Question:
Recently, I went shopping and parked my car in a private car park which is operated by a pay and display meter. I did not buy a ticket and went shopping. Do I have to owe them money?
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The Answer:
It is necessary for you to compensate for the number of hours you used the private car park without a parking ticket. You may put the total cost into the pay and display machine. In addition, one must repent for such an action.
The Fiqh (Jurisprudence):
A car park is the private property of another. In principle, one cannot use or benefit from the private property of another without prior consent of that individual. This consent can be in lieu of monetary exchange or without a monetary exchange. Parking without consent in the car park of another is a form of usurpation (al-ghaṣb) and encroachment. The usurpation of services and use of any income generating asset or land is insured and liable for compensation in all cases. Thus, he must compensate for the hours of usurpation by paying the equivalent fee (al-ujrah al-mithli).[1]
The Fuqahā’ have discussed the issue of usurpation of the manāfi’ (services) of others. The Hanbali and Shafi`i jurists have ruled that services and the benefits of a usurped item are insured and compensatory in all cases[2]. The Hanafī scholars are of the view that the usurpation of the services and benefits of any income generating asset are insured and compensatory[3].
And Allah Ta’ālā Alone Knows Best
Mufti Faraz Adam
www.darulfiqh.com
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