Appointing Someone to Perform Hajj on Someone’s Behalf

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: My mother’s grandfather had the means to perform the Hajj, but didn’t. My mother wants Hajj to be performed on his behalf. But she herself has not performed Hajj. Does one need to perform his own Hajj first, to be able to provide for the performance of Hajj on the behalf of another?

Can we pay someone in our family who has performed Hajj, that he may, in turn, provide for some poor person to perform Hajj on the behalf of our grandfather (so that the poor person can also have the honor of performing Hajj, while at the same time our Grandfather receives the reward)? Because we don’t want Grandfather’s Hajj to be delayed just because we haven’t performed our own Hajj yet.

Answer: assalamu `alaykum

The main consideration for validity when appointing someone to perform Hajj on another’s behalf is that such a person be legally suitable for the performance of the Hajj rituals. This condition excludes, for example, appointing someone who is not considered morally responsible. [ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

For someone to perform a Hajj on behalf of another while they themselves are obligated to perform it is prohibitively disliked and would be sinful though valid. [Ibn Humam, Fath al-Qadir; Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

You should note that the rules relating to appointing another to perform Hajj on another’s behalf constitute a number of details, it is highly advised that one consult a reliable scholar on these details before going ahead with things.

Salman