Entering ihraam for Hajj or ‘Umrah on behalf of two people

The rituals
of Hajj and Umrah can only be done on behalf of one person at a time. You
cannot do one ‘Umrah on behalf of both of your parents, rather you should do
one ‘Umrah on behalf of each of them. It is better if you do ‘Umrah on
behalf of your mother first, because the mother has greater rights, unless
the ‘Umrah for her is naafil (supererogatory) and the ‘Umrah for your father
is obligatory, because he did not do ‘Umrah during his lifetime. In that
case you should do the ‘Umrah on behalf of your father first.  

It says in
Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’ (2/337): It is mustahabb to do Hajj on behalf of
one’s parents, if they are deceased or unable to do it. Some of them added:
If they did not do Hajj. Imam Ahmad stated that he should do it on behalf of
his mother first, because she is more entitled to honouring, but the
obligatory Hajj on behalf of the father takes precedence over the naafil
Hajj of the mother. End quote. 

If a person
enters ihraam for Hajj or ‘Umrah on behalf of two people, the Hajj counts on
his own behalf only. 

Al-Shaafa’i
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Umm (2/137): If two men
hire a man to do Hajj on behalf of their parents, and he enters ihraam on
behalf of both of them, then he invalidates his contract with them and the
Hajj is on his own behalf, not on behalf of either of them. Similarly, if he
intends to do Hajj on behalf of himself and on their behalf or on behalf of
one of them, it is on his own behalf and this contract is invalidated. End
quote. 

Ibn Qudaamah
said in al-Mughni (3/97): If he intends to perform Hajj on behalf of
two people and he enters ihraam on behalf of them both, it is on his own
behalf and not theirs, because he cannot do it on behalf of them both, and
neither of them is more entitled than the other. If he enters ihraam on
behalf of himself and someone else, it is on his own behalf, because in the
former case he did not intend to include himself, but it was counted as his;
in the latter case, the ruling applies even more so. End quote. 

Al-Nawawi
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’(7/126): Our
companions said: If two men hire a man to do Hajj on their behalf, and he
enters ihraam on their behalf, then his ihraam becomes his and is not
counted on behalf of anyone else, because ihraam cannot be entered on behalf
of two people, and neither of them is more entitled than the other. If he
enters ihraam on behalf of one of them and on his own behalf at the same
time, then his ihraam is on his own behalf, because it is not permissible to
enter ihraam on behalf of two, and he is more entitled to his ihraam than
anyone else, so it is his. This was stated by al-Shaafa’i in al-Umm,
and he was followed by Shaykh Abu Haamid, al-Qaadi Abu’l-Tayyib and our
companions. 

End quote. 

We ask
Allaah to accept good deeds from us and from you. 

And Allaah knows
best.