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Purchasing business class seat

 

Question:

Would it be considered israaf to purchase business class instead of economy class on a plane?

 

Answer:s

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Generally, there are 5 levels of spending:

  1. Dharurah: Such a need that if one does not attain it, he will lose his life or will be harmed such as food and clothing to the extent of necessity.
  2. Haajah: Such a need that if one does not attain it, he will not be harmed but he will experience difficulty such as food and clothing beyond the bare necessity.
  3. Comfort: Such items that are not Dharurah nor Haajah, rather they are purely for comfort purposes such as a business class seat.
  4. Beauty: Such items that are purely for beautification purposes such as decorations for the house and flowers etc.
  5. Show off: Such items that are purchased to show off and boast in front of others.

Spending for Dharurah is Fardh and obligatory. Failure to do so is sinful.

Spending on Haajah , comfort and beautification purposes is permissible with the following two conditions:

  1. The intention must not be to show off
  2. The item must be within the individual’s financial means and affordable.

Spending on items with the intention to show off is Haram.

Based on the aforementioned, purchasing a business class seat instead of an economy seat is permissible if there is no intention of showing off and it is within the individual’s financial means since a business class seat falls within Category 3, which is purely for comfort reasons.[1]

Note: Although it is permissible to spend on that which is purely for comfort, it would be advisable to spend that money instead for the Cause of Allah, as the method of Sahabah Radhiyallahu Anhum was to sacrifice their comforts and even their Haajah at times for the sake of Allah’s Deen.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mufti Abdul Azeem bin Abdul Rahman Khan

[1] Ahsanul Fatawa, Vol. 8, page 147-148 , Saeed

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