Is My Hajj Acceptable if I Borrowed Money from the Bank to Pay Debts?

Question: My wife and I borrowed money from a bank to help her clear debts we are paying together in installments on time. I want to go to hajj will it be acceptable.

Answer: Wa ‘alaykum assalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

I pray you are well.

Yes, it would be permissible for you to go to Hajj at this stage. The money you borrowed from the bank is a separate matter.

If the loan was an interest-bearing loan it would be best to repent for that as soon as possible and to pay it off as soon as you can too. “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, cursed the one takes interest, the one who gives it, the one who writes [the contract], and those who witnessed it” (Muslim).

Based on this it would be superior to get the loan off your head before thinking of the Hajj as “Preventing harm takes precedence of gaining benefits” (Zarqa; Sharh al Qawa’id al Fiqhiyya).

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 Qur’anic recital and he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.