Ruling on the validity of Hajj of someone who repeatedly stared at women till he ejaculated

8-9-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

I performed Hajj in 1415 A.H., and I kept looking at some women until I experienced penile erection and ejaculated as I was still in Ihram. Then I completed my Hajj. I returned the following year to perform Hajj again. Is my first Hajj valid? What should I do?

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Answer:

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.

Ejaculation that results from repeated and constant looking at foreign women requires repentance, along with regret over what you had done. Nonetheless, this does not invalidate Hajj according to the majority of the scholars including the Hanafi, Shaafi‘i, and Hanbali schools. The Maaliki scholars, on the other hand, said that if a person ejaculates because of staring at women before performing both Tawaf al-ifadhah and pebble-throwing at Al-‘Aqabah on the Day of Slaughter, or before any of them, then his Hajj becomes invalid, and if ejaculation happens due to mere sexual thoughts or accidental looking, then Hajj is not invalidated thereby. However, the person involved is required to offer a sacrificial animal.

According to the Hanbal school of Fiqh, if a person looks at women and lowers his gaze, yet he ejaculates, then he is required to sacrifice a sheep. But if he looks repeatedly until he ejaculates, then he is required to sacrifice a she-camel.

The Shaafi‘i and Hanafi scholars held that he is not required to offer an expiation for lustfully looking at or thinking about women. Accordingly, it is safer to sacrifice a she-camel, if you repeatedly looked until you ejaculated, or one sheep, if you looked and lowered your gaze, but ejaculated. This is the view held by the Hanbali scholars, as we have mentioned above. You have to avoid this act and other prohibited acts in your Hajj in the hope that your Hajj would be accepted and your sins forgiven. 

Allaah Knows best.