Question :
What is the ruling when an on-duty government employee is unable to wear Ihram clothes during the Hajj season. Is it permissible that he assumes Ihram in ordinary clothes(Non Form-Fitting)?
The Answer :
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muahmmad and upon all of his family and companions.
Muslim Jurists have stated that violations of the restrictions of Ihram (Ritual consecration) don`t incur the same sin or require offering the same ransom. Some incur sin and require offering a ransom while others incur sin, with no ransom required; whereas, some require only ransom. For example, a person is permitted to wear ordinary clothes if he couldn`t obtain the clothes of Ihram, and he isn`t required to offer a ransom. It is also permissible to wear ordinary clothes, along with offering a ransom, due to hot weather, cold weather or an illness.Al-Imam Zakaria al-Ansari said: "While in state of Ihram, wearing whatever is forbidden to be worn or covering whatever is forbidden to be covered, due to hot weather, cold weather or an illness and the like is permissible, and requires offering ransom. Actually, this is similar to shaving the head while observing Ihram. Both cases share the same cause permitting the violation of one of the restrictions of Ihram." {Asna Al-Matalib, 1/507}.
In principle, those who have administrative duties during Hajj to serve the pilgrims should adhere to their assigned tasks and not engage in performing Hajj unless they are permitted to do so. If they intend to perform Hajj—whether with or without permission—and commit one of the prohibitions of Ihram, they are sinful and must offer a compensatory sacrifice (fidyah) while their Hajj remains valid. The fidyah can be: either slaughtering a sheep and distributing its meat among the poor in the Haram, feeding six needy people with half a sa’ (about 1.5 kg) of food each, or fasting for three days, along with repenting to Allah The Almighty. And Allah The Almighty knows best.