If the cost of the Hajj pilgrimage...

If the cost of the Hajj pilgrimage, and that of the maintenance of his family, if applicable, is sponsored by another person or body, then the Hajj becomes compulsory for him/her. If s/he performs the Hajj in this situation, then s/he has discharged his/her duty of Hajjat-al- Islam, and if at some other times s/he meets all the criteria of the Hajj, it would not be compulsory for him/her to perform the Hajj again.

If he does not go to Hajj, then the Hajj will be unconditionally mandatory upon him, and he must go to Hajj under any circumstances, even if he was a wanderer, and (it would cause him) hardship. He who was able to perform Hajj in the previous years but did not do so, it is obligatory upon him to perform Hajj in any way possible even if he does not meet the criteria. If one is not able to go to Hajj (e.g. can not afford the costs involved), he may go to Hajj by proxy on behalf of others (i.e.

someone pays him the cost to go to Hajj on his behalf). However, if afterwards he becomes able to go to Hajj, then it would be obligatory upon him to go to Hajj for his own. It is not obligatory upon the individual to sell his house, car, or other belongings to (enable him to) go to Hajj. Hajj does not become obligatory upon an individual if going to Hajj constitutes harm to him.

However if going to Hajj hinged upon him either abandoning an obligatory duty, or committing a Haram act, then the priority must be given to that considered to be more important from the view point of the Shari'ah If one was financially able to go to Hajj, but could not do so because of old age or ill health, he must 'hire' (or sponsor) someone to perform Hajj on his behalf during his lifetime.

If a person who qualified to go to Hajj dies just before going to Hajj, it is obligatory that the cost of his Hajj is deducted from what he has left behind so that someone would go to Hajj on his behalf. Hajjat al-Islam does not require the permission of the parents concerning the son, or the permission of the husband concerning the wife.

It is sufficient for the agent performing the Hajj on behalf of a deceased person to commence his agency from the MIQAAT, and it is not necessary for the agent to do so from the deceased hometown. This is also applicable to the living person who is unable to go to Hajj, but wishes to do so by proxy.