We performed 'Umrah by group transport, and the driver did not notice the miqat and passed it. When we alerted him, he refused to return to it until we reached Jeddah. What is required of us, given that we did not enter the state of ihram?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward the honorableThe Shaykh : We performed Hajj, or 'Umrah, by group transport, and the driver did not notice the miqat until after he had passed it by one hundred kilometers. He refused to return to it and continued the journey until we reached Jeddah. What is required of us in this situation?
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for the driver to stop at the miqat so that the people can enter the state of ihram from there. If he forgot and did not remember until after one hundred kilometers, as the questioner said, then it is obligatory for him to return with the people so that they can enter the state of ihram from the miqat, because he knows that these people want to perform 'Umrah or want to perform Hajj. If he does not do this and they enter the state of ihram from their location, meaning after passing the miqat by one hundred kilometers, then each one of them owes a fidyah (ransom payment) to be slaughtered in Makkah and distributed to the poor, because they neglected an obligatory duty of the rites of pilgrimage, whether in Hajj or in 'Umrah. In this case, if they sued this driver, the court might rule that he must pay the cost of this fidyah that they incurred, because he is the one who caused them to incur this cost. This is up to the court; if the judge sees it in the public benefit to say to the driver, "You must pay the value of the fidyah that these people slaughtered, because you are the one who transgressed against them, and the forgetfulness was on your part. You were first negligent, and then you transgressed against them by preventing them from their right to return." Yes.
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for the driver to stop at the miqat so that the people can enter the state of ihram from there. If he forgot and did not remember until after one hundred kilometers, as the questioner said, then it is obligatory for him to return with the people so that they can enter the state of ihram from the miqat, because he knows that these people want to perform 'Umrah or want to perform Hajj. If he does not do this and they enter the state of ihram from their location, meaning after passing the miqat by one hundred kilometers, then each one of them owes a fidyah (ransom payment) to be slaughtered in Makkah and distributed to the poor, because they neglected an obligatory duty of the rites of pilgrimage, whether in Hajj or in 'Umrah. In this case, if they sued this driver, the court might rule that he must pay the cost of this fidyah that they incurred, because he is the one who caused them to incur this cost. This is up to the court; if the judge sees it in the public benefit to say to the driver, "You must pay the value of the fidyah that these people slaughtered, because you are the one who transgressed against them, and the forgetfulness was on your part. You were first negligent, and then you transgressed against them by preventing them from their right to return." Yes.