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Can my father pay for me and my wife's Hajj? Or can my father gift me the airfare and expenses for our Hajj? If either way will our hajj be Nafil?
Can a Muslim use his father's money for Hajj?
Islam permits a Muslim to use his father's money for Hajj. It is not a requirement that Hajj be performed with one’s own funds. If the father has already completed his own Hajj, it is commendable and rewarding for him to help his child perform theirs.
Praise be to Allah.
There is no reason why a well-wisher should not donate Hajj expenses to someone, and it is not a condition of obligatory or optional Hajj being valid that it should be paid for with the pilgrim’s own money.
If this donation is given to a relative, then the reward is greater, and he will have a reward like that of Hajj, in sha Allah. What your father is going to do, paying the expenses for Hajj for you and your wife, is something that is to be appreciated, and he is included in the words of the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
{Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety)} [Al-Ma’idah 5:2]
There is no difference between the two ways mentioned in the question. If you have not done Hajj before then this Hajj will be the obligatory one, and it will not be optional just because your father donated the expenses.
In the answer to question no. 36990, we have quoted a fatwa from the scholars of the Standing Committee concerning this. Please refer to it.
Your father who is going to donate this money should have performed Hajj already, because the command is addressed to him too.
It is not right to delay Hajj then appoint someone else to do Hajj, rather he should hasten to do Hajj himself, then if he has any extra money he may help you to do Hajj.
In the answer to question no. 36637 we have quoted a fatwa from the scholars of the Standing Committee concerning this. Please refer to it.
One indication that it is permissible to do Hajj with money other than one’s own is the fact that it is permissible to give Zakah to a poor person so that he can do Hajj. This is included in the verse in which Allah says, listing those who are entitled to Zakah, (interpretation of the meaning): {and for Allah’s Cause} [At-Tawbah 9:60] That includes both Jihad and Hajj. This has already been explained in the answer to question no. 40023.
For further insights, explore these answers: (290646, 223524, 36841, 83191)
And Allah knows best.