Would It Be Permissible to Use Leftover University Funding for an Umrah?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

Would it be permissible to use leftover university funding for an ‘umra? A student has received a bursary to cover living expenses. From this amount she is able to save some every month and has begun putting it away. Would it be permissible to use the lump sum as part of her savings to go for umrah?

Answer

I pray you are well. 

Yes, it is permissible to use the money from the bursary to pay for the ‘umra. The money is given to students to help with the finances whilst they are studying. There are no specific conditions on where it is spent.

Intend to Please Allah

Go on the ‘umra with the intention to please Allah and draw closer to Him. This blessed journey can be a catapult to developing your relationship with. The best thing you can ask from Allah, as Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Ata’ill Sakandari said, is to be able to do what Allah asks of you. (Ibn ‘Ata’illah, Kitab al Hikam) 

Someone I know had been a smoker for fifteen years. He told me that when He went for the Hajj he stopped smoking on that trip. He intended it for Allah, and Allah facilitated it for him without any other means.

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History, he moved to Damascus in 2007, where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital. He was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.