Question 96 : Assalamualaykum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh.

May Allah reward and honor you. I have 2 questions asking on behalf of friends.

  1. Is one allowed to make Umrah or Hajj on behalf of someone who has passed away?
  2. Does the butcher have to make an intention for slaughtering an animal for sacrifice for a customer Eg. Aqeeqah or Qurban? If not, then can one just go and buy an already slaughtered animal hanging on a hook at the butchers and use it as a sacrificed animal?

Jazaakumullahu khaira

 

Answer : Alhamdulillah …

وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

  1. It is allowed for a person to do Hajj or Umrah that was compulsory on behalf of their parent as in the hadith below. Based on the same hadith, it can be understood that an optional Hajj or Umrah that is not compulsory may also be allowed on behalf of a parent. Furthermore, since the Prophet (s.a.w) regarded doing a Wajib Hajj on behalf of a deceased person to be like paying of debt they owed, and since anyone can pay a compulsory to return debt that someone owes, thus it is also understood that anyone other than a deceased person’s child may also do a Wajib Hajj or Umrah on behalf of a deceased person even if the deceased person is not a parent. Likewise there are reasonable, though less clear, basis for a non-relative of the deceased to be able to pay for and initiate a non-Wajib hajj or umrah as well just as it is allowed to pay for and initiate a wajib hajj or umrah on behalf of a deceased person.

 

So both a child (as in hadith) and a non relative (based on understanding from the hadith) can pay for, and initiate, a Hajj or Umrah on behalf of a deceased person, and Allah knows best.

 

  1. If a butcher is doing an Aqiqah or Udhiyah sacrifice on behalf of another person, the butcher is obliged to have the intention – and even utter it verbally at time of intention, Bismillah and Takbir – that the Udhiyah/Qurban and Aqiqah is on behalf of such and such a person. The basis of this obligation to have the intention is the hadith wherein the Prophet (s.a.w) said “Verily actions are only by intentions and to every person is only that which he intended.” So, based on the 1st sentence of this hadith, the action of butcher – if he didnt have intention for it to be an Udhiyah or Aqiqah for someone then it is not an Udhiyah or Aqiqah of that person. The 2nd sentence shows that if the person purchased meat with intention of Aqiqah then all they get rewarded for is purchasing meat for Aqiqah but not doing the Aqiqah requirement which is to sacrifice. Hence both the butcher must have intention of doing an Udhiyah or Aqiqah and for whom it is, and the customer should have intention of appointing the butcher as the one who does the sacrifice for him/her. As for mentioning it loud at time of Udhiyah or Qurban, it maybe reasonably understood that they do not have to mention it loud for sacrifice and it maybe understood reasonably that it is better that they do mention verbally at time of sacrifice that it is on behalf of so and so a person just as the person doing Hajj on behalf of another person said in presence of the Prophet (s.a.w) “Labbayka Allahumma bishubrumah” (O Allah here I am … on behalf of Shubrumah), ie when doing actions on behalf of another it is at least good to mention verbally that it is on behalf of that person unlike all other intentions for actions that are for worship between us and Allah generally are to be done only in our hearts.

 

So to sum up, basically (1) the butcher must have intention to be doing the sacrifice on behalf of the customer. (2) For the customer to get its reward, the customer must have intention of and verbally delegate the butcher to do the sacrifice. And (3) it is at times required and at times merely advised to do all delegations of acts on behalf of others verbally as it is a matter between humans and thus needs to be communicated in a way that humans understand in addition to having intention in the heart.

And Allah knows best

 

ps: the hadith referred to in part one of the answer is as follows:

Ibn ’Abbas (RAA) narrated, ‘A woman from the tribe of Juhainah came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, ‘My mother had vowed to perform Hajj, but she died before fulfilling her vow. Should I perform Hajj on her behalf? The Prophet (ﷺ) said:

 

“Yes perform Hajj on her behalf. Had there been a debt on your mother, would you have paid it or not? So, pay off her debt to Allah, for He is most deserving of settlement of His debt.” Related by Al-Bukhari.

 

وَعَنْ ابن عباس: { أَنَّ اِمْرَأَةً مِنْ جُهَيْنَةَ جَاءَتْ إِلَى اَلنَّبِيِّ ‏- صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏-فَقَالَتْ: إِنَّ أُمِّي نَذَرَتْ أَنْ تَحُجَّ, فَلَمْ تَحُجَّ حَتَّى مَاتَتْ, أَفَأَحُجُّ عَنْهَا? قَالَ: ” نَعَمْ “, حُجِّي عَنْهَا, أَرَأَيْتِ لَوْ 1‏ كَانَ عَلَى أُمِّكِ دَيْنٌ, أَكُنْتِ قَاضِيَتَهُ? اِقْضُوا اَللَّهَ, فَاَللَّهُ أَحَقُّ بِالْوَفَاءِ } رَوَاهُ اَلْبُخَارِي‏ .‏