Can One Finance Someone Else to Perform Hajj on a Deceased Person’s Behalf?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My grandfather died intending to do Haj but was unable to do so. My mother now wants to perform Haj on his behalf but cannot do so because she has yet to perform her own Haj. My mother, on the other hand, is wealthy, and she is wondering whether she may pay her cousin, who has already performed Haj, to perform Haj on my grandfather’s behalf.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
It is permissible for your mother to finance her cousin – who has already performed his own Haj – to perform Haj on your grandfather’s behalf.
Also, as your mother has enough wealth to perform Haj, she should find a mahram to go with and fulfill her own Haj.
If haj was not compulsory upon your grandfather, performing haj on his behalf will fall into the category of an optional (nafl) Haj and not (Haj al-Badal). [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
Appoint Someone With Knowledge and Who Has Learned the Rites
Lastly, as the rules relating to appointing another to perform Hajj on one’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.
Related:
- A Hajj Reader
- Can One Perform Hajj on Behalf of Others?
- Appointing Someone to Perform Hajj on Someone’s Behalf
- Would Hajj Badal be Acceptable for my Obligatory Hajj?
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course: On Worship (Purification, Prayer, Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj)
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
