Performing Hajj on Behalf of a Deceased Person and the Ruling on Using His Estate

30-3-2026 | IslamWeb

Question:

Salam Aleykoum,My father passed away a few years ago without going to hajj. I agreed with my family to do hajj myself with his inheritance and then go to hajj for him later with my own money (since I need to perform hajj for myself first). However, the price may not be the same (due to exchange rate or premium/standard package). Is this permissible or should I reimburse the hajj I did with my father's money and use it later when doing hajj for him ?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad () is His Slave and Messenger.

Whoever dies while Ḥajj had become obligatory upon him, yet he did not perform it, then the stronger view among the scholars is that it is obligatory upon his heirs to allocate from his wealth what is sufficient to perform Hajj on his behalf. This applies whether he missed Hajj due to negligence or not, and whether he left a will for it or not.

This is based on the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās :

A woman from Juhaynah came to the Prophet and said: “My mother had vowed to perform Hajj but she did not perform it until she died. Should I perform Ḥajj on her behalf?” He  said: “Yes, perform Hajj on her behalf. If your mother had a debt, would you not repay it? Fulfill the debt owed to Allah, for Allah has more right to be fulfilled.” [Bukhārī]

The wealth used to perform Hajj on behalf of the deceased is treated like a debt—it is not the property of the heirs, rather it takes precedence over the distribution of inheritance. Therefore, the heirs have no right to dispose of it according to their personal wishes.

Accordingly, you must appoint someone to perform Hajj on behalf of your father—someone who has already performed Hajj for himself. Performing Hajj on behalf of the deceased is not restricted to his children or relatives.

As for taking money from your father’s estate to perform Hajj for yourself, intending to later perform Hajj for him using your own wealth—this is not permissible. The consent of the heirs does not make it permissible, because the wealth is not rightfully theirs, as mentioned above, and they therefore have no authority to dispose of it.

Furthermore, this involves the harm of delaying the Hajj on behalf of your father despite the ability to perform it immediately, and it also exposes the funds to potential loss—since you may later become unable to afford performing Hajj on his behalf.

Allah Knows best