take refuge with You lest I should stray or be led astray, or slip or be tripped, or oppress or be oppressed, or behave foolishly or be treated foolishly” (Abu Dawud). These two supplications are required of everyone before or immediately after going out from his home for general protection.
The third one is to be recited during riding cars, motorcycles, bicycles or any other means of transport. It is to say, “In the Name of Allah. Praise is to Allah. Glory is to Him Who has provided this for us as we could never have had it by our efforts. Surely, unto our Lord we are returning. Praise is to Allah. Praise is to Allah. Praise is to Allah. Allah is the Most Great. Allah is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest. Glory is to You. O Allah, I have wronged my own soul. Forgive me, for surely none forgives sins but You.” (Abu Dawud).
There are many reasons, one may easily mention, which cause such unfortunate situations on our roads. It is evident that most of the drivers today were trained by unqualified people; that is why the trainees would exactly behave on the roads like their trainers. On our roads today, the drivers of commercial cars, as we all see, do not bother to be careful of where to stop and drop or pick passengers, as they are careless of stop points.
Besides allowing young immature people to drive, some people at roadsides also do not see anything wrong in shouting at the top of their voice upon seeing their relatives, fans and friends. How amazing! How many times do we, with no exception, use our cellphones to engage in talk while driving! It is also known that those who follow highways at night suffer from truck and trailer drivers, who fix excessive lights atop their vehicles, which easily dazzle the eyes of drivers coming from the other side and eventually make them, as it is happening daily, lose control of their cars! One may not count how many times such a situation has caused fatal accidents on our roads.
Still, some people do not bother to adhere to traffic rules or take road signs seriously. Nor do they care to abide by other road ethics whatsoever. It is easy, on the other side, to see someone walking majestically with his back turned to the street, which other vehicles are coming from! Some people have the habit of crossing into other directions while the traffic light has stopped them, despite the fact that this misconduct, in a twinkle of an eye, can cause a fatal accident, which they would suffer from for the rest of their lives.
All of the above mentioned people and the like are one of two: One, they are ignorant of the significance of the traffic rules. They just got the license without being appropriately tested to ascertain their physical qualifications, their mental capacity and knowledge of the vehicle. Two, they are mere traffic violators, who are incapable of being patient for some time before they are given way! The last category is the majority. It is also observed that naïve drivers run faster on the crowded roads because of the emotional excitement they gain from driving brand new vehicles, while others do it in order to boast of their mastery of machine in front of friends and fans. Only God knows who their reckless driving lives maimed and injured!
It is of course true that the world has opened up and everything is coming closer. People nowadays, by virtue of owning car and luck being bestowed on them by the Almighty, are able to get their own cars or at least they easily get access to it. Nevertheless, our roads, unfortunately, are filled up with aged cars; some even are dumped anywhere on the roadsides. Some times, one may be surprised to see a huge herd of sheep and cattle, dogs and monkeys roaming freely along with the cars. All of these and many more uncivilized things have impeded smooth traffic on our roads.
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