If a person upon whom the pilgrimage has become obligatory dies before performing it, a sum sufficient for ḥajj must be taken from the principal of his estate and an agent appointed to carry it out on his behalf. This ruling rests on the report recorded by al-Bukhārī from Ibn ʿAbbās: A woman said, “Messenger of Allah, my mother vowed to perform the pilgrimage but died before she did so. May I perform it for her?” He replied, “Yes—perform it for her. Tell me, if your mother owed a monetary debt, would you settle it? Settle Allah’s debt, for Allah is more deserving that His debts be settled.”

The ḥadīth therefore shows that anyone who dies while a pilgrimage remains due must have it performed either by his child or his legal guardian, or else they must finance someone to perform it for him out of the deceased’s principal, just as they are obliged to discharge his worldly debts. The jurists unanimously agree that debts owed to human beings are paid from the estate’s principal; by analogy, the same applies to what resembles a debt, such as an unfulfilled ḥajj.

In another narration it is stated, “My sister vowed to perform the pilgrimage,” and in Sunan al-Dāraqutnī: “My father died while he still owed the ḥajj of Islam.” The wording of these reports indicates no distinction between a duty established by the Sacred Law itself and one that a person imposes upon himself by vow, regardless of whether he left specific instructions.

A pilgrimage performed on behalf of another is credited to the beneficiary exactly as though he had carried it out himself, while the performer functions merely as an agent. The deputy intends entering iḥrām for the other person, pronounces the talbiyah on his behalf, and it is sufficient that