Praise Be to Allah. Allah’s Peace and Blessings Be upon Prophet Mohammad. Hajj is a great religious duty (faridah) that must be performed once in a lifetime for those who are able to do so. The principle is that Muslims should perform it themselves; except if they are unable to perform it due to old age or a terminal illness. In that case, Muslims are permitted to appoint someone else to perform Hajj on their behalf, provided that the appointee has already performed Hajj for themselves, according to the stronger opinion of the scholars. In this regard Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah Be Pleased with Him) narrated that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) heard a man saying, “O Allah! Here I am in response to Your call (saying Labbayk on behalf Shubrumah.” Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) asked him. “Have you performed your own Hajj?” He replied, ‘No,’ whereupon the Prophet told him, “You must perform Hajj on your own behalf first, and then perform it on behalf of Shubrumah.” Related by Abu Dawud.
For performing Hajj on behalf of a living person, it is required that this person grants permission. As for the deceased, it is permissible to perform Hajj on their behalf without their permission, whether it is an obligatory Hajj or a voluntary one. If someone dies while the obligatory Hajj was still due on them, it is recommended that the cost of Hajj be taken from their inheritance, and their family should appoint someone to perform Hajj on their behalf from their wealth, whether the deceased had instructed for this before their death or not. This is based on the narration of Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah Be Pleased with Him) “A woman from the tribe of Juhainah came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said, “My mother had vowed to perform Hajj, but she died before fulfilling her vow. Should I perform Hajj on her behalf?” The Prophet (PBUH) said, “Yes perform Hajj on her behalf. Had there been a debt on your mother, would you have paid it or not? So, pay off her debt to Allah, for He is most deserving of settlement of His debt.” Related by Al-Bukhari.
