Must One First Send One’s Father on Hajj Before Performing One’s Own?

Question

A man has saved money for Hajj from his own earnings and wishes to go on Hajj, but people say that he should first send his father on Hajj and perform it himself afterwards. What should he do now, when he does not have the means to take his father along as well?

Answer

He should perform his own Hajj; then, if at some time he has the means and also sends his father on Hajj, that is true good fortune. The notion that until he has sent his father on Hajj he should not perform his own Hajj either is not a ruling of the Shari‘a; rather, it is a mistaken idea widespread among the uneducated common people.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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