Is it obligatory for a small girl to enter the state of ihram if we take her with us for Hajj?

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy.

The questioner : May Allah protect you. May Allah lengthen your life. We want to perform Hajj, if Allah wills, this year, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : If Allah the Exalted wills.

The questioner : Myself, the children, and a small girl who is ten or eleven months old, if Allah wills. So, does this girl have to do what the pilgrim has to do?

The Shaykh : No, she has nothing to do.

The questioner : Regarding covering the head or something like that?

The Shaykh : No, I see that you should not let her enter the state of ihram. I see that you should not let her enter the state of ihram.

The questioner : We do not let her enter the state of ihram? No. Okay.

The Shaykh : Because it is a hardship for you and for her, and you know that these seasons have severe crowding and fatigue, and praise be to Allah, since Hajj is not obligatory for her, it is not required.

The questioner : We want to take her with us.

The Shaykh : She goes with you without ihram, she is anointed with you without ihram.

The questioner : Okay, and during the tawaf, of course, for example, we put diapers or something like that on her, and she might be soiled or cold, for example. Does this, for example, harm us in any way?

The Shaykh : No, it is fine.

The questioner : When she comes?

The Shaykh : No, no, she wears whatever she wants.

The questioner : She wears her things. Okay, and if we put her in ihram and there is hardship?

The Shaykh : I do not advise you to do so, because it entails tawaf, sa'y, and stoning the pillars for her. Yes.

The questioner : We stone the pillars for her, for example. She is a small girl, a child. We stone the pillars for her.

The Shaykh : But how do you perform tawaf with her now?

The questioner : We perform tawaf with her, for example, we clean her before tawaf, for example, and we put diapers or something like that on her, and we perform tawaf with her, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : And does she form the intention?

The questioner : She is a small child.

The Shaykh : Okay, if she does not understand the intention, some of the scholars say that the guardian must first perform tawaf for himself, and then perform tawaf with her second.

The questioner : Oh, I see, the tawaf, I mean.

The Shaykh : He will perform tawaf with her.

The questioner : With her second.

The Shaykh : With her second, or he hires someone to perform tawaf with her and walk with her.

The questioner : So we take her with us and that is it, without ihram, I mean.

The Shaykh : Yes, no, without ihram.

The questioner : And she performs the rituals without intention and such.

The Shaykh : Hmm?

The questioner : She performs the rituals with us without intentions.

The Shaykh : She does it without intention and nothing is required.

The questioner : So it is as if we are just taking her along, or that is it. And if she is soiled or cold, for example, and we are in a state of ihram and we perform tawaf with her, I mean. Yes. Is there any problem with that or not?

The Shaykh : There is nothing wrong with it at all.