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Fatwa CenterBrowsing social media during working hours
Question
When on duty during duty hours, can I skip a few moments and look into WhatsApp and Facebook or other social sites? Is it wrong on my part that I am cheating during my work hours?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It is impermissible for the employee to become distracted from work by private or personal matters during working hours because, during his work, the time is exclusively owned by his employer only. If the employee engages in any other activity aside from his work duties, then he falls short in carrying out his work as due. Shaykh Ibn ʻUthaymeen 
in the context of defining those who belong to the 'mutaffifeen' (mentioned in the soorah [Quran 83] that carries that name), said:
“Nowadays, there are three ways for the employee to fall short in doing his job as due (and become, accordingly, included in those who give less than due referred to in Soorah Al-Mutaffifeen; he may be late for his work, leave early before the end of the official working hours, or engage in outside work activity or carry out any personal work during the official working hours. Hence, if an employee comes before all other employees and leaves last, yet engages in personal activities aside from the work duties assigned to him during the official working hours and still demands his salary in full, is he included in those who give less than due referred to in the verse 83:1? Yes, because he has claimed his right in full, yet fell short in fulfilling the work duties assigned to him as required.”
The exception in this regard is engaging in the activities excluded by the sharee'ah, such as performing the obligatory prayers or the Sunnah prayers before or after them, or the common practice of a given society such as lunch breaks and the like or regular breaks as agreed upon in the contract.
However, if the employee finished the work tasks assigned to him and has free time during which no work assignments are given to him, then there is no religious impediment to spending this time doing whatever is permissible, including checking his account on social networks.
Allaah knows best.
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