Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
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.
In this fatwa:
1- No doubt, Hajj is a golden opportunity to have one’s sins forgiven, one’s soul refined, and one’s heart filled with faith and tranquility. The one who performs Hajj is supposed to be a model for others after returning home. He or she is to recall throughout the year the matchless experiences gained in Hajj.
2- It is totally prohibited and unacceptable for a pilgrim to do such a heinous act whether before or after Hajj. The sin becomes more serious and grievous when it is done after that spiritual journey that is supposed to refine one’s soul and provide one with immunity against Satan’s schemes.
Answering your question, Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal Nadvi, Imam of Calgary Mosque, Alberta, Canada, and former professor at King Saud University, Riyad, Saudi Arabia, states:
I think that the man referred to in the question is making fun of Islam which is totally forbidden.
First of all, any person does not know for sure that he or she will live to perform another Hajj.
Second, when a person has in mind that he or she will commit sins, it might destroy his or her previous good deeds.
We need to know that forgiveness of Allah is, as the Quran states, given to the people who feel conscious of Allah and repent immediately and do not insist on disobeying Allah by committing more sins.
Allah says in the Quran, describing the believers, {And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins. Who forgives sins save Allah only? And (who) will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.} (Aal `Imran 3:135)
Elaborating more on this issue, the late Dr. Ahmad Ash-Sharbasi, Professor of Aqeedah and Philosophy at Al-Azhar University, stated in his response to a similar question:
Such corrupt man behaves as if Hajj is a game or something like that; he takes Allah’s creed lightly. He has a prior intention to commit adultery. Then there is no need to tire himself in going for Hajj, for Hajj in such case is useless. It will be no more than mere physical exercise. What impact can Hajj have on a man if it does not improve and refine morality and religion?
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “If a man performs Hajj committing neither lewdness nor abuse, he will be back as sinless and sin-free as the day he was brought to this life.” (Al-Bukhari)
For Hajj to be mabrur (accepted by Allah), it should be accompanied with firm determination not to commit sins any more.
More than that Allah the Almighty says what means, {The pilgrimage is (in) the well-known months, and whoever is minded to perform the pilgrimage therein (let him remember that) there is (to be) no lewdness nor abuse nor angry conversation on the pilgrimage. And whatsoever good you do Allah knows it. So make provision for yourselves (here after); for the best provision is to ward off evil. Therefore keep your duty unto Me, O men of understanding.} (Al-Baqarah 2:197)
The most disastrous in this case is that the person referred to does not commit some trivialities or slight sins; rather he commits the most abominable sin, adultery, though Allah the Almighty has warned against it and even closed all the doors that may lead to it, saying, {And come not near unto adultery. Lo! It is an abomination and an evil way.} (Al-Israa’ 17:32)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, “When a man commits adultery, he is no more a believer…” (Al-Bukhari)
That person who commits such a grave sin, claiming that he will make Hajj again so that Allah will expiate his sins, must know that Allah does not accept the tawbah (repentance) of hypocrites and deceivers, who act against what they say.
How can that sinner be sure that Allah will keep him alive after he commits such a sin so that he can repent and make Hajj again? This is no doubt the wicked thinking of the evil and the corrupt who are deprived of Allah’s Mercy.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.