When the pilgrimage is mentioned in the Qur’an, it is described as a duty owed to God. Thus the relevant verse goes: “Pilgrimage to this House is a duty owed to God by all people who are able to undertake it.” (3: 97) This is a special form of phrase which is not associated with any other act of worship, not even prayers which we offer everyday at specific times. Why is the pilgrimage given such a status?
To start with, the pilgrimage is the fifth pillar of Islam. This applies to all Muslims wherever they live, including the people of Makkah who, needless to say, find it easier to perform the pilgrimage than all other Muslims. Nevertheless, when they offer the pilgrimage, they receive its reward in full. We must not forget that a person may live in Makkah for 70 years and still not perform the pilgrimage once. Hence, a resident in Makkah who offers the pilgrimage acknowledges its status in Islam. People may suggest that a person who comes from a remote area spends more time and money in performing the pilgrimage: Will he receive the same reward? We can only say that God is the most just of judges. While the basic reward for the pilgrimage is earned by all pilgrims, God may multiply the reward of any one He chooses. None will be treated unfairly.
Yet why is the pilgrimage owed to God? God gives His message in the clearest of terms. He has described the pilgrimage in a way that makes it similar to a debt. Since the pilgrimage can be offered only at a particular time every year, a delay in offering it once it becomes a duty is similar to the delay in settling a debt when a person has the money to repay it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says: “Deliberate delay of settling debt by someone who has the means is an act of injustice.” Moreover, if one dies without offering the pilgrimage when he has been able to do so in his lifetime, it remains outstanding in the same way as a loan given to the deceased which must be settled after his death. It is important to know first of all that once anyone is able to undertake the duty of pilgrimage, he or she must do it without delay. If, however, a person dies before he offers the pilgrimage when the conditions of ability have been met during his lifetime, then before his estate is divided among his heirs and indeed before the execution of his will, if any, a portion of his money should be set aside which must be sufficient to meet the expenses of the pilgrimage and Umrah, so that someone else may do these duties on his behalf. This applies whether the deceased had been too lax about the fulfillment of his duty or had every intention to fulfill it but was prevented by circumstances or by an illness or some other legitimate reason.
A person who offers the substitute pilgrimage on someone else’s behalf should have already performed his own personal duty of pilgrimage. When the Prophet did his own pilgrimage, he heard one of his companions saying that he intended the pilgrimage on behalf of Shibrimah. The Prophet asked him who Shibrimah was? “A brother of mine,” the man said. The Prophet asked him whether he had already offered the pilgrimage on his own behalf. When the man answered in the negative, the Prophet said: “Offer the pilgrimage for yourself first, then offer it again on behalf of Shibrimah.”
It is perfectly acceptable that a close relative, such as a brother or a sister, does the pilgrimage on behalf of a deceased person, man or woman. It is also acceptable that someone is hired for the purpose. Some scholars maintain that what should be paid to a person who is doing a substitute pilgrimage is only the expenses incurred in doing so. He cannot have a fee for doing the pilgrimage. Yet, this is a point over which scholars have differed, with some of them maintaining that if a fee is paid, it is perfectly legitimate earning. On the other hand, if the relatives of the deceased tell the person undertaking the substitute pilgrimage that they will pay him an agreed amount of money to cover his expenses, but he is entitled to take for himself what he saves of that amount by spending less.
It is also perfectly acceptable that a man does the pilgrimage on behalf of another man, or on behalf of a woman. The opposite is also true: A woman may do the pilgrimage on behalf of another woman or a man.
The pilgrimage is binding only on those who can afford it. If the deceased was never able to pay for his pilgrimage throughout his life, due to his poverty, then such a duty was not applicable to him. Nevertheless, if one of his children does the pilgrimage, or arranges with another person to do it on his behalf, it is perfectly acceptable and greatly rewarding to that child of the deceased. It counts as an exceptional act of dutifulness to parents. It ensures the reward of the pilgrimage to the parent as well as a most gratifying reward for the child.
We often speak about substitute pilgrimage as undertaken by a close relative on behalf of a deceased person. The question arises whether we can do it on behalf of someone who is unrelated to us. The answer is that we can. We have already said that the relatives of the deceased may hire someone for the purpose. The person thus hired need not be a relative. Should someone who is unrelated to the deceased volunteer to do the substitute pilgrimage, this is perfectly acceptable. Someone wrote to me that his fiancée died and he wanted to do the pilgrimage on her behalf. No formal relationship existed between the two. There was only a firm declaration of intent to be married, made with the consent of her family.
The engagement is a real relationship, even though it was not formalized with a marriage contract. This was the next stage which the two would have reached had she remained alive. There might have been much discussion between them about their future and the family they would raise. Now that she is no longer alive, thinking of doing something to please God on her behalf and ensure His forgiveness of her sins is highly commendable.
If her fiancé does the pilgrimage or the Umrah, or give money in charity on her behalf, or pray for her to be admitted into heaven, God will accept what he does and answer his prayers, if He so pleases. He will also reward him according to his intention.
When we undertake some act of worship on behalf of someone else, all we need to do is to declare at the beginning of the action that we want it credited to that person. If it is a pilgrimage or Umrah, we declare it so at the time when we enter into the state of consecration, mentioning the name of the person on whose behalf it is intended. God will accept it that way and will credit it to that person.