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Fatwa CenterCompleting Hajj rituals on behalf of one’s deceased mother
Question
My late mother set out for Hajj (major pilgrimage) and, due to her illness, she could not perform Tawaaf Al-Qudoom (circumambulation of Ka’bah upon arrival in Makkah), Sa‘ee and Tawaaf Al-Ifaadhah (circumambulation upon returning from Mina). She did, however, stand [in worship] in ‘Arafah. I am going to do Hajj for the first time this year. Can I complete the rituals of my mother's Hajj without causing any interference to my own pilgrimage? How can I do that?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Him, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Your mother died in a state of Ihraam (ritual consecration) because she had not done her whole Hajj. As for completing its rituals on her behalf, scholars have expressed two well-known opinions, the preponderant of which is that you are not required to complete her rituals. In one of his Fataawa (sing. fatwa, legal rulings), the eminent scholar Ibn Baaz 
said:
“Whoever completed the rituals of Hajj, save for the Tawaaf Al-Ifaadhah (circumambulation upon returning from Mina), then dies, no one is to do it on his behalf. Ibn ‘Abbaas 
said: “While a man was standing [in Hajj] with the Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, he fell down from his mount, broke his neck and died. When informed of this, the Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, ‘Wash him with water and Sidr (lote-tree leaves), and shroud him in two pieces of cloth; neither perfume him nor cover his head, for Allaah will resurrect him on the Day of Resurrection and he will be uttering the Talbiyah (the Hajj chant).’” [Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmithi, Abu Daawood, An-Nasaa’i and Ibn Maajah] The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not order anyone to do Tawaaf (circumambulation of the Ka’bah) on his behalf; he merely told them that he would be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection saying Talbiyah, because he was still in Ihraam. He 
did not do Tawaaf nor did anybody else do it in the man’s name.”
We second this opinion. Therefore, you have to perform your Hajj if you have not previously done so, and you should only pray to Allaah The Almighty for forgiveness for your mother and supplicate profusely for her sake.
Allaah Knows best.
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