The Case of One Who Is Paid for al-Hajj and He Spends it on Other Things or Performs al-Hajj for Someone on Hire and Has Leftover from What Is Paid

“I once asked abu al-Hassan, al-Rida’ (a.s.), about a man who is paid for al-Hajj and he spends openhandedly, but still a certain amount remains with him; if he is required to return it to the payer. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, it belongs to him.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a man who is paid for performing al-Hajj for another person; if he can spend from such amount for other things. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he guarantees al-Hajj, dirhams belong to him with which he can do whatever he wants, but he owes al- Hajj.’”

“‘Umar ibn Yazid sent me to abu Ja’far al-Ahwal with a certain amount of dirham and asked me to tell him to perform al-Hajj with it if he wanted, or if he wanted to benefit in other ways, he can do so. He spent it for other things and did not perform al-Hajj . Certain persons of our people mentioned it to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and he (the Imam) said, ‘You have found a faqih (knowledgeable in matters of Shari ‘ah) shaykh.’”