Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I am planning to go for hajj this year with my brother as my husband is not ready yet, he works for FedEx and during christmas time it is a black out period for employees. He says he will go for hajj in the next five years with the family, but he is happy that I can go with my brother. My mother in law is not at all happy and she told my husband that he is stupid and foolish to send his wife for hajj though she knows the situation.

Could you please advise the correct islamic way this should have been handled and is it wrong for my mother in law to say such unislamic advice to her son. Please respond so I can share your views with the family.

Jazakallah.

Sister Shehnaz

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Hajj with brother

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verses 96-97:

Undoubtedly the first House of Worship ever to be built for mankind is the one which is at Makkah. It was blessed, and made the center of guidance for all the peoples. In it are clear Signs; there is a spot where Ibraheem used to worship; and it is the Sanctuary, and whoever enters it becomes safe and secure. Allah has, therefore, a right on the people that the one, who can afford to reach the House, should perform Hajj there. And the one who disobeys (this commandment should know that) Allah is Self-Sufficient, and does not stand in need of anyone.

Allah Subhanah has made the pilgrimage of Hajj obligatory on every sane, adult believer who has the financial and physical means to reach the House at least once in his lifetime. This pilgrimage of the Hajj is so sanctified that it is listed as one of the five pillars upon which the deen of Islam is built!

Dear and beloved Sister in Islam, there is absolutely no harm and no restriction in Islam that a wife has to perform Hajj with her husband alone. She is at absolute liberty to perform her obligatory Hajj with any of her mehram relatives, provided she has the consent of her husband.

Although the mother-in-law has absolute authority over her son, she does not in effect have any direct authority over her daughter-in-law. If the mother-in-law does not think that it is a good idea for her son’s wife to perform her obligatory duty of Hajj unto Allah with her brother, it would only be prudent to at least hear her fears and her opinion, and if possible humbly address those fears until she is content.

If the wife has her husband’s consent to perform her obligatory duty of Hajj with her brother, the wife does not need the consent or the permission of her mother-in-law….but it would only be akin to piety and righteousness that the wife try to the best of her ability to at least hear the concerns and fears of her mother-in-law, and if possible, with humility and politeness, address those fears so that she may be content.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan