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His wife wants him to give her parents money to perform Hajj

Question

assalam-o-alaikum myself and my wife both are doctors,still studying, getting handsome salary but this is for one more year, after that i have to establish my own clinic or job or higher education which may need money. i have 2.5 lac rupees in hand. my wife is pregnant my my monthly expense is around 25 thousand rupees. establishing clinic will cost much more than my savings. my wife and my would-be child are fully dependent on me even though my wife is earning.i kept both earnings (me and wife) at one place. my father-in-law and mother-in-law is going for hajj. they have lands and business.they have planned earlier to sell land and go for hajj.my wife forcing me to give them one lac rupees for their hajj as this is her dream to sponsor her parents hajj.me and my wife planning for hajj as early as possible but my wife says i will not go for hajj until my parents do. my question is 1. is correct to give them money even if we have not perform our hajj 2. if in near future i will not be able to earn so much to take-care of my family, then who will responsible for them, as i am not well established 3. is hajj of my in-laws be OK with money of their daughter & son-in-law please give answer as early as possible as this issue is creating panic in my life allah hafiz

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  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Hajj is an immediate obligation according to the most preponderant opinion and it is the view of the majority of the jurists  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them. We have already clarified this with evidence in Fatwa 91223, so please refer to it.

Therefore, if you and your wife have the financial and physical ability, then you are both obligated to go for Hajj before helping others to do so.

However, if both of you do not have the financial ability and your wife wants to help her parents from her own money so that they would go for Hajj, then she is permitted to do so, and this is an act of kindness and obedience toward her parents and this is one of the great deeds that bring you closer to Allaah. However, your wife is not permitted to force you to help her parents from your own money, and you are not obligated to help them. But if you do so, it is a good act that leads to more affection between you and your wife and between you and your in-laws. Also, it is permissible for your parents-in-law to go for Hajj with the money that you donate for them.

The following matters should be mentioned:

1- A Muslim is not obliged to endeavor to earn money in order to perform Hajj because the ability is a reason for the obligation of performing Hajj on the person, and a Muslim, in case the reason of the obligation is lacking, is not required to gain it, as established in the principles of Fiqh; for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 82631.

2- It is good for a Muslim to endeavor to leave his family rich after his death as the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said Sa’d Ibn Abu Waqaas  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him: ''It is better to leave your heirs rich rather than to leave them poor, begging from people." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

However, it is dispraised to fear and be worried about the future as Allaah took the responsibility of providing for every creature; Allaah Says (what means): {And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allaah is its provision.} [Quran 11:6]
Moreover, the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: ''Jibreel (Gabriel) inspired in my heart that no soul will die until it would have consumed its (designated) provision, so seek your provision in moderation." [At-Haakim – Al Albaani graded it Saheeh (sound)]

Allaah Knows best.

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