Is it permissible for an elderly person to appoint a proxy to perform the obligatory Hajj on his behalf if he finds it difficult?
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Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. An elderly man finds it difficult to perform the obligatory Hajj. Is it permissible for him to appoint someone to perform Hajj on his behalf? I hope you will explain to us the matter of proxy in Hajj in detail. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The default is that a person performs Hajj himself; he performs the obligatory Hajj himself because it is a worship that is both physical and financial. He must perform it himself in the obligatory Hajj; this is the default. If someone else performs it on his behalf while he is able to perform it himself, it is not valid. Appointing a proxy for the obligatory Hajj is not permissible except in the case of continuous inability and the lack of capacity to perform it, as came in the hadith from the woman who said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "My father has reached the age of the obligatory Hajj, but he is unable to ride a mount. Should I perform Hajj on his behalf?" He said (peace and blessings be upon him) When a person reaches this state, if he is an old, decrepit man who cannot perform Hajj himself, or if he is suffering from a chronic, continuous illness that prevents him from performing Hajj himself, then it is permissible for him at that time to appoint a proxy to perform Hajj on his behalf. The condition for the proxy to perform Hajj on his behalf is that the proxy must have already performed Hajj for himself, because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) heard the man who was reciting the talbiyah on behalf of his brother, he said Mishkat al-Masabih 2529 "Your brother." However, if a person is able to perform Hajj himself, or if he is suffering from a temporary illness that is expected to end, then it is not permissible for him to appoint a proxy for the obligatory Hajj; rather, he must wait until his excuse is removed. Yes.
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. An elderly man finds it difficult to perform the obligatory Hajj. Is it permissible for him to appoint someone to perform Hajj on his behalf? I hope you will explain to us the matter of proxy in Hajj in detail. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The default is that a person performs Hajj himself; he performs the obligatory Hajj himself because it is a worship that is both physical and financial. He must perform it himself in the obligatory Hajj; this is the default. If someone else performs it on his behalf while he is able to perform it himself, it is not valid. Appointing a proxy for the obligatory Hajj is not permissible except in the case of continuous inability and the lack of capacity to perform it, as came in the hadith from the woman who said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "My father has reached the age of the obligatory Hajj, but he is unable to ride a mount. Should I perform Hajj on his behalf?" He said (peace and blessings be upon him)
"What do you think? If your father had a debt, would you pay it off?" She said, "Yes." He said, "Pay off the debt of Allah, for Allah has more right to be paid off."
أرأيت لو كان على أبيك دين أكنت قاضيته؟ قالت نعم، قالوا اقضوا الله فالله أحق بالقضاء،He asked whether he had performed the pilgrimage on his own behalf, and when he replied that he had not, he said, “Perform the pilgrimage on your own
أَحَجَجْتَ عَنْ نَفْسِكَ قَالَ لَا قَالَ حُجَّ عَنْ نَفْسِكَ ثُمَّ حُجَّ عَنْ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يجوز لكبير السن أن ينيب من يحج عنه الفريضة إذا وجد مشقة؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.