In some versions of the hadith, it reads: “This Hajj is for yourself; then perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah.” In other versions, it reads: “Make this Hajj for yourself, then perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah.”

The scholars differed over whether this hadith is traced back to the Prophet or merely stops with Ibn Abbas, and they also differed over whether it is authentic or weak. Some held it to be weak because its varying wordings render it inconsistent: some versions state, “Perform Hajj for yourself, then perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah”; others state, “Make this Hajj for yourself, then perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah”; and still others state, “This Hajj is for yourself; then perform Hajj on behalf of Shubrumah.” They said that this is a discrepancy that affects the ruling.

Others said that attributing it to the Prophet is mistaken, and that it is authentic only as a statement of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father. They further said that there is no basis for preventing a person who has not performed Hajj for himself from performing Hajj on behalf of another. They cited as evidence that if someone were to pay zakah as an agent on another person’s behalf before paying his own zakah, this would be permissible—so what prevents it here?

But we say: there is no doubt that what is better and more appropriate is for a person not to act as a proxy for another in an obligation that is binding upon himself until he has first fulfilled his own obligation—whether this hadith is authentically traced back to the Prophet, authentically reported as a statement of Ibn Abbas, or not authentic at all. Sound reasoning dictates that a person give precedence to himself over others, due to the general meaning of the statement, “Begin with yourself” (1). You yourself have a greater right than anyone else.