With the spread of Swine Flu, are the children who are 4-8 years old required to perform Tawaaf and Sa‘y?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

In principle, a child is required to perform whatever he is able to do of the rituals of Hajj and ‘Umrah. Meanwhile, a child's guardian replaces him in deeds which he is unable to do. It was narrated on the authority of Jaabir that he said: "We went out with the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and with us were women and children. We said Talbiyah and threw the pebbles on behalf of the children." [Ahmad and Ibn Maajah]

What is propagated in media about the Swine Flu does not constitute a valid justification for absolving children of some of the rituals of Hajj or ‘Umrah, unless the concerned physicians and authorities decide that. If the concerned people decided that Tawaaf or Sa‘y may cause harm to children, in such a case they are absolved of liability. Meanwhile, children are not obliged to compensate because they are not competent for religious assignment and they are not required to complete the rituals of what they assumed Ihraam for. This is the view of some scholars, including Ibn ‘Uthaymeen .