1513 - Narrated ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him): Al-Fadl was riding behind Allah's Messenger ﷺ and a woman from the tribe of Khath'am came to the Prophet ﷺ. Al-Fadl started looking at her and she started looking at him, thus, the Prophet ﷺ turned Al-Fadl's face to the other side. The woman said, "O Allah's Messenger ﷺ! The obligation of Hajj enjoined by Allah on His servants has become due on my father and he is old and weak, and he cannot sit firm on the Mount. Can I perform Hajj on his behalf?" The Prophet ﷺ replied, "Yes, you can." That happened during the Farewell Hajj (of the Prophet ﷺ )..

Commentary : Pilgrimage is the fifth pillar of Islam, which is an obligatory act of worship that requires departing that which we are accustomed to and familiar with in this life to manifest our submission to the Lord of worlds. There is no reward for whoever performs this pillar and gives it its due right except Paradise.
In this hadeeth, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that his brother, Al-Fadl ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) was riding behind the Prophet ﷺ on the same mount when a woman from Khath’am, which is one of the tribes of Yemen, came to the Prophet ﷺ asking him about pilgrimage. While she was there, Al-Fadl started looking at her and the woman started looking at him. Upon seeing this, the Prophet ﷺ turned Al-Fadl’s face to the other side so he does not look at her and so she stops looking at him. The Prophet ﷺ did not order her to stop looking at him too, although the prohibition applies to both men and women according to the Statement of Allah, Most High {˹O Prophet!˺ Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their adornments except what normally appears} [Quran 24:30-31]. It was said the reason he ﷺ did not order her to stop looking at him too was that because she did not intend looking at him because she was talking to the Prophet ﷺ while Al-Fadl happened to be behind him, so she looked at him. It is also possible that the Prophet ﷺ only turned Al-Fadls’ face because that would not allow the woman to see his face i.e., he turned his face away so he no longer can look at her which accordingly would make the woman unable to see his face too. It is also possible that when the Prophet ﷺ turned Al-Fadl’s face away, the woman understood that she should not look at him too, so she stopped looking at him.
The woman asked the Prophet ﷺ about the ruling of performing pilgrimage on behalf of her father who was too old that cannot sit form on the mount. It is possible that she meant that by the time he managed to meet the conditions of pilgrimage, he was very old and too weak to perform it. The Prophet ﷺ allowed her to do it on his behalf. It is said that her father was Husayn ibn ‘Awf al-Khath’amee.
One of the conditions for performing pilgrimage on behalf of another is that the person has already performed Hajj for himself. Otherwise, his Hajj would count for him and not for the other person. It is narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ heard a man saying, Labbayka ‘an Shubrumah (Here I am (O Allah, for Hajj) on behalf of Shubrumah). He ﷺ said: “Have you performed Hajj on your own behalf?” He said: No. He ﷺ said: “Perform Hajj on your own behalf, then on behalf of Shubrumah.” This hadeeth is recorded in Sunan Aboo Dawood.
One of the benefits that we can learn from this hadeeth is learning the permissibility of appointing others to perform Hajj when one is suffering from a state of permanent physical incapability.
This hadeeth teaches us to be kind and dutiful to parents, look after their needs by repaying their debt, servicing them, and spending on them, and all that sort of things that are pertaining to worldly affairs and religion. It also teaches us that the condition of ability to perform Hajj is fulfilled when the there is someone who can do it on our behalf.
It highlights the humility and humbleness of the Prophet ﷺ and the rank of Al-Fadl ibn al-Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father).
We learn from this hadeeth that we are not allowed to look at foreign women (i.e., women that we are allowed to marry), and that we should lower our gaze.
It shows that the scholar should exert his best efforts to stop the wrongdoing so long as it does not lead to a great wrongdoing than that which is committed.
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