Conditions for performing hajj or umrah on behalf of a sick person

A question on appointing someone to perform umrah for a sick father with the intention of his recovery, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that proxy performance is allowed for someone permanently unable, with his permission, and that intending recovery is fine. ¹

The questioner asked whether they could appoint someone to perform the rites of umrah on behalf of their sick father, with the intention that he recover. ¹

The Department answered that hajj and umrah are obligatory once in a lifetime, and that someone unable to perform them because of an illness not expected to pass, or old age, may appoint another to perform them, and must do so for the obligatory one, citing al-Shirwani's gloss on Tuhfat al-Muhtaj and the definition of the permanently disabled (al-ma'dub) in al-Nawawi's al-Majmu'. ¹ It required the disabled person's permission, since he is alive with his own will and choice, quoting al-Nawawi's Rawdat al-Talibin that hajj for him without his permission does not count, and said a passing illness expected to heal does not allow a proxy. ¹ It said there is nothing wrong with the umrah being intended for recovery, since seeking recovery is a supplication and offering a good deed before supplicating is recommended. ¹ It concluded that someone who became able and then lost the ability must appoint a proxy, that the disabled may appoint one for voluntary hajj and umrah too, and that the proxy must have the person's permission and must already have performed hajj or umrah for himself. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3815, dated 12 October 2023. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.