I am a fifty-five-year-old woman and would like to perform Hajj and ‘Umrah in the company of my thirty-year-old, mature son. There has been a split between me and my husband for twelve years because of familial problems. I am still 'hanging'; neither separated by divorce nor khul‘ (divorce requested by the wife in which she returns the bridal gift). I live in the house of my son, and my husband lives in another dwelling. He neither spends on me nor bears any duties towards me, neither before nor after we split up, because he was absent from the house three to five years (before we split up). He does not give me any financial maintenance. He is reckless and drinks alcohol. Do I have the right to perform Hajj and ‘Umrah without his consent? Is it due on me to get divorced from him by requesting a khul‘ before going to perform Hajj and ‘Umrah?

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.

That your husband is reckless and drinks wine does not make it permissible for you to be nashiz or disobey him concerning the rights that he has over you. If the split-up between you and your husband goes back to your disobedience, then you will be sinful and have no right of financial maintenance.

As for your question, if Hajj or ‘Umrah, which you want to perform, is obligatory, then it is permissible for you to set out for Hajj and ‘Umrah in case you find a Mahram (permanently unmarriageable kin) or a reliable company, even if your husband does not give you permission. That is the opinion of the majority of the scholars and the opinion according to which we give Fatwa.

If your husband, as you have previously mentioned, neither spends on you nor gives you the rights enjoined by Allaah upon him to you and this is not a result of your disobedience to him, then you have the right to go to perform even a voluntary Hajj without his permission or go out of the house without his permission. According to Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah, “His right of permission drops if he refrains from spending on her.”

Allaah Knows best.