“A woman from Juhaynah came to the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—and said: ‘My mother vowed to perform Hajj, but she did not perform Hajj before she died. Should I perform Hajj on her behalf?’ He said: ‘Yes, perform Hajj on her behalf. Do you think that if your mother had a debt, you would repay it? Fulfill what is due to Allah, for Allah is more deserving of fulfillment.’”

Narrated by al-Bukhārī (no. 1852), from the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās—may Allah be pleased with them both.

Brief Explanation of the Hadith

This ḥadīth indicates that acts of worship are to be performed according to one’s ability, and that among them are those for which deputation is legislated. Among this is what Ibn ʿAbbās—may Allah be pleased with them both—reported: that a woman asked the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—about her mother who had vowed to perform Hajj but died before performing it, should she perform Hajj on her behalf? The Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—granted her permission to perform Hajj on her behalf and explained the legal ruling to her through an eloquent instructional method, likening Hajj to a debt. He said: “Do you think that if your mother had a debt, you would repay it?” Just as the debt owed to a human being is settled after death, so too the right of Allah is even more deserving of fulfillment. Hence, he said: “Fulfill what is due to Allah, for Allah is more deserving of fulfillment.”
This indicates that a vow of obedience must be fulfilled and that it may be discharged on behalf of the deceased, whether or not he left an instruction to that effect, and that it is taken from his estate if he left wealth. If he left no wealth, then fulfilling it is not obligatory upon the heirs; rather, it is legislated for them as an act of voluntary charity and kindness toward the deceased, not as a matter of obligation.
And in the ḥadīth there is an indication of the breadth and ease of the Sharīʿah, and of the Prophet’s—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—excellent manner of teaching his Ummah through the use of analogies and by linking legal rulings to matters well known among people. Among this is analogy (qiyās), as the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—likened performing Hajj on behalf of the deceased to the debt owed to a human being, thereby equating one with the other due to their shared obligation of fulfillment. It also indicates the permissibility of a woman asking the people of knowledge about matters she needs, that a vow is not nullified by death, and that fulfilling a vow on behalf of one’s parents after their death constitutes righteousness toward them and kindness to them.