Islamic Manual

Hajj Badal: performing Hajj on behalf of someone else

When a pilgrim is stopped before finishing, and when someone unable to travel must send another person to perform Hajj on their behalf.

Sometimes a person cannot finish their Hajj after starting it, because of illness, or danger from someone. Sometimes a person cannot travel for Hajj at all, even though Hajj became obligatory on them. Islam has rules for both situations.

If you are stopped partway through

  1. If you cannot continue after tying ihram, send an animal to be sacrificed in Makkah through someone else, and tell them exactly when to do it.
  2. Only take off your ihram once that sacrifice has been made. You do not have to shave your head, though it is better if you do.
  3. The next year, make up what you missed: if you only intended Umrah, do Umrah again; if you intended Hajj, do both Hajj and Umrah; if you intended Qiran, do two Umrahs and one Hajj.

If someone is too old, too sick, or otherwise genuinely unable to travel for Hajj, but they have the money for it, they must pay someone else to go and perform Hajj for them. This is called Hajj Badal.

If someone who should have performed Hajj passes away and had asked for Hajj to be performed on their behalf, their family should use up to a third of what they left behind to arrange it.

Two related situations are covered here: a pilgrim who is prevented from completing Hajj after entering ihram, and a person for whom Hajj is obligatory but who cannot perform it in person: Hajj Badal, a substitute Hajj performed by someone else.

Prevented from completing Hajj

  1. If illness or fear of an enemy prevents completing Hajj after ihram has been tied, a sacrificial animal is sent to Makkah through someone else, with the day and time of its slaughter specified.
  2. Ihram is only removed once that sacrifice has taken place. Shaving or trimming the hair is not required in this case, though it is better to do it.
  3. The following year, whatever was missed is made up: Umrah alone if only Umrah was intended, both Hajj and Umrah if Hajj was intended, or two Umrahs and one Hajj if Qiran was intended.
  4. A Qarin who is stopped in this way sends two sacrifices rather than one.

Hajj Badal applies to someone who once had the means and met every condition for Hajj, but has since become genuinely excused (through old age, or an illness such as lameness, paralysis, or being bedridden, or fear of a ruler) while still possessing the wealth to fund it.

Wājibmust do

A person excused in this permanent way, who has the wealth for it, must pay someone to perform Hajj on their behalf. The Hajj is then considered fulfilled for them, provided the excuse remains continuous. Should the excuse later be lifted, they must perform Hajj themselves, unless they had already performed it in person during the excused period, in which case nothing further is required.

When the obligated person has died

  1. If they left a will asking for Hajj Badal, the heirs are required to spend up to one-third of the estate on it, sending it from the place named in the will, or from the deceased's hometown, provided that a third of the estate is sufficient.
  2. If a third of the estate is not enough to fund Hajj from the hometown, it is arranged instead from wherever the available funds do suffice.
  3. If the deputy performing Hajj Badal dies en route, a third of the original person's estate is spent arranging Hajj from their hometown, if sufficient; if not, a substitute continues the journey from the point it had reached.
  4. If no will was made, it remains permissible for the heirs to perform Hajj on the deceased's behalf, or to arrange it, at their own expense.

If someone on whom Hajj became obligatory sets out to perform it but dies before the Hajj season arrives, and had departed in the same year the obligation arose, no obligation remains upon them. If they delayed setting out, the obligation stands, and (per Imam Abu Hanifah, the position followed for fatwa) their heirs must fund Hajj Badal from the place named in the will, or from their hometown if none was named. The other two companions of Abu Hanifah hold instead that a deputy is appointed from the place of death, and that Hajj Badal remains permissible even without a will.

Mustaḥabbgood to do

It is permissible, in the Hanafi and Maliki schools, for someone who has not yet performed their own Hajj to perform Hajj Badal for someone else, though it is better to perform one's own Hajj first. Imam al-Shafiʿi and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal hold that this is not permissible at all.

Two distinct matters are addressed under this heading: the pilgrim iḥṣār, prevented from completing Ḥajj after assuming iḥrām, and Ḥajj Badal, the substitute performance of Ḥajj by a deputy for one obligated but incapable.

Iḥṣār: prevented after iḥrām

  1. Illness or fear of an enemy after iḥrām requires sending a sacrificial animal to Makkah via a third party, with the day and hour of its slaughter specified in advance.
  2. Iḥrām is lifted only once that sacrifice has been made; ḥalq or taqṣīr is not required in this circumstance, though preferable.
  3. The following year, the missed rite is made good: ʿUmrah alone if ʿUmrah alone was intended; both Ḥajj and ʿUmrah if Ḥajj was intended; two ʿUmrahs and one Ḥajj if Qirān was intended.
  4. A Qārin so prevented sends two sacrifices rather than one.
Wājibmust do

Ḥajj Badal is wājib upon a person who once possessed both istiṭāʿah and every other condition for Ḥajj, but has since become permanently ('udhr mustamirr) excused (by old age, or an illness such as being lame, paralysed, or bedridden, or by fear of a ruler) while retaining the wealth to fund it: such a person must engage a deputy. The Ḥajj so performed discharges the obligation so long as the excuse persists continuously; should it later be lifted, personal performance again becomes obligatory, save where the person had, during the excused period, already performed Ḥajj in person, which then suffices without repetition.

Where the obligated person has died

  1. Having willed Ḥajj Badal, the heirs are obligated to spend up to one-third of the estate on it, dispatched from the place named in the waṣiyyah or from the deceased's hometown, provided the third suffices from there.
  2. Where a third of the estate is insufficient from the hometown, it is arranged instead from whichever place the funds do suffice.
  3. Should the deputy die en route, a third of the deceased's estate funds a fresh Ḥajj Badal from the hometown if sufficient; otherwise a substitute continues from the point already reached.
  4. Absent any waṣiyyah, the heirs may still perform or arrange Ḥajj Badal at their own expense, and this is permissible.

Where a person on whom Ḥajj was obligatory set out but died before the season, having departed in the very year the obligation arose, no residual obligation attaches to the estate. Where departure was delayed beyond that year, the obligation survives: per Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, the position followed for fatwā, the heirs fund Ḥajj Badal from the place named in the waṣiyyah, or the hometown absent one; the Ṣāḥibayn hold instead that a deputy is appointed from the place of death, and permit Ḥajj Badal even without any waṣiyyah at all.

Mustaḥabbgood to do

The Ḥanafī and Mālikī schools permit one who has not yet discharged their own Ḥajj obligation to perform Ḥajj Badal for another, though performing one's own Ḥajj first is preferable; Imām al-Shāfiʿī and Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal hold this impermissible outright.

Ḥarāmmust not do

A deputy performing Ḥajj Badal who sells the deceased's possessions to fund the journey must return whatever remains beyond the Ḥajj's necessary expenses; spending the surplus on anything outside the needs of the Ḥajj, without the owner's or heirs' permission, is not permitted.

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