Q. A woman is eager to do the pilgrimage but she is too weak to undertake the journey. She has pain in her legs and feet, and she is overweight. She finds walking very tiring. Can she send someone to do the pilgrimage on her behalf, considering that she has not yet performed her duty pilgrimage?
S.R. Khan
A. A woman said to the Prophet (peace be upon him) that her father was an old man and cannot sit up on the back of a horse or a camel. Could she do the pilgrimage on his behalf? He told her that she should do so. The case presented by this woman to the Prophet is similar to the one the reader is asking about. Here we have a woman who complains of pain and weakness that make her unable to walk properly and comfortably. If this condition is unlikely to change, and the woman’s poor health is likely to continue, then the only way is that someone else should offer the pilgrimage on her behalf. She should pay the expenses of that person throughout the journey. Anyone can do the pilgrimage on behalf of someone else: a man can do it on behalf of a woman, and a woman can do it on behalf of a man. The only condition is that the one doing such a substitute pilgrimage should have offered his or her own duty pilgrimage already. If they have not done their own pilgrimage and accept to go on behalf of someone else, this pilgrimage will count as their own duty pilgrimage.
Where Should Expats Start Their Pilgrimage
Q. A person may go to much trouble until he manages to secure a job in Saudi Arabia. He travels to the Kingdom to take up his job. Then when the pilgrimage season approaches, he wants to offer this religious duty. Can he make the intention to do the pilgrimage from the place where he works, or should he start from his home country, where he lived before taking up his job?
N. Kamal
A. The pilgrimage is offered at a certain time during the year. People can be anywhere, for any purpose, when the time for pilgrimage approaches and they may decide at anytime to offer it. It does not matter where they are normally domiciled. They can start from anywhere they happen to be. You are speaking about a person who has come to Saudi Arabia for work. He may live here in the Kingdom for a few months or a few years before he has a chance to offer the pilgrimage. When he has this chance, he may take it and start his pilgrimage from where he lives. He does not have to go back to his country of origin. Why should he?
Take the case of a Saudi citizen who lives in Dammam. His business brings him to Jeddah a few days before the pilgrimage. He travels intending to finish his work and go back to Dammam, where he intends to spend the Eid with his family.
Suppose his work takes a couple of days longer than he has expected. He finds himself in Jeddah with only a couple of days before the pilgrimage. He decides to do the pilgrimage. Should he go back to Dammam in order to start his pilgrimage? Certainly not. The same applies to an expatriate. Suppose this expatriate works in Makkah itself. On the day of Arafat he is given a couple of days leave by his employer. He decides to do the pilgrimage. His pilgrimage is perfectly valid and he stands to earn a full reward for it.
