Can I Pay for Hajj Using Credit Card Points?

05 August, 2019
Q I would like to ask if it is allowed to go to Umrah or Hajj using my reward points I acquired through my credit card? My reward points can purchase two-way tickets to Makkah. Please, let me know if it is allowed or not.

Answer

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- It should be clearly known that financing Hajj and Umrah must be from lawful halal income.

2- You are allowed to use these points for Hajj or Umrah as they are yours and it is your right to use them in any halal way.


In his response to your question, Prof. Dr. Monzer Kahf, Professor of Islamic Finance and Economics at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, states:

Yes, of course, it is permissible to use the rewards of your credit card for Hajj and Umrah. You own these reward points and you can use them for any purpose including going for Hajj or Umrah.

Having stated this, I hope that your credit card use was without any interest because interest is a grave sin as the Quran declares although the points are not accumulated on interest but on purchases, i.e., they are not affected by delay of payment.

Almighty Allah knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.

About Prof. Dr. Monzer Kahf
Dr. Monzer Kahf is a professor and consultant/trainer on Islamic banking, finance, Zakah, Awqaf, Islamic Inheritance, Islamic estate planning, Islamic family law, and other aspects of Islamic economics, finance, Islamic transactions (Mu'amalat). Dr. Monzer Kahf is currently Professor of Islamic Finance & Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Management, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Turkey