If a person is unable to perform the obligatory Hajj, another person’s undertaking and performing Hajj on his behalf is called proxy Hajj. The ruling on proxy Hajj is established by several hadiths. The hadiths are mentioned below.
1. A woman from the tribe of Khath‘am said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), “O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), the obligation Allah has imposed upon His servants has become due upon my father in his extreme old age. He cannot remain seated firmly on a mount. May I perform Hajj on his behalf?” He said, “Yes.” This occurred during the Farewell Hajj.[1]
2. It is narrated from Abu Razin al-‘Uqayli that he came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and asked him, saying, “My father is very old. He cannot perform Hajj or Umrah, nor can he ride and travel on a mount.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Perform Hajj and Umrah on behalf of your father.”[2]
3. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) heard a man saying, لَبَّيْكَ عَنْ شُبْرَمَةَ—“Labbayk on behalf of Shubrumah.” He asked, “Who is Shubrumah?” The man replied, “My brother or a relative of mine.” He asked, “Have you performed your own Hajj?” The man replied, “No.” He said, “Perform your own Hajj first, then the Hajj of Shubrumah.”[3]
Which of the three types of Hajj the proxy Hajj will be is to be determined by the person on whose behalf the Hajj is being performed (المحجوج عنه). If he instructs that Ifrad be performed, then Ifrad must be performed; if he instructs that Qiran be performed, then Qiran must be performed; and if he instructs that Tamattu‘ be performed, then Tamattu‘ must be performed. It will not be valid otherwise. There is no stipulation that proxy Hajj must be Hajj al-Ifrad. Rather, the second hadith mentioned above speaks of both Hajj and Umrah. This indicates that the person performing proxy Hajj may perform Hajj al-Tamattu‘.
No restriction can be found in the hadith stating that if a person performing proxy Hajj performs any type of Hajj other than Ifrad, his Hajj will not be valid. Nor is there any strong evidence that uttering the word “Hajj” refers only to Ifrad. This is because one hadith states that Umrah has become inseparably incorporated into Hajj: دَخَلَتِ اْلُعمْرَةُ ِفْي اْلحَجِّ (Umrah has entered into Hajj).[4] Therefore, when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) permitted the woman from the tribe of Khath‘am to perform proxy Hajj on behalf of her father and said, فَحُجِّيْ عَنْهُ “Perform Hajj on behalf of your father,” there is no basis whatsoever for claiming that he meant Hajj without Umrah.
Nor is it written in any reliable book of Islamic jurisprudence that proxy Hajj must be Hajj al-Ifrad only. What is written in the books of Islamic jurisprudence is that the type of Hajj instructed by the person on whose behalf proxy Hajj is being performed must be performed. Here I quote some passages from the well-known book Bada’i‘ al-Sana’i‘ (بدائع الصنائع)—
إذا أمر بحجة مفردة أو بعمرة مفردة، فقرن فهو مخالف ضامن في قول أبي حنيفة، وقال أبو يوسف ومحمد يجزي ذلك عن الآمر، نستحسن وندع القياس فيه --- ولو أمره أن يحج عنه، فاعتمر ضمن، لأنه خالف، ولو اعتمر، ثم حج من مكة، يضمن النفقة في قولهم جميعا، لأمره له بالحج بسفر، وقد أتى بالحج من غير سفر، لأنه صرف سفره الأول إلى العمرة، فكان مخالفا، فيضمن النفقة —
ولو أمره بالحج عنه بجمع بين إحرام الحج والعمرة، فأحرم بالحج عنه وأحرم بالعمرة عن نفسه، فحج عنه ،واعتمر عن نفسه، صار مخالفا في ظاهر الرواية عن أبي حنيفة.
That is, if the person commissioning the proxy Hajj instructs that only Hajj be performed or that only Umrah be performed, but the person performing the proxy Hajj performs Hajj al-Qiran, then—according to Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him)—the person performing the proxy Hajj must pay compensation. According to Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on them), it will be deemed fulfilled on behalf of the one who gave the instruction. Indeed, we consider this to be istihsan and set aside qiyas in this matter. If the person commissioning the proxy Hajj instructs that Hajj be performed, but the person performing the proxy Hajj performs Umrah, he must pay compensation, because he did not act according to the instruction. If he performs Umrah and subsequently performs Hajj from Makkah, then according to all of them, he must pay compensation. This is because the instruction given by the person commissioning the Hajj to the person performing the proxy Hajj was that the journey be undertaken for Hajj, whereas he performed it without such a journey, since he used the initial journey for Umrah. Thus, he acted contrary to the instruction, and for that reason he must pay compensation. If the person giving the instruction tells him to combine both Hajj and Umrah in a single ihram, but the person performing the proxy Hajj performs only Hajj for the person giving the instruction and performs Umrah for himself, then—according to one apparent narration from Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him)—he has acted contrary to the instruction.[5]
The above quotation makes it clear that Hajj must be performed in accordance with the instructions of the person commissioning the proxy Hajj. The type of Hajj he instructs must be performed. There is a difference of opinion regarding the circumstances in which compensation must be paid if Hajj is not performed according to the instructions. Neither Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Muhammad nor Imam Abu Yusuf stated that the person performing proxy Hajj must perform Hajj al-Ifrad in all circumstances.
[1] - يارسول الله إن فريضة الله على عباده ، أدركت أبي شيخا كبيرا لا يثبت على الراحلة ، أفأحج عنه ؟ قال: نعم ، وذلك في حجة الوداع (Bukhari: Hadith no. 1417)
[2] قال يا رسول الله إن أبي شيخ كبير لا يستطيع الحج والعمرة والظعن فقال حج عن أبيك واعتمر (Tirmidhi: Hadith no. 852)
[3] - عن ابن عباس أن رسول الله سمع رجلا يقول لبيك عن شبرمة فقال من شبرمة؟ قال أخي أو قريب لي. قال :هل حججت؟ قال لا قال حج عن نفسك ثم حج عن شبرمة (Abu Dawud: Hadith no. 1424)
[4] - Muslim: Hadith no. 1218
[5] - Bada’i‘ al-Sana’i‘: Vol. 2, pp. 213–214