In his column in the independent Egyptian daily Al-Shurouq, Islamist intellectual Fahmi Huweidi proposed that Egypt's Muslims contribute the funds they had set aside for the pilgrimage to Mecca toward helping Egypt out of its economic difficulties. Huweidi wrote that he had consulted Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), who ruled that in times of economic crisis the leaders of Islamic countries must place restrictions on the pilgrimage to Mecca; moreover, under such circumstances, a Muslim may donate the money reserved for the pilgrimage toward supporting the country's economy, and this counts as if he has performed the pilgrimage. Al-Qaradhawi's ruling even permitted diverting charity funds toward supporting the state economy.
Al-Qaradhawi's fatwa met with mixed responses in Egypt's religious establishment. Al-Shurouq reported that associates of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar were discussing the matter and considering the possibility of consulting the Al-Azhar Academy for Islamic Research for its opinion. One of the academy's members expressed opposition to the fatwa, on the grounds that it constituted forbidden intervention in the believer's religious worship.[1]
The following are excerpts from Huweidi's article:[2]
"Is it a great deal to ask of the Egyptians – who challenged the tyranny of Mubarak's regime to the point of toppling him from his lofty throne – that they fulfill their obligation to build a new regime? What led me to raise this question was the tour of the Gulf region [recently] undertaken by the Egyptian revolution's prime minister, Dr. 'Essam Sharaf. Previously, Finance Minister Dr. Samir Radwan [visited] Washington, [where] he asked the [International] Monetary Fund to help shore up Egypt's [flagging] economy... I did not want the matter to be handled [exclusively] by the government without the participation of the people, and with [post-]revolution Egypt being perceived as [a country] that asks [for help] but is not itself asked [for help]...
SUPPORT OUR WORK
"When I read that the government of the revolution was in need of liquid funds at an estimated sum of two billion dollars in order to meet the needs of the current fiscal year (until next June), and I discovered that the Egyptians spend about the same amount each year on the 'umra [pilgrimage to Mecca performed apart from the Hajj] and on the duty of the Hajj [itself], I asked Dr. Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, head of the IUMS, the following question via telephone: In the current circumstances, is it permissible to call on [Muslims] to take the money they have designated for the 'umra or Hajj and donate it [instead] to a fund supporting the country's economy?... And is supporting the country's economy included among those causes toward which Muslims are obligated to give charity?
"After he replied, I summarized his response and read it back to him, and he approved it. His response was as follows: If an emergency situation occurs in an Islamic country leading to a dearth of financial sources, the ruler [of this country] must restrict the 'umra, because it is an optional [ritual] rather than an obligatory one. This also applies to voluntary Hajj, which is [likewise] optional. (A Muslim is obligated to make one pilgrimage [in his lifetime], and anything beyond this is considered optional)... When a Muslim who intended to go on pilgrimage donates his money [to the state instead], it counts [as though he made] the 'umra or the Hajj. As for diverting charity toward rescuing the economy of an Islamic country, or toward developing its economy and meeting the needs of its residents, this is considered a deed for the sake of Allah, which is to say that it falls among the recognized causes [toward which Muslims are obligated to give charity] according to religious law.
"If all the religious institutions, and chiefly the [Al-Azhar] Academy for Islamic Research, agree on this important fatwa, it could be a positive contribution toward dealing with the crisis, and would provide a way to harness the energies of faith for the good of society..."
