Clarification of when it is prescribed to perform Hajj on behalf of another for one who was not negligent or careless.
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The Shaykh : A second scenario of the same type: A man did not perform Hajj until he was on the verge of death due to an illness that afflicted him. He regretted his negligence and instructed a man to perform Hajj on his behalf, giving him the funds. This man performs Hajj on his behalf because he is making up for what he missed at the end of his life; he is still within the scope of religious obligation, which is not the case after death, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Riyad as-Salihin 949 So, the one who bequeathed that Hajj be performed on his behalf has it performed for him, and this is a type of the prescribed substitute Hajj. On this basis, the hadith of Ibn Abbas is understood, where he said: "A brother of mine or a relative of mine." He (peace and blessings be upon him) approved his Hajj on behalf of this Shubrumah. But for a wisdom that Allah wills, the narrator of this hadith, Ibn Abbas or someone below him in the chain, failed to record the exact text of the pilgrim's answer to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding Shubrumah. This is a point of extreme precision, and I have not found any commentator or anyone I have met with whom we discussed this who noticed this point. Indeed, this subtle point: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked the man from Shubrumah. The narration says he said, "A brother of mine or a relative of mine." It is not valid for the one asked by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to answer with this hesitant response. If I said to one of you, "I heard so-and-so calling out the talbiyah on behalf of so-and-so. Who is this so-and-so?" and he answered me with this response, "A brother of mine or a relative of mine," I would criticize him and say to him, "My brother, what are we doing now with politics that you are hiding the identity of this person from me? Tell me who he is, my brother, and specify the answer, because I need to know whether it is permissible to perform Hajj on his behalf or not." Therefore, the answer of the one asked by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) must have been very specific, saying, "This is my father, or my brother, or my mother, or my sister, or any other person." But to say, "He is a brother of mine or a relative of mine," this is not from the one asked by the Messenger directly; rather, this came from one of the narrators who failed to record the answer issued by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
Therefore, we do not know, and will not know, for a wisdom that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) wills, the identity of this person who is Shubrumah. However, the principles of the Shari'ah prevent anyone here from asking or saying, "So, something has been lost to the Muslims here?" We say, "No," because it is not possible for a person to have comprehensive knowledge of all the subsidiary issues, especially these subsidiary matters in which the later scholars of the different schools of jurisprudence have delved. They number in the thousands, if not millions. It is not possible for a person to encompass them all, but rather they are encompassed by those fundamental legal principles, some of which our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) specified in His Book and our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his Sunnah, and others which the scholars derived. So now, since we do not know the identity of this person, we assume that he was like the father of that Khath'ami woman who was unable to perform Hajj, so she performed it on his behalf. We assume he bequeathed that Hajj be performed on his behalf. If we assume he was occupied with trade and his wealth, this is difficult to imagine in the time of Prophethood and the Message. It is also difficult for us to imagine that there was someone in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who left off prayer, because that time was the purest time that has ever existed on the face of the earth, absolutely. So we imagine a person who leaves off prayer in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and then we imagine that there must be a process of dropping the prayer, as the later scholars do, or someone who intentionally and deliberately left off Hajj, so we perform a substitute Hajj on his behalf, as they also do today. This is very difficult to imagine.
Therefore, we imagine the good accompanied by an excuse, which is that father who was unable to perform Hajj. Shubrumah may have been like him, or he may have been unable to perform Hajj in the first year or the second year, and then illness struck him, so he made up for the matter and instructed his relative to perform Hajj on his behalf.
So, and this is the main point of this speech, the scope of the substitute Hajj is very narrow. So I hope that some of our brothers do not get entangled in this, where his Hajj to the Sacred House of Allah and his prayer in the mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) entice him, and he considers that an excuse to perform a substitute Hajj on behalf of any person. This is not permissible. Rather, he should clarify. If he finds that the one for whom Hajj is being performed is one of the two previous categories, then this is a bounty that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has sent to him, so let him seize it. As for anything else, it is not permissible to perform Hajj on his behalf, because no one performs Hajj on behalf of another except what is indicated by the evidence, and we have known that there are two types.
When a man dies, his deeds come to an end, except for three: A continuous charity, knowledge by which people derive benefit, pious son who prays for him.
إذا مات الإنسان انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاث صدقة جارية أو علم ينتفع به أو ولد صالح يدعو لهThe Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) heard a man calling out the talbiyah, saying, "Labbaik Allah, on behalf of Shubrumah." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Who is Shubrumah?" He said, "A brother of mine or a relative of mine."
سمع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم رجلا يلبي وهو يقول لبيك الله عن شبرمة فقال عليه الصلاة والسلام من شبرمة قال أخٌ لي أو قريب ليTherefore, we do not know, and will not know, for a wisdom that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) wills, the identity of this person who is Shubrumah. However, the principles of the Shari'ah prevent anyone here from asking or saying, "So, something has been lost to the Muslims here?" We say, "No," because it is not possible for a person to have comprehensive knowledge of all the subsidiary issues, especially these subsidiary matters in which the later scholars of the different schools of jurisprudence have delved. They number in the thousands, if not millions. It is not possible for a person to encompass them all, but rather they are encompassed by those fundamental legal principles, some of which our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) specified in His Book and our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his Sunnah, and others which the scholars derived. So now, since we do not know the identity of this person, we assume that he was like the father of that Khath'ami woman who was unable to perform Hajj, so she performed it on his behalf. We assume he bequeathed that Hajj be performed on his behalf. If we assume he was occupied with trade and his wealth, this is difficult to imagine in the time of Prophethood and the Message. It is also difficult for us to imagine that there was someone in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who left off prayer, because that time was the purest time that has ever existed on the face of the earth, absolutely. So we imagine a person who leaves off prayer in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and then we imagine that there must be a process of dropping the prayer, as the later scholars do, or someone who intentionally and deliberately left off Hajj, so we perform a substitute Hajj on his behalf, as they also do today. This is very difficult to imagine.
Therefore, we imagine the good accompanied by an excuse, which is that father who was unable to perform Hajj. Shubrumah may have been like him, or he may have been unable to perform Hajj in the first year or the second year, and then illness struck him, so he made up for the matter and instructed his relative to perform Hajj on his behalf.
So, and this is the main point of this speech, the scope of the substitute Hajj is very narrow. So I hope that some of our brothers do not get entangled in this, where his Hajj to the Sacred House of Allah and his prayer in the mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) entice him, and he considers that an excuse to perform a substitute Hajj on behalf of any person. This is not permissible. Rather, he should clarify. If he finds that the one for whom Hajj is being performed is one of the two previous categories, then this is a bounty that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has sent to him, so let him seize it. As for anything else, it is not permissible to perform Hajj on his behalf, because no one performs Hajj on behalf of another except what is indicated by the evidence, and we have known that there are two types.