Question:
Can I send my elderly, unemployed parents to Hajj?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu `alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
It is permissible to pay for the Hajj of your parents. However, if you have sufficient funds and did not perform your Hajj, Hajj will become compulsory upon you.[i]
And Allah knows best.
Mufti Saeed Ahmed Golaub
Islamic Solutions
Jamaica
[i] (هُوَ) بِفَتْحِ الْحَاءِ وَكَسْرُهَا لُغَةٌ: الْقَصْدُ إلَى مُعَظَّمٍ لَا مُطْلَقُ الْقَصْدِ كَمَا ظَنَّهُ بَعْضُهُمْ.
وَشَرْعًا (زِيَارَةُ) أَيْ طَوَافٌ وَوُقُوفٌ (مَكَان مَخْصُوصٍ) أَيْ الْكَعْبَةِ وَعَرَفَةَ (فِي زَمَنٍ مَخْصُوصٍ) فِي الطَّوَافِ مِنْ فَجْرِ النَّحْرِ إلَى آخِرِ الْعُمُرِ وَفِي الْوُقُوفِ مِنْ زَوَالِ شَمْسِ عَرَفَةَ لِفَجْرِ النَّحْرِ (بِفِعْلٍ مَخْصُوصٍ) بِأَنْ يَكُونَ مُحْرِمًا بِنِيَّةِ الْحَجِّ
َ سَابِقًا كَمَا سَيَجِيءُ لَمْ يَقُلْ لِأَدَاءِ رُكْنٍ مِنْ أَرْكَانِ الدِّينِ لِيَعُمَّ حَجَّ النَّفْلِ.رد المحتار – ج2 ص454)