Is it permissible for one who is unable to perform Hajj to appoint a proxy?
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The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, I am a person who wants to perform Hajj, but I am weak in strength and health, and I suffer from dizziness in the head and cannot handle the crowds. Is it permissible for me to pay a sum of money to someone so that he performs this obligatory duty on my behalf, or what should I do? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
If this Hajj of yours is the obligatory Hajj that you have not performed before, and if this illness you have prevents you from traveling for Hajj, and if it is a chronic illness that is expected to continue and for which no cure is hoped for, then you appoint a proxy to perform Hajj on your behalf. There is no harm in giving him money so that he can travel for Hajj and spend on himself and whatever is needed, either by giving him the travel expenses or by giving him a sum of money that he takes and spends from. However, this is on the condition that this proxy has first performed Hajj for himself. But if this illness is a temporary one that is expected to end, then you wait until it ends, by the permission of Allah, and then you perform Hajj, because the time for performing Hajj is extended, praise be to Allah. Especially since, as you mentioned, you currently cannot travel for Hajj, so you wait until this excuse is removed and you perform Hajj yourself as much as possible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good and reward you. It is as if Shaykh Salih is saying that our brother is required to look for means of treatment, perhaps Allah the Exalted will enable him to perform Hajj and other things.
The Shaykh:
Yes, there is no doubt, there is no doubt that he is required to look for beneficial treatment, by the permission of Allah, at the doctors' hospitals, so that he may find a treatment that removes this illness from him. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, I am a person who wants to perform Hajj, but I am weak in strength and health, and I suffer from dizziness in the head and cannot handle the crowds. Is it permissible for me to pay a sum of money to someone so that he performs this obligatory duty on my behalf, or what should I do? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
If this Hajj of yours is the obligatory Hajj that you have not performed before, and if this illness you have prevents you from traveling for Hajj, and if it is a chronic illness that is expected to continue and for which no cure is hoped for, then you appoint a proxy to perform Hajj on your behalf. There is no harm in giving him money so that he can travel for Hajj and spend on himself and whatever is needed, either by giving him the travel expenses or by giving him a sum of money that he takes and spends from. However, this is on the condition that this proxy has first performed Hajj for himself. But if this illness is a temporary one that is expected to end, then you wait until it ends, by the permission of Allah, and then you perform Hajj, because the time for performing Hajj is extended, praise be to Allah. Especially since, as you mentioned, you currently cannot travel for Hajj, so you wait until this excuse is removed and you perform Hajj yourself as much as possible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good and reward you. It is as if Shaykh Salih is saying that our brother is required to look for means of treatment, perhaps Allah the Exalted will enable him to perform Hajj and other things.
The Shaykh:
Yes, there is no doubt, there is no doubt that he is required to look for beneficial treatment, by the permission of Allah, at the doctors' hospitals, so that he may find a treatment that removes this illness from him. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يجوز لمن يضعف عن أداء الحج أن ينيب غيره؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.