Assalaamu alaikum, i have heard rumors of a cancellation of hajj due to fears of increased risk of swine flu outbreaks. would this be halal? and has there ever been a cancellation of hajj in history? Jazak Allah khair

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

Allaah The Almighty considers the interests of people and does not order them to do something except what is within their capacity. So, if this disease (swine flu) ends people's lives, it is permissible to prevent the infected people from attending people's gatherings to stop the spread of the pandemic. It is also permissible to avoid bringing healthy people to the place of the pandemic, as supported by the Hadeeth of the Leper, the Hadeeth of the Plague, and the Hadeeth that reads: "A person whose camels have an infectious disease should not approach the one with sound ones." All these Ahaadeeth were narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim .

However, we should refer to medical experts and to the Committee of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to have the final say on this issue. What is known so far is that the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia does not plan to cancel Hajj this year. Al-Jazeera TV channel reported that many jurists reject cancellation of Hajj this year. In our view, so long as the disease has not transferred to Makkah or Madeenah, infected people have to be banned from coming to Hajj in order to prevent the spread of the infection.