A person who makes the intention of going on Umrah, put on his Ihraam garments. However, before he left his home in Jeddah, some visitors arrived. He changed back into his ordinary clothes. Four hours later, when they had left, he put on his Ihraam garments again and went to Makkah for Umrah. Please comment.
It is very clearly required that when we start on pilgrimage or Umrah, we do not interrupt our purpose for any reason. We are required to complete the duty that we have started upon. What is meant by this is the actual start presented by the declaration of intent. That is to say: when one verbally declares that he is embarking on doing the pilgrimage or the Umrah. That takes place after he has put on his Ihraam garments.
Therefore, if this friend of yours has made this declaration, after putting on his Ihraam, he was in a state of consecration, or Ihraam, from that moment until he has finished his Umrah, the fact that he changed into his ordinary clothes withstanding. He must compensate for violating the rules of Ihraam by sacrificing a sheep in Haram area, i.e. in Makkah or Mina, and distributing it to the poor. He is not allowed to partake of the meat of that sacrifice.
On the other hand, if your friend put on his Ihraam garments and was about to offer his two rak'ahs, which are the Sunnah of Ihraam, when the arrival of his friend was announced, then he has not actually started the Umrah. He has not verbally declared at that particular moment that he has embarked on the Umrah. There was nothing to stop him from changing into his ordinary clothes if he wanted to. In that case, no compensation is required of him.
The difference between the two cases is that in the first one he has made the declaration of intent, while in the other he has not. The verbal declaration is the actual start of Umrah or pilgrimage Without it, Ihraam garments are like any other clothes one wears. It is for him to judge whether he needs to compensate for violation of Ihraam or not.
• Pilgrimage: Jamrah — throwing stones in wrong order
You should begin stoning with the First Jamrah, or the "small" one, as it is commonly called. When you have completed this stoning, you move on to the second, or the Middle Jamrah. You finish with the third or the "Grand" Jamrah, which is also known as the Jamrah of Aqabah. This is the proper order for stoning on the second, third and fourth days. On the first day, you do the stoning only at the third or Grand Jamrah.
If, however, you do the stoning in the wrong order, beginning with the third and moving on to the middle one before finishing the Third Jamrah, only the last one is correct. The other two are invalid. You have to go back to them and do the stoning in the right order, as long as this happens before sunset on the 13th Zul Hajjah. If one has done the stoning in the wrong order on all the three days, then he has to compensate for this because his stoning remains incomplete. If he has done it on one day only, then the compensation may be in the form of a sadaqah, or a charitable offering.
A friend of mine came to Makkah on the first day of Thul-Hajjah and started Umrah. He then fell sick and his condition deteriorated and did not respond to medication. Four days later, when his temperature was still too high, he was advised that it would be wrong if he went to pilgrimage in this condition. A friend residing in Makkah told him that he would do the pilgrimage on his behalf. Therefore, he went back to where he lived. On arrival, he was admitted into hospital for four days and he was discharged on the 10th Thul-Hajjah. Please comment on the validity of his Umrah and pilgrimage, bearing in mind that he did not do the tawaf of farewell.
Scholars are unanimous that a person who is able to undertake the journey of pilgrimage himself may not appoint someone else to do the pilgrimage on his behalf. This is due to the fact that pilgrimage is a personal duty, which every single person, man or woman, owes to Allah, once he or she is able to perform it. Substitute pilgrimage is permissible only when there is a legitimate reason to prevent someone from fulfilling this task, with a strong likelihood that this condition is permanent. Thus, substitute pilgrimage may be offered on behalf of someone who died before he could perform this duty himself, or when it is done voluntarily on behalf of a deceased person, or when someone is physically unable to go on the journey of pilgrimage because of old age or chronic illness. In any of these situations, substitute pilgrimage may be offered.
If someone is physically and financially able to offer the pilgrimage, he must do it himself. Temporary incapacitation, through illness, does not allow that person to ask someone else to do the pilgrimage on his behalf because his handicap is temporary. He may wait until he has recovered. Our friend here has had a bout of influenza. It might have been very severe, raising his temperature and weakening him considerably. He tried to treat his illness by himself, using antibiotics and cough mixtures. He apparently needed proper medical treatment which, he felt, was not readily available to him in Makkah. He listened to the first person's advice that he could not do the pilgrimage in that condition and returned home. After a three-day stay in hospital, he is completely recovered. This is no justification for using someone else, paid or unpaid, to do the pilgrimage on one's behalf. What our friend should have done was to seek proper medical advice in Makkah. He was able to travel to his home town. Had he stayed, he would have been able to go to Arafat on 9th Thul-Hajjah and return to Mina the following day. He could have stayed in Mina, or returned to Makkah, asking someone else to do the duty of stoning on his behalf. He could have delayed in tawaf of Ifadah until he was strong enough.
If our friend thinks that he has done the pilgrimage, I have some disappointing news for him. That pilgrimage undertaken on his behalf by the person he hired for the purpose is not valid. If this was his first pilgrimage, he still owes that duty to Allah. Allah will reward him for the expense he had incurred and for doing the Umrah. But the duty of pilgrimage remains to be fulfilled.
No compensation is due from him since he has done the Umrah only.