Question:

What do the scholars and experts of shari’ah say regarding my situation? My wife works and has her own monthly income. Her father is an old man and financially does not possess enough money to perform the obligatory Hajj. He has two sons who unfortunately cannot support their father.

My wife wants to put some money aside specifically to help her father perform his Hajj and Umrah. I personally am very pleased with this. Alhamdulillah, both me and my wife have both performed our Hajj. The question I have is it allowed for my father in-law to use my wife’s money to perform Hajj and Umrah?

Answer:

All perfect praise is for Allah ﷻ, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah ﷻ, and that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is His Messenger.

Your wife gifting her father money to fulfil his Hajj obligation is permissible in the Shari’ah. This great deed is from the acts of Ihsan (goodness) and from the acts of Silat al-Rahm (strengthening the ties of kinship).

When something is gifted to a person, the individual receiving the gift now becomes the owner of the gift. In the scenario mentioned, once your wife gifts the money to her father, he will become the owner of the money and can perform hajj.

Allah ﷻ says in the Holy Qur’an: “Pilgrimage to the Ancient House is compulsory for People who can make the journey, in order to seek God’s pleasure.” (Surah Ale ‘Imran: 97)

And Allah ﷻ knows best.

This Fatwa is written by Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Munir Al-Azhari