What should a person who cannot go to hajj due to old age do?

Dear Brother / Sister,

During the Farewell Hajj, a young woman from the tribe of Has'am asked the Messenger of Allah (pbuh),

"O Messenger of Allah! The order to make hajj came when my father was very old. He cannot sit even on a camel. Can I make hajj on behalf of him by proxy?"

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, "Yes, you can make hajj by proxy." 1

Ibn Abbas narrates:

A woman vowed to go to hajj but she died before performing hajj. The woman’s brother asked the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) what to do. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked him,

"Would you have paid her debt if your sister had been in debt?" The man said,

"O Messenger of Allah! Yes." The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Then, pay her debt to Allah because the debt to Allah is more worthy to pay." 2

It is necessary not to neglect hajj. If a person for whom hajj is fard cannot go to hajj, he must send one of his relatives whom he can trust to hajj as proxy. For, neglecting hajj attracts divine wrath, not divine misfortunes. Its penalty occurs in the form of "increase in sins". 3

The thawab of a deed of worshipping that is performed, the blessing of the Quran or tasbihat that is read, the thawab of a charity and good deeds can be given to somebody else as a gift; the person to whom it is sent as a gift benefits fully from it spiritually. 4

Proxy is permissible in deeds of worshipping that are done directly by wealth like zakah, sacrificing an animal and sadaqah; similarly, proxy is also permissible in hajj, which is done by both the body and wealth. However, hajj by proxy becomes permissible only when the person who has to make hajj is too weak to make hajj. Otherwise, it is not permissible for a person who can make hajj to send somebody else to hajj as proxy.

The reasons like being too old, being chronically ill, being confined to bed, death and a woman having no mahram person to accompany her in hajj are reasons that make it impossible for the responsible person to make hajj. In such cases, the person who has to make hajj has to send a person whom he can trust to hajj as proxy.

The person who will go to hajj as proxy must know how to make hajj and must make hajj on behalf of the person who sends him by making intention for him. Both the responsible person who appoints a proxy and the proxy must be sane, have reached the age of puberty and know about the hajj issue.

A person for whom hajj becomes fard must will before his death for somebody to make hajj for him as proxy. In that case, his inheritors must go or send a reliable person to hajj on behalf of him by proxy by meeting the expenses from one-third of the inheritance. Even if he has not willed, when his inheritors make hajj or send somebody to hajj on behalf of him by proxy, his hajj debt will have been paid. According to Shafii madhhab, his inheritors have to make hajj or send somebody to hajj on behalf of him by proxy.

Footnotes:

1. Sahih Bukhari, Hajj, Vol. 6, p. 52; Nasai, Vol. 5, p. 147,
2. Nasai, Manasikul-Hajj, Vol. 5, p. 146,
3. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Sünûhât, p. 54,
4. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, Şuâlar, p. 589.

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