Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Though Hajj is an obligation for every Muslim and a husband cannot stop his wife from going to Hajj if she can afford it, it is good for a wife to seek her husband’s permission before going to Hajj.
In responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
No Muslim husband can stop his wife, provided she can afford to do so, from going to Hajj if she has not performed it before. Hajj is an obligatory duty on everyone who is physically and financially able.
Allah Almighty says, {Pilgrimage unto the (sacred) House (in Makkah) is a duty owed to God by all people who can undertake it. And as for those who deny the truth – verily, God does not stand in need of anything in all the worlds.} (Aal `Imran 3:97)
Since Hajj – once in a lifetime – is a duty she owes to God, her husband cannot stop her provided she takes all the possible precautions for her safety. She can do so if she travels with a mahram or group of women or even, as some scholars have ruled, in a safe company of a trusted group of men and women.
In conclusion, a woman may do well to seek her husband’s permission, but if he is stubborn and unreasonable to agree, she may go for Hajj, and she is justified in doing so as the rights of Allah have precedence over the right of mortals.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.