Our Dialogue

Q.1. Can we offer the pilgrimage or the Umrah on behalf of a living person?
Q.2. Some people made a couple of mistakes during their pilgrimage. At Arafat they were outside its boundaries. What compensation should they make?

A.1. If the person concerned is financially able to pay for the expense of the pilgrimage, but he suffers from a chronic illness that makes traveling or the discharge of pilgrimage duties too hard for him, he may send someone else to do the pilgrimage on his behalf. In this case, the person concerned should pay all the expenses of the pilgrimage, including the fare, accommodation and living expenses of the deputy who undertakes the pilgrimage on his behalf. However, if the deputy stays a few days after the pilgrimage, only because he cannot travel earlier, then his expenses during these days are also borne by the man for whom he is offering the pilgrimage. If his overstay is a matter of choice, because he wants to increase his reward through praying in the Haram, doing voluntary tawaf or another Umrah, then the deputy pays his own expenses during his overstay.

Having said that, I am aware that many expatriates try to make use of their presence in Saudi Arabia to offer the pilgrimage on behalf of their parents or other relatives. This is not right. If those parents or relatives can afford to do the pilgrimage, they should do it themselves. If they are poor and cannot afford it, then the pilgrimage duty does not apply to them.

A.2. As for being outside the Arafat boundaries, this is a serious matter. Were they outside Arafat all the time, from noon on 9 Dul-Hijjah to dawn the following morning? If so, their pilgrimage is invalid and cannot be compensated for. If it is a question of being in and out, it does not affect the validity of the pilgrimage.

The minimum attendance at Arafat that fulfils this main duty is to be present within its boundaries for a few minutes at any time between noon on 9 Dul-Hijjah and dawn the following morning. Even if this happens when they are leaving by bus or car and their vehicle takes them through Arafat, then they have done their duty and no compensation is required.

Q. What should women wear or not wear over their outer garments during the period of ihraam, or consecration in pilgrimage?

A. A woman in ihraam or consecration wears all her normal clothes. She is only required to leave her face and hands uncovered. She may not cover these while she is in ihraam.

Q. My wife and I intend to perform the pilgrimage, but she is very weak and cannot walk for a long distance. We are Allah willing, going to do the pilgrimage in the tamattu method. So we want to perform the Umrah now and travel to Mina directly for pilgrimage. Is this permissible?

A.The tamattu method is the one preferred by the Prophet for all Muslims. It involves doing the Umrah and pilgrimage separately, starting with Umrah which includes ihraam, tawaf, sa’ie and shortening one’s hair or shaving one’s head. One releases oneself from ihraam immediately afterwards and then re-enters ihraam on the 8th of Thul Hajjah for pilgrimage. As such, the rituals of each major duty are done separately. Therefore you have to do saie for Umrah and another for pilgrimage. This however should not cause your wife any great trouble with the facilities available in the Haram. If she cannot do the saie herself, especially after the tawaf of ifadah, when the place is over-crowded, she could use a wheel chair. You could either push the wheel chair yourself in the passage specially provided for the purpose or ask someone to push it for you. You could also use the first floor which is less crowded.

As for tawaf, you could do it on the second floor. The distance there is much longer, but you can again use a wheelchair. The time needed for this tawaf will not be much longer than if you do it at the ground level, because of the overcrowding there. She can start by walking whatever distance she can manage herself and use a wheelchair when she is tired. In her condition, she cannot do the stoning herself. It is better if she asks you to do it on her behalf. When you have finished stoning for each jamrah yourself, you do it again on behalf of your wife. This way, you reduce the physical effort which may be troublesome to your wife. I pray that both of you will be able to do the pilgrimage in comfort. May I just remind you that doing the pilgrimage in the tamattu method requires each of you to sacrifice a sheep in gratitude to Allah.

Q Where should I enter into ihraam if I am coming from India by plane, landing
in Jeddah and proceeding to Makkah? When do I do the pilgrimage in the tamattu method-do I do the tawaf of arrival on the 8th of Thul Hajjah before going to Mina? Do I offer the voluntary prayers and witr during my stay in Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa? I need to do the saie twice after tawaf of ifaadah? Should I continue to offer the sacrifice as usual in my home country? Some people suggest that shortening one’s hair after the tawaf of arrival is preferable to shaving one’s head. Please clarify. If one has ample time, should he shorten his prayers during pilgrimage? Is offering prayer at Maqam Ibraheem a sunnah or a duty?


A. Ihraam should be done at the point of meeqat. For a person who is coming from India, this point is the parallel point to Qarn El Manazil on his route. If you are coming to pilgrimage, normally an announcement is made on the flight that the point of meeqat is reached and those who are intending to do Umrah or pilgrimage should enter into a state of ihraam. When you do the pilgrimage in the tamattu method, you need not do the tawaf of arrival on the 8th of Dhul Hajjah. You have already arrived and you have done the Umrah, the tawaf of which counts as the tawaf of arrival. When you offer prayers in Mina, Muzadalifah and Arafat, you shorten them like the imam does, regardless of whether you are joining the congregational prayer or not. You may offer the Sunnah and you should offer the witr as well. If you are doing the tamattu method, then altogether you do two saies- one for your Umrah which you do on arrival and the other is after the tawaf of ifaadah when you have completed most of the duties of pilgrimage. The two saies are thus separated by several days. You do not do two saies after the tawaf of ifaadah as you have suggested.


If you continue to do the sacrifice in your own home country by asking someone to do it on your behalf, this is highly commendable and may Allah reward you for it. Shortening one’s hair is not done after the tawaf of arrival, not by any pilgrim. It is done at the completion of the duties of Umrah or on the day of Eid, during pilgrimage. These duties can be done in any order as the Prophet has indicated. If you are doing the pilgrimage in the tamattu method, you may wish to shorten your hair after the Umrah you do on arrival and shave your head on the grand day of pilgrimage. You may alternatively shorten your hair on both occasions or have a head shave on both. Offering prayer at Maqma Ibraheem is recommended. This means that it is a sunnah. It is not obligatory. Allah has told us in the Quran that this point is one to be chosen for offering prayers and the Prophet (Pbuh) has taught us that it is the preferable place to offer the sunnah of tawaf after we have completed it. However when the area of tawaf is overcrowded, we should not try to pray at Maqam Ibraheem and disturb those who are doing the tawaf. Alternatively we can offer the sunnah of tawaf at any place in the Haram. It is unfortunate that some people feel that they must pray at Maqam Ibraheem and some of them stand in the midst of tawaf to cordon a small area in which one or two people stand to pray. When these have finished, they take their turn in the cordon while the others offer their prayers. This is contrary to what the Prophet (Pbuh) has taught us.

Q. My relatives who came from abroad to perform Haj followed a book written as a guide to pilgrims by a scholar in their home country. In this book, readers are told to put out their left foot first when they leave home, because if they leave with their right foot first, all blessings will depart from the house with them. Is this right?


A. The first point about leaving home with the left foot first is absurd. If one is doing something good, it is always better to start with the right side, but this is merely a recommendation. If one starts with the left side, that is acceptable. If one does not pay attention, one’s duty or action is perfectly correct. There is no truth to what your relatives have been told about all the blessings departing from the house if they put out the wrong foot first. God does not work in that way. If He wants to bless a person or his house, He showers those blessings on him without reckoning.