Pilgrimage on Behalf of a Living Person, Adil Salahi

Pilgrimage on Behalf of a Living Person

Adil Salahi

Arab News, 11/9/04

Q.1. Can we offer the pilgrimage or the Umrah on behalf of a living person?

Q.2. Some people made a couple of mistakes during their pilgrimage. At Arafat they were outside its boundaries. What compensation should they make?

T. Shaikh

A.1. If the person concerned is financially able to pay for the expense of the pilgrimage, but he suffers from a chronic illness that makes traveling or the discharge of pilgrimage duties too hard for him, he may send someone else to do the pilgrimage on his behalf. In this case, the person concerned should pay all the expenses of the pilgrimage, including the fare, accommodation and living expenses of the deputy who undertakes the pilgrimage on his behalf. However, if the deputy stays a few days after the pilgrimage, only because he cannot travel earlier, then his expenses during these days are also borne by the man for whom he is offering the pilgrimage. If his overstay is a matter of choice, because he wants to increase his reward through praying in the Haram, doing voluntary tawaf or another Umrah, then the deputy pays his own expenses during his overstay.

Having said that, I am aware that many expatriates try to make use of their presence in Saudi Arabia to offer the pilgrimage on behalf of their parents or other relatives. This is not right. If those parents or relatives can afford to do the pilgrimage, they should do it themselves. If they are poor and cannot afford it, then the pilgrimage duty does not apply to them. If their son invites them, bearing their expenses, he earns very rich reward from God for being very dutiful.

A.2. You have not told me what mistakes those people made in order to answer your question. As for being outside the Arafat boundaries, this is a serious matter. Were they outside Arafat all the time, from noon on 9 Dul-Hijjah to dawn the following morning? If so, their pilgrimage is invalid and cannot be compensated for. If it is a question of being in and out, it does not affect the validity of the pilgrimage.

The minimum attendance at Arafat that fulfils this main duty is to be present within its boundaries for a few minutes at any time between noon on 9 Dul-Hijjah and dawn the following morning. Even if this happens when they are leaving by bus or car and their vehicle takes them through Arafat, then they have done their duty and no compensation is required.

Black Hair Dye

Q.1 Is it permissible to use black hair dye to cover one’s gray hair? Does this apply to any particular age?

Q.2 Many people offer only 2 rak’ahs of Sunnah before Zuhr prayer, and 2 after it. Few are those who offer the recommended 4 and many do not offer the 2 rak’ahs of greeting to the mosque. Please comment.

S.A. Lone, Sharourah

A.1. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) took over Makkah and its population surrendered, Abu Bakr, who was in his late fifties, brought his father to the Prophet so that he would declare his acceptance of Islam. Abu Bakr’s father was very old, perhaps over 80 years of age, and his hair had gone all white. The Prophet instructed Abu Bakr to dye his father’s hair and to avoid black dye. The reason for avoiding it is clear. If a man of 80 or more appears with his hair all black, people will find his appearance ridiculous, because his face and all his features are those of an old man, while his hair is that of a young person. It is to avoid such a ridiculous situation that the Prophet made his instructions clear. Any dye other than black will be immediately recognized as a dye and no one will think ill of it. Otherwise there is no prohibition on black dye, except when it is used to deceive people. In this case, the intention behind its use makes it prohibited. There is no age limit as to when one may or may not use a certain dye.

A.2. When we speak of Sunnah prayer, we are actually speaking of voluntary prayers. If it is voluntary, then one cannot ask any person why he did not volunteer more. It is entirely up to him. A person who offers more voluntary prayers stands to earn greater reward. The recommended prayer before Zuhr is 4 rak’ahs, which are offered in two lots of 2 rak’ahs each. If a person offers only 2 rak’ahs, that is good, and if he offers 4, that is even better. As for the prayer known as greeting to the mosque, it is offered on entry into any mosque other than the Kaaba, where the greeting is the tawaf. However, this prayer is integrated with any obligatory or voluntary prayer one intends to offer shortly after getting into the mosque. Thus, if you go to the mosque to offer Zuhr prayer and you start with 2 rak’ahs of Sunnah, the greeting to the mosque is integrated with this Sunnah. If you find the congregational prayer has started, you must join it, and your prayer includes the mosque greeting if you intend it so.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

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