A Study of the Documents and Arguments on the Insufficiency of the HajjPerformed by Immature Children

According to the consensus of jurists, the obligation of Hajj is conditional on maturity. Therefore, first, Hajjat al-Islam is not obligatory on immature children; and second, if they are performed Hajj, despite the validity and legitimacy of their pilgrim, will have to do the obligatory Hajjat al-Islam. The main document of both rules is special texts. Some jurists rely on consensus and some others on practical principles before stating the texts, both of which worth contemplation. The only reason for a primitive conflict with the special texts of this subject is the narrations by Abān b. Taghlib who referred to the Hajj of immature children as Hajjat al-Islam which is, of course, virtual and due to the resemblance of performance. Regarding the second rule, the insufficiency of the Hajj performed by immature children and performing the obligatory Hajjat al-Islam, some find the insufficiency as the requirement of the primary rule while for some others the opposite case is true. According to the consensus on the requirement of the second rule and the special texts, the disagreement over the requirement of the primary rule will be fruitless. Given the complexity of this issue and the lack of independent researches in this field, it seemed necessary to discuss the reasons and their implications. Therefore, this descriptive-analytical research discusses the documents and arguments of the jurists.