Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Can I claim back the money I spent on flights for my Hajj from my local education authority. I am on a year-out as part of my degree course and I have chosen Syria as my chosen destination – but I also took this opportunity to partake on the Hajj as I have been blessed with a year-out as part of my academic studies. Therefore – my local education authority in London have offered to pay for two return tickets to wherever I need to go for my studies. As I am studying Arabic – I have claimed back my first return flight. I’m wondering if I can do the same for money spent on my Hajj flights.
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
As it is not directly related to your Arabic studies, it would be religiously binding on you to ask the educational authority whether you can claim Hajj expenses. Otherwise, it would be considered cheating and deception.
Imam Ahmad related that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The believer could be characterized by all traits except lying and deception.” [Ahmad, and Tabarani, Bayhaqi, and Abu Ya`la with similar wording]
The Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
“The one who cheats is not of us.”
[Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and others]
He also said (peace and blessings be upon him),
“The one who does not fulfill trusts has no faith, and the one who does not fulfill commitments has no religion.”
[Ahmad, with a sound chain of narrators]
See related questions:
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani