Answer
Wa `alaykum as-salam 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:
1- A husband should exert every effort to help his wife carry out her religious duties.
2- Therefore, he should not hesitate to accompany her on Hajj if he is able to.
3- If he is unable to go with his wife, then she should understand the situation and look for an alternative.
Responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada , states:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told a person to accompany his wife on Hajj even at the expense of doing voluntary jihad. Therefore, it is your spousal obligation to accompany her on Hajj if you can.
However, if your circumstances do not allow you to accompany your wife, you are excused, and she should find another alternative such as traveling with a blood relation or a group of trustworthy women.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.