The Ruling on Hajj with Tour Groups and Advice for Pilgrims and Their Companions
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
The Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: In one of the years, we performed Hajj with one of the tour groups, but these groups took a large sum of money from us and did not truly fulfill what they promised us regarding any matters that would facilitate the Hajj. The questioner asks: What is the advice you direct to such a contract with these tour groups?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, there is no harm in performing Hajj with organized tour groups that fulfill their obligations according to the terms agreed upon between them and the pilgrims, because of the cooperation involved and the rest it provides for the pilgrims. However, the owners of the tour groups must fear Allah the Exalted and fulfill their obligatory duties toward the pilgrims; they must not tire them or burden them with what they cannot bear. This is from one aspect.
The second aspect is that they must enable the pilgrims to perform the rites of Hajj, enabling them to perform the rites in the correct manner. They must not seek dispensations or anomalous fatwas in order to lighten their duty toward the pilgrims and neglect the Hajj of those with them. They must fear Allah, or else abandon the tour groups. It is obligatory for anyone who joins a tour group to fulfill what Allah has made obligatory upon him, and he must not be negligent in any of the acts of Hajj. Because we have heard that some of them set a minimum and maximum price for Hajj, and I do not know how. The facilitated Hajj has a price, and the complete Hajj has a price. You want Mina, you have a price. You want to go down to Muzdalifah, you have a price. You want to go down to al-'Aziziyah, this is all manipulation of the acts of Hajj. It is obligatory for them to fear Allah and enable the pilgrims to perform their rites in the prescribed manner. There is no objection to their taking a fee from them that does not involve injustice and fulfills their right, for there is no harm and no reciprocating harm. Then, if the pilgrims see negligence from the owner of the tour group, especially neglecting the Hajj, they must complain to the responsible authorities to have justice done against him, and they must not remain silent about it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
The Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: In one of the years, we performed Hajj with one of the tour groups, but these groups took a large sum of money from us and did not truly fulfill what they promised us regarding any matters that would facilitate the Hajj. The questioner asks: What is the advice you direct to such a contract with these tour groups?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, there is no harm in performing Hajj with organized tour groups that fulfill their obligations according to the terms agreed upon between them and the pilgrims, because of the cooperation involved and the rest it provides for the pilgrims. However, the owners of the tour groups must fear Allah the Exalted and fulfill their obligatory duties toward the pilgrims; they must not tire them or burden them with what they cannot bear. This is from one aspect.
The second aspect is that they must enable the pilgrims to perform the rites of Hajj, enabling them to perform the rites in the correct manner. They must not seek dispensations or anomalous fatwas in order to lighten their duty toward the pilgrims and neglect the Hajj of those with them. They must fear Allah, or else abandon the tour groups. It is obligatory for anyone who joins a tour group to fulfill what Allah has made obligatory upon him, and he must not be negligent in any of the acts of Hajj. Because we have heard that some of them set a minimum and maximum price for Hajj, and I do not know how. The facilitated Hajj has a price, and the complete Hajj has a price. You want Mina, you have a price. You want to go down to Muzdalifah, you have a price. You want to go down to al-'Aziziyah, this is all manipulation of the acts of Hajj. It is obligatory for them to fear Allah and enable the pilgrims to perform their rites in the prescribed manner. There is no objection to their taking a fee from them that does not involve injustice and fulfills their right, for there is no harm and no reciprocating harm. Then, if the pilgrims see negligence from the owner of the tour group, especially neglecting the Hajj, they must complain to the responsible authorities to have justice done against him, and they must not remain silent about it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/224 — archive.org (0:52)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.