Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Hajj by proxy is proven in the saheeh Sunnah, and may be done on behalf of someone who is physically ill and unable to reach Makkah in order to perform the rituals, or on behalf of someone who died without having done Hajj, on condition that the proxy has already done Hajj on his own behalf.
It is not permissible to do Hajj on behalf of someone who is unable to do it, if his excuse is temporary and there is the hope that it will be alleviated, such as a woman who cannot find a mahram to travel with her, or a man who does not have proof of identity, or a man whose government prevents him from travelling. In these cases it is possible that their circumstances may change so that they become able to do the rituals for themselves, in contrast to the one who is chronically physically incapacitated.
Secondly:
It is not permissible for the one who does Hajj on behalf of someone else to do that for the purpose of earning money, because acts of worship cannot be treated like a business or source of profit. The basic principle for the one who wants to do Hajj on behalf of someone else is to do it on an entirely voluntary basis without taking any money for it, and he will have an immense reward, and this is best scenario. However it is permissible for him to ask the one on whose behalf he will be doing Hajj to cover the costs of travel and doing the rituals, without asking for more than those costs, unless they give him something willingly, in which case he will have the reward for doing that, and this is the second-best scenario. As for the one who does Hajj on behalf of others for the purpose of making money and worldly gain, he will not receive any reward for doing that.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to a woman who does Hajj on behalf of one who is deceased: if her aim is to do Hajj or to benefit the deceased, then she will have the reward for doing that. If her aim is only to collect a fee, then she will have no reward in the hereafter. End quote.
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (26/18).
And he (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to one who does Hajj on behalf of someone else in order to pay off his debt, the scholars differed as to what is better. The more correct view is that it is better not to do that. If a person does Hajj in order to save some money from what he is given to cover the costs of the trip, that is not the practice of the salaf (early generations). In fact, Imam Ahmad said: I do not know of anyone who did Hajj on behalf of someone else in return for something. If that was a righteous deed, they would have hastened to do it. Seeking earnings by doing righteous deeds is not the way of the righteous. What I mean is if the only aim of doing the good deed is to earn money.
This debtor may receive zakaah funds with which to pay off his debt, and that is better for him than going to do Hajj in order to receive money with which to pay off his debt. It is not recommended for a man to receive money with which to do Hajj on behalf of someone else, except in two cases:
either a man who loves to do Hajj and see the holy places, but he cannot afford to do that, so he accepts money with which to fulfil his righteous wish, and does the obligatory Hajj on behalf of his brother;
or a man who wants to discharge this duty on behalf of one who has died, either because of ties between them, or out of general compassion towards the believers, and the like, so he accepts money with which to do that.
To sum up, what is recommended is to take money in order to do Hajj, and not to do Hajj in order to take money. This applies to all earnings that are received in return for doing righteous deeds. If someone seeks to earn money in order to be able to learn or teach or strive in jihad, that is good.
As for the one who carries out a righteous deed in order to earn money, this is a worldly action. There is a difference between the one who is motivated by the desire to do righteous deeds, for which worldly gain is a means, and the one whose goal is worldly gain, for which religion is a means. What is most likely to be the cases is that the latter has no share in the hereafter, as is indicated by the religious texts. End quote.
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (26/19, 20).
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
Is doing Hajj on behalf of others prescribed in general terms, or is it only for relatives? Is it permissible to accept payment for that? If someone accepts payments for doing Hajj on behalf of someone else, will he have any reward for his doing that?
He replied:
Doing Hajj on behalf of someone else is not only for relatives; rather it is permissible to do that for relatives or others, because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) likened it to a debt, which indicates that it is permissible to do it for relatives or for others.
If a person accepts payments, and he intends thereby to see the holy places, join his fellow pilgrims and take part in the goodness of the pilgrimage, then he will be fine, in sha Allah, and will have a reward for that.
But if his aim is merely worldly gain, then he will have nothing but worldly gain, and there is no power and no strength except with Allah, because the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Deeds are but by intentions, and each person will have but that which he intended.” Saheeh – agreed upon. End quote.
Majmoo‘ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (16/423).
Thirdly:
If a person does Hajj on behalf of someone else, then the reward for the rituals – tawaaf and sa‘i, and standing in ‘Arafah and Muzdalifah – will go to the one on whose behalf he did Hajj. As for prayer and supplication, then the reward will go to the one who actually did the Hajj, except the two rak‘ahs following tawaaf, because they are connected to Hajj, as they are part of the rituals. It is better for him to include the one on whose behalf he is doing Hajj in his supplications, and there is hope that the one on whose behalf Hajj is done will also receive reward for those prayers and supplications, because he is the reason for the act of worship of the one who is actually doing the Hajj.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
When someone does Hajj on behalf or someone else, he is only doing the Hajj and connected actions on behalf of the other person. As for supplication (du‘aa’), it is for himself, although it is better for him to include others too, i.e., to include the one on whose behalf he is doing Hajj or ‘umrah in his du ‘aa’ and to say: O Allah, forgive the one for whom this Hajj – or ‘umrah – is being done; forgive him and me, and have mercy on us. And he may offer supplication that includes himself and the one who gave him the money with which to do Hajj. As for other actions – such as tawaaf, sa‘i, standing in ‘Arafah, staying overnight in Muzdalifah, stoning the Jamaraat, staying overnight in Mina, and the farewell tawaaf – all of these are for the one on his behalf he is doing Hajj, and he has no share of them. End quote.
Al-Liqa’ ash-Shahri (16/15).
The shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: There is someone who does Hajj on behalf of someone else, but he kept offering supplication for himself during Hajj, and not for anyone else.
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with that, that is: if someone did Hajj behalf of someone else, but at the miqaat he said: “Labbayka ‘an fulaan [Here I am on behalf of So-and-so],” and he intended that this pilgrimage was on behalf of So-and-so, but during tawaaf and sa‘i, and when standing in ‘Arafah, he offered supplication for himself, then his Hajj is valid, because supplication (du‘aa’) is not a condition of Hajj being valid. But we think that it is more appropriate for him to pray both for himself and for his brother, because it is his brother who paid the costs of Hajj, so he should not deprive him of his supplication. As for the pilgrimage rituals, they have been done without supplication. End quote.
Liqaa’aat al-Baab al-Maftooh (88/question no. 9).
Fourthly:
The scholars differed as to whether one who does Hajj on behalf of someone else will be granted the reward of Hajj on behalf of the other person and on behalf of himself, and will thus go back (free of sin) as on the day his mother bore him, or is that only for the one on whose behalf Hajj was done? Undoubtedly this difference of opinion has to do with the one who did Hajj on behalf of someone else and did not do that for the purpose of making money. What we have narrated from Shaykh Ibn Baaz and Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen is that he will have a reward, but it is not like the reward of doing Hajj on his own behalf. See the words of Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen in the answer to question no. 45766. This is also the view of the scholars of the Permanent Committee for Ifta’ [issuing fatwas].
They were asked about a man who does Hajj in return for payment on behalf of one who is deceased, whether a man or a woman, or on behalf of one who is unable to do it because of old age or sickness from which there is no hope of recovery. Will this one who is hired to do that attain reward from Allah?
They replied:
In the case of one who does Hajj or ‘umrah on behalf of someone else, in return for payment or otherwise, the reward for the Hajj or ‘umrah goes to the one on whose behalf he did it, but there is the hope that he will also be granted an immense reward, commensurate with his sincerity and desire to do good. For anyone who reaches the Sacred Mosque and does a lot of naafil acts of worship there, there is the hope of much reward for him, if his actions are done sincerely for the sake of Allah alone. End quote.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn Ghadyaan.
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah (11/77, 78).
Some scholars disagreed with that, and said that both he and the one on whose behalf he did Hajj will receive their reward in full, because of the general meaning of the hadith “Whoever performs Hajj and does not commit any obscenity or commit any evil will go back (free of) sin as on the day his mother bore him” (agreed upon). If he is “one who guides others to do good, then he will have a reward like that of the one who does that,” as it says in the saheeh hadith of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), so it is more appropriate that the one who actually does the good deed will receive the reward in full.
The grace and bounty of Allah, may He be exalted, are immense, and He gives to whomever He will without reckoning.
And Allah knows best.
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