What is the ruling on purchasing tickets from travel agencies on an installment basis with an increase over the original ticket price?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you with Paradise, O our Shaykh, and raise your status in this world and the Hereafter.
The Shaykh : And may He do the same for you and everyone who hears this.
The questioner : Right now, in the summer, O Shaykh, the airline and travel agencies offer tickets on an installment basis. These agencies take the tickets or seats, book them from the general airlines, add amounts to them, and then offer them on installments to whoever wants to travel. This is very common in the summer, so we want to know the truth in this matter. May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The truth, if Allah wills, is that there is nothing wrong with it. I say: The original purpose of traveling to European countries, or non-European countries, is that they are all full of licentiousness and corruption. Intoxicants are sold openly in the markets, and women display their adornment and expose themselves, not just in words but in deeds, and so on. I see that no one should travel there, because he will lose time, lose money, and lose good character. So it is not permissible for him to travel while he is in this state in the first place.
Then we must know that some of these agencies are wicked; they make it easy for the ignorant and foolish people and say: We will give you a deferred ticket to entice you to travel. We should stand against this opinion. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with a person hiring someone for one hundred if it is cash, and for two hundred if it is deferred; there is nothing wrong with that. But the original purpose is a bad purpose.
The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you. Is the ruling permissible?
The Shaykh : No, I told you: The original purpose of traveling is not permissible.
The questioner : So this is not considered the passenger's fare. How can he increase the amount for him?
The Shaykh : It does not contradict. I increase the amount for you because I am hiring you. The fare is like if I said: This house I rent for one thousand riyals a year to whoever gives it to me in cash, and for one thousand and two hundred to whoever pays it in installments.
The Shaykh : And may He do the same for you and everyone who hears this.
The questioner : Right now, in the summer, O Shaykh, the airline and travel agencies offer tickets on an installment basis. These agencies take the tickets or seats, book them from the general airlines, add amounts to them, and then offer them on installments to whoever wants to travel. This is very common in the summer, so we want to know the truth in this matter. May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The truth, if Allah wills, is that there is nothing wrong with it. I say: The original purpose of traveling to European countries, or non-European countries, is that they are all full of licentiousness and corruption. Intoxicants are sold openly in the markets, and women display their adornment and expose themselves, not just in words but in deeds, and so on. I see that no one should travel there, because he will lose time, lose money, and lose good character. So it is not permissible for him to travel while he is in this state in the first place.
Then we must know that some of these agencies are wicked; they make it easy for the ignorant and foolish people and say: We will give you a deferred ticket to entice you to travel. We should stand against this opinion. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with a person hiring someone for one hundred if it is cash, and for two hundred if it is deferred; there is nothing wrong with that. But the original purpose is a bad purpose.
The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you. Is the ruling permissible?
The Shaykh : No, I told you: The original purpose of traveling is not permissible.
The questioner : So this is not considered the passenger's fare. How can he increase the amount for him?
The Shaykh : It does not contradict. I increase the amount for you because I am hiring you. The fare is like if I said: This house I rent for one thousand riyals a year to whoever gives it to me in cash, and for one thousand and two hundred to whoever pays it in installments.