Accompanying Family on Work Trips

19-4-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu'alaaykum. My father works as an engineer and he constantly goes out of town. Sometimes, me and my mother would go with him and stay with the hotel. The company forbade bringing family during work to avoid disturbance, but we did not incur harm to the company at all. We pay our costs by ourselves. We went because my father asks us or my mother did so to accompany him. We are not interfering his work in any way, because we stayed in the hotel and buy food ourselves when he goes to work. Are we sinful for this? By the same way, are we always sinful if we break the rules made by humans (something which is not haraam in Islam)? Does it require repentance that needs remorse? Jazakallaah.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The father must abide by the conditions and terms of the employer unless he authorizes him to be accompanied by his family, because of the general saying of the Prophet : “The Muslims should abide by their conditions.” [Abu Daawood]

You and your mother must abide by that even if your father invites you to travel, as a way of you abiding by the condition (set by the employer) and which does not contravene the Sharee’ah of Allah and which fulfills the interest of the employer. Any condition which fulfills the aforementioned matters which are Islamically advocated must be abided by.

Calling such rules as man-made rules and the like, does not harm.

Allah knows best.