The report that counters this analogy is the famous ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās, recorded by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim, in which:

“A woman from Khathʿam said to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—‘Messenger of Allah, the obligation Allah has laid upon His servants to perform the pilgrimage has reached my father while he is an old man who cannot keep himself steady on a mount. May I perform the Hajj on his behalf?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’”

This took place during the Farewell Pilgrimage and therefore concerns a living person.

With regard to a deceased person there is also the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās, related by al-Bukhārī:

“A woman of Juhaynah came to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, my mother vowed to perform Hajj but died before fulfilling it. May I perform the pilgrimage on her behalf?’ He said, ‘Perform Hajj for her. Tell me, if your mother had left a debt, would you discharge it? A debt owed to Allah is worthier of being discharged.’”

There is no disagreement among Muslims that a pilgrimage performed on behalf of another is valid as a voluntary act; their dispute concerns whether it satisfies the obligatory duty.

Thus they differed over the person who performs Hajj for someone else—whether that other is alive or dead—must he first have performed Hajj for himself or not? Some held that this is not a requirement, though having already fulfilled one’s own obligation is preferable. This is Mālik’s position in the case of performing Hajj for the deceased, for in his view Hajj for a living person is not valid. Others maintained that it is a condition. Al-Shāfiʿī and others said that if someone who has not yet performed his own obligatory Hajj undertakes the pilgrimage for another, it is counted for himself.

Their principal proof is the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās:

“The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—heard a man proclaim, ‘At Your service, O Allah, on behalf of Shubrumah.’ He asked, ‘Who is Shubrumah?’ The man replied, ‘A brother of mine,’ or, ‘A relative of mine.’ He said, ‘Have you performed Hajj for yourself?’ He answered, ‘No.’ The Prophet said, ‘Perform Hajj for yourself, then perform Hajj for Shubrumah.’”

The first group critique this ḥadīth, arguing that it has also been transmitted as a statement of Ibn ʿAbbās himself rather than of the Prophet.

They also differed, in this same chapter, about a man who hires himself out to perform Hajj. Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī disliked the practice but ruled that, if it occurs, the pilgrimage is valid; Abū Ḥanīfah did not allow it at all, reasoning that Hajj is a devotional act and therefore may not be hired out. The argument of the first group is the consensus that remuneration is permissible for copying Qur’ānic manuscripts and building mosques—both of which are devotional acts.

According to Mālik, hiring for Hajj is of two kinds: the first, which his companions call “payment for merely reaching the destination,” and it is