In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

First of all, it should be clear that Hajj is obligatory once in a lifetime. If a person has the means to offer Hajj, he should carry it out as soon as possible. One is not advised to delay offering Hajj under any unjustified pretext, keeping in mind the fact that Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Islam is built upon five pillars: testifying that there is no true god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, performing Prayer, paying the Zakah, making the pilgrimage to the Sacred House (Hajj), and fasting the month of Ramadan.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari).

As regards your question, it should be clear that Hajj can not be cancelled because of mere doubts or unjustified fears. As regard the case in point, all necessary precautions have to be taken by the Saudi authorities to prevent an outbreak of  avian flu. The authorities have to tighten checks on people coming into the country from the land, sea, and air entries. Intensive vaccination campaigns against common human flu among pilgrims have to be launched.

However, if it is proven beyond any shadow of doubt—and  a considerable committee of trustworthy and reliable medical and Shari`ah experts assure—that people performing Hajj will be infected and seriously harmed, then in this case Hajj can be put off this year.

In his response to your question,Dr. Salah Sultan, President of the American Center for Islamic Research, Columbus, Ohio , and Member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states:

First of all, I would like to voice my utmost concern that there might be some secret elements trying to play around with the major rites of Muslims, especially Hajj which is considered to be an international conference of Muslims around the globe that manifests great unity and power. I am worried that we are forced to accept this argument on baseless evidence. That is why I call upon all Muslim physicians and leaders to take the issue seriously and not to rush into serious conclusions like the one calling for calling off Hajj this year.

As far as the religious perspective of this call-off is concerned, it is a well-established fact that Islam is keen to preserve people's lives and safeguard the human soul from being harmed. This is one of the fundamental objectives of Shari`ah. Besides, one of the conditions of Hajj is the safety of the road to Hajj, and this used to refer to highway robbery or interception that prevailed in the past. By analogy, if it is proven by clear-cut evidence that there are a widespread communication of infection and serious disease in Saudi Arabia and the fear that people performing Hajj would be infected and seriously harmed, is real and proven beyond any shadow of doubt, then in this case Hajj can be put off this year.

However, if this is just based on mere speculation and indecisive reports that are subject to disagreements among physicians and medical experts, then it cannot be taken as a warrant for calling off a major ritual like Hajj.

Therefore, I call upon those in responsibility to take the issue seriously and give it ample discussion in order to reach a wise conclusion.

Moreover, Sheikh `Abdul-Majeed Subh, a prominent Azharite scholar, states:

There are steps that should be done before giving a ruling of putting off Hajj this year.

 

First, to be assured that all pilgrims are coming from countries where the disease is wide spread, and this is not the case. This is because bird flu has not spread throughout all countries but only a few cases have been found in some countries.

 

Second, each country can take precautions and be assured of the safety of the pilgrims before traveling to perform Hajj through conducting medical analysis and examination of each person.

 

Third, the necessity of having the witness of reliable Muslim doctors who are specialized in this field, when it comes to preventing some persons from performing Hajj because of being infected with a contagious disease. We should not widen the circle of prevention unjustifiably to the extent that we call for putting off Hajj. Furthermore, the issue should be studied by specialist Muslim doctors and scholars.

Commenting on bird flu and the cancellation of Hajj this year, Sheikh Mas`ud Sabri, a Ph.D. researcher in Islamic studies at the faculty of Dar Al-`Ulum,Cairo University and Islamic researcher in IOL Fatwa Arabic section, says:

Throughout the history of Islam, no single jurist has ever called for canceling Hajj for any reason or under any pretext, no matter what epidemics or incidents may have been taking place. The call for canceling this year’s Hajj entails canceling one of the rituals of Islam which is prohibited, principally, by Islam.

 

Having said that, it should be added that Saudi Arabia , on its part, should take all the necessary measures and precautions to block any possibility of the outbreak of this disease.

 

As for the infected Muslims, they should first seek treatment; it is haram (prohibited) for them to go to Hajj this year. This ruling goes in line with the juristic opinion that Hajj is not a prompt obligation but rather a wajib `ala At-trakhi (an obligation that can be delayed and performed in any year). Even if we consider the other juristic opinion that Hajj is a prompt obligation (wajib `ala al-faur, i.e.  an obligation that should be performed as soon as possible), it is still prohibited for an infected person to go to Hajj since this can lead to harming other pilgrims. It is also prohibited to falsify a certificate that he is free of this disease, as this, too, would inevitably lead to harming others, which is categorically forbidden in the Qur’an: (And those who hurt believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.) (Al-Ahzab 33: 58).

 Given the above, it becomes crystal clear that though Islam is keen to safeguard and protect people's lives, it is not allowed to put off Hajj—which is an essential pillar in Islam—on the basis of doubt or unjustified fear.