It is the desire of every Muslim to travel to the sacred land and proclaim “Labbayka Allahumma labbayk”. As we witness many of the pilgrims returning home, the flame of desire to experience the spirituality and human togetherness of Haj is rekindled. We crave expressing our servitude to our Creator. However, for many, the reality is that Haj is outside of our budget. Here are a few steps we can use to go about amending our budget in order to eventually afford to go on Haj.

Intention

Having a sincere and firm intention is critical when saving for Haj. The savings journey may be long and hard and there may be many sacrifices along the way. Therefore, it is integral to always remind ourselves of the objective and why we are doing what we are doing. There are also spiritual benefits to having an intention. We are taught that:

“Whosoever intended to perform a good deed, but did not do it, then Allah writes it down with Himself as a complete good deed…” (Muslim)

Target

The second step would be to set a target. It is important to know how much you will require to go on Haj. Unfortunately, due to increasing prices each year, we can’t be certain of the exact amount. The easiest way to get a figure to work towards is to contact Haj operators and ask what their estimates for a Haj package will be. Other Haj related expenses such as potentially leaving behind provisions for your family should also be considered.

Putting the money away

The next step would be to put the money away in a savings or investment account. Regular shari’ah compliant accounts or dedicated Haj savings/investment accounts can be used. Automation is your friend. You should automate your monthly payments into your Haj account. In order to determine how much you should save each month, take the amount required for Haj and then divide it by the amount of years before Haj. For example, you may require 200 000 to go on Haj five years from now, therefore, you will need to save 3333.3 per month (200 000/ (12*5)). You will need to do a realistic evaluation of your current budget to determine how much you can potentially contribute each month and if this amount is possible. If not, you must make adjustments to your budget or consider a longer savings period.

Making the budget adjustments

It is unlikely that you will have the excess money to put away for Haj. Essentially, there are two ways to find the money to put towards your Haj.

1.      Decrease Expenses. You can do this by revaluating your current expenses and cutting out anything unnecessary.

2.      Increase Income. This can be by moving jobs or finding additional part time employment. Since Haj is meant to be a spiritual journey, you may be making some lift style changes and this may lead to the potential income from selling some of your stuff.

Ultimately, we should remember that Haj is an invite from Allah, and He calls whoever He wills. We shouldn’t forget to increase our spirituality and pray that He invites us. There are many examples of people who Allah called to His house who arrived there in extraordinary ways despite their lack of means.

“…And whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them, and provide for them from sources they could never imagine…” (Qur’an 65:2-3).

Allah Knows Best