Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi RA used to say that a commitment is not just verbal, it is also practical. For example, if a person is living as a citizen in a country then he is making a practical commitment to the government of that country that as long as he lives in that country he will abide by the laws of that country. Fulfilling that commitment is Wajib (mandatory) under Sharia, as long as the laws of that country do not force him to commit a sin.
For example traffic rules dictate that a person drives either on the right or the left side of the road, or that he should stop at red light and go at green light. Now as a citizen a person has made a practical commitment that he will abide by these rules, and if he breaks those rules he would be breaking a promise, and that would constitute a sin. People sometimes think that there is nothing wrong with violating traffic rules. Please remember that it is a sin in more than one way. First, it is a sin because a person is breaking a promise to abide by the laws of the country. But also, these rules have been made so that there is discipline on the roads and people can travel safely on the roads. If someone breaks these rules and it results in harm to another human being than the person breaching the rules will be accountable for it both in this world and the Hereafter.
Adapted from the talk "Breaking a promise" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB
For example traffic rules dictate that a person drives either on the right or the left side of the road, or that he should stop at red light and go at green light. Now as a citizen a person has made a practical commitment that he will abide by these rules, and if he breaks those rules he would be breaking a promise, and that would constitute a sin. People sometimes think that there is nothing wrong with violating traffic rules. Please remember that it is a sin in more than one way. First, it is a sin because a person is breaking a promise to abide by the laws of the country. But also, these rules have been made so that there is discipline on the roads and people can travel safely on the roads. If someone breaks these rules and it results in harm to another human being than the person breaching the rules will be accountable for it both in this world and the Hereafter.
Adapted from the talk "Breaking a promise" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB
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