Should he do Hajj on behalf of his deceased father who did Hajj, or on behalf of his elderly mother who has not yet done Hajj?
Question I performed the obligatory Hajj last year, praise be to Allah. My mother has not done Hajj and she is over 65 years of age. Because of her health and the situation in Egypt, she is not able to do Hajj. My father died this year at the age of 80; he did Hajj…
Question
My mother has not done Hajj and she is over 65 years of age. Because of her health and the situation in Egypt, she is not able to do Hajj.
My father died this year at the age of 80; he did Hajj twenty years ago.
Is it better for me to do Hajj on behalf of my father, for whom I hope for speedy forgiveness from Allah, and I do not want to wait until next year, or should I do Hajj on behalf of my mother who has not done Hajj before?
Is it essential for me to take money from her wealth for the expenses of Hajj? Or is it permissible for me to pay for it, even though my mother has enough money for that?
I asked my mother to be pleased with me in this world and in the Hereafter, and never to be angry, and I asked my brothers to bear witness to that, knowing that I always try to make her pleased with me.
Praise be to Allah.
If your mother is unable to do Hajj herself for a reason
for which there is no hope of an end, and she has enough money to do Hajj,
then she should appoint someone to do Hajj on her behalf. If you volunteer
to do Hajj on her behalf, that is part of honouring her, and it is not
essential that the expenses of Hajj be paid from her wealth.
See the answer to question no.
36841.
With regard to whether your Hajj this year should be on
behalf of your father or your mother:
The answer is that you should do it on behalf of your mother.
That is for two reasons:
1.Hajj on behalf of your mother
is obligatory, because she has not done Hajj before, whereas Hajj on behalf
of your father would be naafil (supererogatory), and what is obligatory
takes precedence over what is naafil.
2.If there is a conflict between
the rights of the father and the rights of the mother, then the rights of
the mother take precedence, because she has three times the rights of the
father. That is indicated by the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (5971) and
Muslim (2548) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: A
man came to the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) and said: Which of the people is most deserving of my good
companionship? He said: “Your mother.” He said: Then who? He said: “Then
your mother.” He said: Then who? He said: “Then your mother.” He said: Then
who? He said: “Then your father.”
Al-Qurtubi said: What is meant is that the mother is entitled
to the greater share of the son’s kindness, and she takes precedence in the
case of a conflict with the father’s rights.
‘Iyaad said: The majority are of the view that the mother
takes precedence over the father with regard to the son’s kindness. And it
was said that their rights are the same, but the former view is more
correct.
End quote from Fath al-Baari, 10/402
With regard to your saying “I asked my mother to be pleased
with me in this world and in the Hereafter, and never to be angry, and I
asked my brothers to bear witness to that, knowing that I always try to make
her pleased with me”, there is nothing wrong with your asking her to be
pleased with you in this world. But with regard to asking her to be pleased
with you in the Hereafter, this is something that cannot be guaranteed in
this world; it is something that one cannot be certain about.
The Hereafter is something unknown (ghayb) and no one
can be certain about anything with regard to it.
So continue striving to please her and honour her until you
attain that.
With regard to your father, your du‘aa’ for him is better
than doing Hajj on his behalf, so offer a lot of du‘aa’ for him.
“and say: ‘My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did
bring me up when I was young’” [al-Isra’ 17:24].
And Allah knows best.
