What is the criterion for the person who gives money to a man to perform Hajj on his behalf? If he has a debt, does he pay it off? And what is the ruling on giving money from the generous to students of knowledge for the sake of benefit?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you: What is the criterion for the person on whose behalf Hajj is performed, especially since we find many generous people who allocate a portion of their wealth to certain people so that they perform Hajj, and some of them happen to have a debt—meaning this generous person gives to some people who have a debt so that they perform Hajj. Is it permissible for him to pay off this debt, or should he perform Hajj? And is it permissible for the generous to spend on students of knowledge, since there is benefit in that?
The Shaykh : As for the person on whose behalf Hajj is performed, the Sunnah only came regarding the obligatory Hajj for one who is unable to perform Hajj himself, and it never came regarding voluntary Hajj. The most that is there is what came in the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both):Mishkat al-Masabih 2529.
Some people may cling to this hadith and say: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not ask him: Did he perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah for the obligatory Hajj or for a voluntary one? It is said: The hadith is ambiguous, but his saying: indicates that this Hajj is obligatory. So, appointing a proxy for the obligatory Hajj in the case of inability is established by the Sunnah. Appointing a proxy for voluntary Hajj is not established by the Sunnah at all, but some scholars analogized it to the obligatory Hajj.
Then, some scholars expanded on this and said: It is permissible for the capable person to appoint someone to perform voluntary Hajj on his behalf, even though it is not permissible for the obligatory one. So, I do not like for people to expand on this. We say to the one who has surplus wealth and wants to give it to someone to perform Hajj on his behalf: Give it to someone who performs the obligatory Hajj, and you will have helped a person in performing an obligation, and you will be written a reward like his. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:Sahih Muslim 1895b And likewise, whoever equips a pilgrim, it is hoped that he will be like the one who equips a warrior, meaning: the reward of Hajj is written for him. This is better than saying: Take these coins and perform Hajj on my behalf, while you are capable of performing Hajj yourself. Have you seen if you said to a person: I am tired today, I have performed the obligatory prayer in the Zuhr prayer, but take these coins and pray the rawatib on my behalf? Is that valid? It is not valid. Therefore, it should not be expanded upon in this issue, and we say to the one who has surplus wealth: The best is that you help someone to perform Hajj or 'Umrah, yes, and then you will have the reward, if Allah wills.
As for the one who took the money for Hajj and has a debt, and he paid off some of his debt with it, there is no harm if he performed the Hajj in the manner that is required.
The Shaykh : As for the person on whose behalf Hajj is performed, the Sunnah only came regarding the obligatory Hajj for one who is unable to perform Hajj himself, and it never came regarding voluntary Hajj. The most that is there is what came in the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both):
God's messenger heard a man say, “ Labbaik on behalf of Shubruma." He asked who Shubruma was, and the man replied, “A brother of mine," or “a relative of mine." 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 behalf, then perform it on behalf of Shubruma."
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم سمع رجلاً يقول: لبيك عن شبرمة فقال: من شبرمة؟ قال: أخ لي أو قريب لي، قال: حججت عن نفسك؟ قال: لا، قال: حج عن نفسك ثم حج عن شبرمةSome people may cling to this hadith and say: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not ask him: Did he perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah for the obligatory Hajj or for a voluntary one? It is said: The hadith is ambiguous, but his saying:
Perform Hajj for yourself, then for Shubrumah.
حج عن نفسك ثم عن شبرمةThen, some scholars expanded on this and said: It is permissible for the capable person to appoint someone to perform voluntary Hajj on his behalf, even though it is not permissible for the obligatory one. So, I do not like for people to expand on this. We say to the one who has surplus wealth and wants to give it to someone to perform Hajj on his behalf: Give it to someone who performs the obligatory Hajj, and you will have helped a person in performing an obligation, and you will be written a reward like his. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:
He who equips a warrior in the way of Allah (is like one who dctually fights)
من جهز غازياً فقد غزاAs for the one who took the money for Hajj and has a debt, and he paid off some of his debt with it, there is no harm if he performed the Hajj in the manner that is required.