Seeking Husband's Permission to Go to Hajj: Necessary?

Seeking Husband's Permission to Go to Hajj: Necessary ?


Question
Can a Muslim woman perform Hajj without seeking the permission of her husband ?

Answer
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.

Dear sister in Islam, thanks for your question, which emanates form a God-fearing heart, since it shows your commitment to Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Islam is built upon five pillars: testifying that there is no true god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, performing Prayer, paying the Zakah, making the pilgrimage to the Sacred House (Hajj), and fasting the month of Ramadan.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari) Also, we’d would like to commend your pursuit of Islamic counseling.

As for your question, we’d cite the following from Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq’s Fiqh-us-Sunnah:

“It is mandub (recommended) for a woman to seek her husband's permission for performing wajib (obligatory) Hajj. If he grants her the permission she may leave for Hajj, but if he refuses she may still proceed for Hajj, for a husband is not supposed to deny his wife the right to perform the obligatory Hajj. Hajj is an obligatory act of worship, and such it is unlawful to obey the husband at the expense of disobeying Allah the Almighty. A woman should perform obligatory Hajj as soon as possible, just as she should offer her prescribed daily prayers at their earliest appointed times. In either case a husband has no right to prevent his wife from doing what is her obligatory duty.

The same applies when a wife has vowed a Hajj, because it is mandatory like the obligatory Hajj.

However, in case of nafl (voluntary) Hajj (i.e. Hajj performed after the first time), the husband may prevent his wife from going, and the wife must obey her husband. This is supported by a hadith reported by Ad-Daraqutni on the authority of Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who narrated that while speaking about a wealthy lady whose husband had refused to give her permission to perform Hajj, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "She must not go for Hajj except by her husband's permission.” ”