Q: A Muslim employee was forced by the nature of his work to leave Mina after staying at ‘Arafah and throwing pebbles at the Jamarat (stone pillars marking the pebble-throwing areas). After dawn on the Day of Nahr (Sacrifice, 10th of Dhul-Hijjah), he deputized someone to stone the remaining Jamarat and perform the slaughtering. He then left Mina to go to Makkah. He performed Tawaf-ul-Ifadah (final obligatory circumambulation of the Ka‘bah in Hajj) and Sa‘y (going between Safa and Marwah during Hajj) after offering the Jumu‘ah (Friday) Prayer. (Part No. 11; Page No. 291) Then, he went back to his place of work, which was 1.270 kilometers away from Makkah, so that he could arrive there after Zhuhr (Noon) Prayer on Saturday, the second day of ‘Eid (the Festival of the Sacrifice), as his manager had told him to do and warned him that he would be punished if he was late. The people he worked with were astonished at him returning early. They claimed with confidence that he had not fulfilled the conditions or pillars of Hajj. He would like to ask whether what they said is true or not. They criticize him without taking into consideration that he was forced to do this in order to obey his Saudi manager, who had assured him before he went to Hajj that doing so would be sufficient to fulfill the obligation.

A: If the reality is as you mentioned, then deputizing someone else to throw the pebbles on your behalf was not correct, because your manager stipulating that you should be back to work on Saturday, the second day of ‘Eid after Zhuhr Prayer, and his threatening to punish you if you were late is not a lawful excuse that allows you to travel and deputize someone else to throw the pebbles on your behalf. Therefore, you missed throwing the pebbles on the 11th and 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, staying at Mina the two nights preceding the 11th and 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, and Tawaf-ul-Wada‘ (circumambulation of the Ka‘bah on leaving Makkah). It is obligatory on you to offer Fidyah (ransom), which is to sacrifice an animal that meets the conditions for an Ud-hiyah (sacrificial animal offered by non-pilgrims) for each of these three obligatory acts that you missed. You have to perform the slaughtering in Makkah and distribute the meat to the poor there. If you cannot offer these sacrificial animals, you must observe Sawm (Fast) for ten days in place of each sacrifice. And you should not do anything like this again.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.