The Ninth Deviation from the Sunnah: The Hadith of Performing Hajj on Behalf of a Patient Who Is Not Expected to Recover.

The Shaykh : The ninth example is the hadith of performing Hajj on behalf of a patient who is not expected to recover from his illness. It refers to the hadith of al-Khath'amiah. The hadith of al-Khath'amiah is well known in "al-Bukhari and Muslim": A woman asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during his Hajj. She said: "O Messenger of Allah, my father is an old man who cannot stay on his mount; should I perform Hajj on his behalf?" This is the question of al-Khath'amiah. He (peace be upon him) said: "What do you think, if your father had a debt, would you pay it off for him?" She said: "Yes." He said: فدَين الله أحقُّ أن يُقضى So the debt due to Allah is the one which most deserves to be paid.Sunan Abi Dawud 3310. Some schools of jurisprudence do not accept this hadith because he is still alive and he is sick. If he dies, and if he had been able to perform Hajj, look at the contradiction: if he had been able to perform Hajj and did not, they would perform it on his behalf. But as for a man who is sick and not expected to recover, it is not permissible to perform Hajj on his behalf until he dies, even if it is by his son. Meanwhile, the hadith is explicit: أرأيت إن كان على أبيك دين أفكنت تقضينه عنه ؟ What do you think, if your father had a debt, would you pay it off for him?Sunan al-Bayhaqi 4:26. She said: "Yes." He said: فدَين الله أحقُّ أن يُقضى So the debt due to Allah is the one which most deserves to be paid.Sunan Abi Dawud 3310.