Tuesday 9 Ramadan 1445 - 19 March 2024
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Should he delay Hajj to please his mother?

Question

Some days ago i read Qur'an and in Sura 'Imran i found the words of Allah that men owe Hajj to Allah. This is my last semester of studying in U.S. and i have some money (around $2000,00). However i am afraid that if i spend this money for hajj and my mother will know it, she will get upset. She does not like that i am practicing islam. On the one hand, i do not know if i have another chance to go for hajj in the future. The money for my studying are coming through the Kazakhstani government and this is my last semester in U.S. In other words, after i finish, insha Allah!, i will have to go back to Kazakhstan to work for government for 5 years and i do not know whether i will be rich enough in Kazakhstan to make hajj. What do you think i should do? On the other hand, if Allah wills and i save this money i would go home and probably buy a car so that my mother at last will get richer. She brought me up by herself since i was 3 years old: my father died when i was 3 years old. And i know how difficult it was for her to bring me up by herself without husband and even good enough relatives. May Allah reward you for your work and let you and your family enter the paradise.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

Hajj is one of the obligatory duties of Islam, one of the pillars of Islam. It is not permissible for the person who is able to do it to delay it or to hesitate to do it. And there is no obedience to any created being if it entails disobedience to Allah.

 Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) to the House (Ka‘bah) is a duty that mankind owes to Allah, those who can afford the expenses (for one’s conveyance, provision and residence)” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:97]

 The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Islam is built on five (pillars): testimony that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing regular prayer (salaah), paying the zakaah, fasting in Ramadaan, and pilgrimage to the House.”

 So it is not permissible foryou to please your mother by disobeying Allah. You should honour her and treat her with kindness, but not by disobeying Allah. Whoever pleases people by angering Allah, Allah will be angry with him and will make people angry with him.

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Source:  Shaykh ‘Abd al-Kareem al-Khudayr