Consequences of Making Love with One’s Wife During Hajj

The spirit of Hajj is turning to Allah wholeheartedly in humble and passionate yearning and ardent love and devotion. This spirit should rule the hearts of all pilgrims at all times, regardless of gender differences. Men and women during Hajj also share equally in the various prohibitions and restrictions. Both must refrain from all forms of intimate sexual contacts with spouses, including foreplay, kissing, and lustful touching. They also must shun all vain talks, wrangling and quarrels.

In his well-known book, Fiqh As-Sunnah, the late Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq states: `Ali, `Umar and Abu Hurairah issued a fatwa concerning a man who has sexual intercourse with his wife in the state of ihram, saying: They both must complete their Hajj, but must also make another Hajj the following year and slaughter an animal. Abu Al-`Abbas At-Tabari said: If a pilgrim has sexual intercourse with his spouse before the first tahallul from ihram, regardless of whether it is before or after `Arafah, it will invalidate his Hajj. Such a person, however, must continue performing the rest of his Hajj rites. He must offer a sacrifice and make up for his Hajj the following year.

If the wife is in the state of ihram and she accepted what her husband did, she must continue the performance of Hajj, but must also make up for it the following year, and besides, according to the majority of the scholars, must also offer a sacrifice. According to `Ata’, some scholars hold that the husband and wife may offer only one sacrifice.

Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal Nadvi, Imam of Calgary Mosque, Alberta, Canada, and Former Professor at King Saud University, Riyad, Saudi Arabia, sheds more light on the issue, saying:

There are three different situations in this case:

First, if sexual intercourse happens before completing Hajj and after standing on mount `Arafah;

Second, if it occurs after completing Hajj and standing on `Arafah, while the person is still in the state of ihram; and

Third, it is during the period in which Hajj is still not over until the end of all Hajj rituals, while ihram is taken off.

The Shari`ah-based ruling for the first two situations is that there has to be a sacrifice of a whole camel or a whole cow and the person has to repeat Hajj again. As for the third case, there has to be a sacrifice of goat or lamb, and Hajj is valid and accepted, in sha’ Allah.