May I ask whether it is appropriate to perform the pilgrimage without the consent of one's sponsor? Some people suggest that a worker is like a slave, which means that it is not obligatory for him to do the pilgrimage. Please comment.
From the Islamic point of view, no one need to take any permission from any human being to offer pilgrimage. This is a religious duty and no one needs permission to do what God has required. It is just like offering your prayers. Do you seek anyone's permission to do it?
Having said that, I should also explain that Muslim ruler may enact some regulations, in order to ensure the safety of pilgrims and to enable all those who come for pilgrimage, to restrict entry for pilgrimage more than once every five years and thereby reduce overcrowding at the places where the rituals are offered. This is particularly true with the easier travel facilities that have become available everywhere.
On the other hand, if the conditions specified in one's contract of work require him to attend to duty on particular days and not to travel without permission from his employer, then he must abide by these [contractual] conditions. It is not lawful for the employer to prevent any employee from doing the pilgrimage except for a valid reason, such as the disruption of important facilities or services to the people of the area where the employee works. The notion that a worker is like a slave is certainly absurd. No employer has the right to dictate any conditions to employees other than in connection with their work duties. Besides, who says that a slave need not do the pilgrimage? A Muslim slave, in the days of slavery, was required to do the pilgrimage as much as a free man.
• Pilgrimage: Substitute pilgrimage for a fiancée
I was engaged to a lady but she died before we got married. Some people tell me that I could not recite the Qur'an, do the pilgrimage or the Umrah on her behalf or give anything in charity either. Other people say that all this is permissible. Please comment.
I am not sure how far your relationship with the late lady went. People speak of being engaged, although they may be in different stages of this relationship. In other societies, a long period of time may lapse between making the marriage contract and the wedding. Although the contract is the formal step which makes a man and a woman married, they remain apart, each living with one's own family until the wedding takes place. If you had the marriage contract made, the young lady, may Allah have mercy on her, was your wife, although your marriage was not consummated. In other societies, the marriage contract is made on the wedding night and it constitutes the change of relationship. Prior to it, the man and the woman have no formal relationship.
If your relationship with the late young woman was of the first type, i.e. you have your marriage contract made, then the whole question should not arise. Whatever you do on her behalf is simply done by a husband for his late wife. Nothing can be more appropriate. Some people may question your attitude in doing things in memory of her when she is not really related to you. That is a narrow view. You have made a formal agreement with her and her family that you would be married soon. The engagement is a real relationship although it was not formalized by a marriage contract. That was the next stage which you would have reached had she remained alive. You might have spoken about your future life together on several occasions when you visited her at home or spoke to her parents. You might have exchanged ideas about what sort of home you would establish. You might have had dreams of the sort of family you would be starting. All this is left in your memory which cannot be taken away from you. If her death has left you in grief, that is the most natural thing in the world. To think, as a result, of doing something to please Allah on her behalf is highly commendable. If you do the pilgrimage or the Umrah or you give money in charity on her behalf, and if you pray for her to be admitted into heaven, then Allah will reward you for that. All you need is to declare at the beginning of the action you intend to do on her behalf that you want it so. When, say, you want to do the pilgrimage on her behalf, you declare at the moment you are entering in the state of consecration that this is a pilgrimage you are doing on behalf of your late fiancee, mentioning her name. Allah will accept it that way and will give her its reward and reward you for doing it.
It is perfectly appropriate to offer the pilgrimage on behalf of someone who is not related to us. At the time when the Prophet went on his pilgrimage, he heard a man declaring that his pilgrimage was intended on behalf of Shibramah. The Prophet asked him who Shibramah was. The man answered: "A brother of mine." The Prophet did not ask him whether Shibramah was his real brother or simply his brother in Islam. The man's answer could be taken either way. Hence, it is appropriate to do the pilgrimage or the Umrah or similar acts of worship on behalf of any Muslim brother. The Prophet only asked the man whether he had done the pilgrimage himself. When he answered in the negative, the Prophet told him to do the pilgrimage for himself first and then do it again on behalf of Shibramah.
As I have said, your past engagement with the late young lady makes it appropriate to mention her in your supplication, praying Allah to grant her forgiveness and admit her into heaven, do the pilgrimage or the Umrah on her behalf . But that is as far as it should go. Keep her memory to yourself and do not talk to others about it.
My wife and I intend to do the pilgrimage, but she is too 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 offer the Umrah now and travel to Mina direct for pilgrimage. Is this permissible?
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 eighth of Thul Hajjah for pilgrimage. As such, the rituals of each major duty are done separately. Therefore, you have to do a sa'ie 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 sa'ie herself, especially after the tawaf of Ifadah, when the place is over-crowded, she could use a wheelchair. You should either push the wheelchair yourself in the passage especially provided for the purpose or ask someone to push it for you. You could also use the second floor which is less crowded.
You could do the tawaf 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 over-crowding there. She can start by walking whatever distance she can manage herself and use a wheelchair when she is tired.
In her condition, she obviously cannot do the stoning herself. It is better if she asks you to do it on her behalf. When you have finished stoning at each Jamrah for 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. You may partake of the meat of your sacrifice.