so that he may perform Hajj, not perform Hajj so that he may take it. Whoever wishes to discharge the deceased’s liability, or simply desires to behold the Sacred Precincts, may accept payment for the purpose of performing Hajj. The same rule applies to every livelihood earned for a righteous deed. There is, therefore, a clear difference between one who seeks the religion while using worldly means, and one who seeks the world while using religion as his means; and the sounder view is that the latter will have no share in the Hereafter.

He added: Performing Hajj on behalf of another merely to come away with a surplus that will cover one’s own debts should preferably be avoided; the early generations never did so. Its permissibility would be admitted only when a genuine need exists. ⦗al-Furūʿ 7/154⦘

– Whoever is able to perform Hajj, possessing both provisions and a mount, is unanimously obliged to do so. If, once able, he sets out at the earliest reasonable opportunity and dies on the road, his reward rests with Allah and he dies free of sin. But if he procrastinates, then eventually sets out and dies before completing the pilgrimage, he dies sinning; he will still be rewarded for what he managed to do, yet the obligation is not lifted. Someone must instead perform Hajj on his behalf starting from the point where he died. ⦗Mukhtaṣar al-Fatāwā al-Miṣriyya 1/510⦘

Iḥrām

– The state of iḥrām (entering the sacred state) is established by the intention to perform the rites together with the talbiyah (the pilgrim’s chant) or by driving the hady (sacrificial animal). This is the position of Abū Ḥanīfah, a narration from Aḥmad, a group of the Mālikīs, and is likewise reported as one view among the Shāfiʿīs (1). ⦗al-Furūʿ 5/323; Ikhtiyārāt al-Baʿlī p. 235⦘