my father has reached Allah’s obligatory duty upon His servants to perform Hajj while he is an old man who cannot keep steady on a mount. May I perform Hajj on his behalf?’ He answered, ‘Yes.’

This indicates that when a person is unable to perform Hajj and there is no hope of his condition improving—whether due to advanced age, a chronic illness with no prospect of recovery, or the like—then someone else should perform Hajj on his behalf.

The report also proves that a woman may perform Hajj for a man, just as a man may perform it for a woman; likewise, a man for a man and a woman for a woman—all of this is permissible. For that reason the Prophet ﷺ granted permission to the man who told him that his father was an elderly man unable to ride, perform Hajj, or perform ʿUmrah, saying: ‘Perform Hajj for your father, and ʿUmrah as well.’

These narrations further demonstrate the permissibility of children performing Hajj. Al-Sāʾib ibn Yazīd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘I was taken to perform Hajj with the Prophet ﷺ during the Farewell Pilgrimage when I was seven years old’—a child who was brought to Hajj, proving that children may perform it. Likewise, in Ibn ʿAbbās’s report a woman lifted up a child and asked the Prophet ﷺ, ‘Is there Hajj for this one?’ He replied, ‘Yes, and you will have a reward.’

From these two ḥadith we learn that children may indeed perform Hajj. The child follows the same rites as an adult; if he is unable to do something himself, it is done on his behalf when proxy is acceptable, or he is carried when proxy is not applicable. For example, if he cannot perform ṭawāf or saʿy, he is carried; if he cannot throw the pebbles, they are thrown for him, because carrying him at the stoning sites would be arduous and of no benefit, since the throwing would not be done by his own hand. Accordingly, in ṭawāf and saʿy he is carried, whereas in the stoning the pebbles are thrown on his behalf. Then the question arises: when the one who is carrying the child performs ṭawāf and saʿy