❞ كتاب Fiqh as Sunnah: The Book of Hajj ❝ ⏤ السيد سابق

llah, the Exalted One, says:  
“The  first  House  (of  worship)  appointed  for  men  was
that  at  Bakka;  (Bakka  is  one  of  the  names  of  Makkah
)
full of blessings and guidance for all kinds of bei
ngs: in
it  are  signs  manifest  (for  example),  the  station  of
  Abra-
ham-- whoever enters it attains security; pilgrimag
e the-
reto  is  a  duty  men  owe  to  Allah--those  who  can  affo
rd
the  journey;  but  if  any  deny  faith,  Allah  stands  no
t  in
need of any of His creatures” (Qur’an 3.96-97).
Definition of Hajj:
The majority of the scholars hold that Hajj was pre
scribed in the
sixth year after Hijrah (Migration of the Prophet (
peace be upon
him) from Makkah to Madinah) for it was then that t
he following
verse concerning it was revealed:  
“And complete the Hajj and ‘Umrah in the service of
 Al-
lah” (Qur’an 2.194).  
This conclusion is based on the understanding that
the
“comple-
tion”
  in  the  above  verse  in  fact  refers  to  the  time  when
  it  was
first  made  obligatory.  This  view  is  also  supported
by  ‘Alqamah,
Masrouq,  and  Ibrahim  An-Nakh’i,  who  substitute
“And  estab-
lish”
 for
“And complete”
 in the above verse, as reported by At-
Tabarani on sound authority. Ibn-al-Qayyim, however
, is inclined
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to  the  view  that  Hajj  was  made  obligatory  in  the  ni
nth  or  the
tenth year of Hijrah.
Excellence of Hajj:
The Divine Law Giver exhorted Muslims to perform Ha
jj. In this
regard we may refer to the following:
Hajj - One of the Best Deeds:
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (peace be up
on him) was
once asked:  
“What  is  the  best  deed?”  He  replied:  “To  have  faith
  in
Allah  and  His  Messenger.”  The  enquirer  asked:  “What
next?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “To st
rive
in the cause of Allah.” “What is the next best thin
g?” He
replied: “Hajj Mabrur (a faultless Hajj that is fre
e of sin
and is graced with Divine acceptance and pleasure).
”
Al-Hasan said:
“It means that a person after performance of
Hajj should desire and be inclined to the life of t
he Hereaf-
ter rather than the material pleasures of this worl
d.”
 Another
report  transmitted  on  sound  authority  from  the  Prop
het  (peace
be  upon  him)  says  that  a  righteous  performance  of  H
ajj  is
crowned by feeding the needy and speaking kind word
s to men.
Hajj: A Form of Jihad:
Al-Hasan ibn Ali says that a man came to the Prophe
t (peace be
upon him) and said:  
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“I am a coward and a  weak person. Is there anything
 I
can  do?”  The  Prophet  (peace  be  upon  him)  said:  “You
may  go  for  a  jihad  (striving)  that  involves  no  figh
ting,
that is, Hajj.” This is reported by Abdur Razzaq an
d At-
Tabarani, and all its narrators are trustworthy.
Abu Hurairah narrates that the Prophet (peace be up
on him) said:  
“Hajj is the jihad for the old, the weak and the wo
men.”
(This is reported by Nasa’i with a reliable chain o
f narra-
tors)
‘Aishah reports that she once said:  
“O  Prophet  of  Allah!  Jihad  (striving  or  fighting  in
  the
cause  of  Allah)  is  the  best  deed.  Should  we  (women)
then, not actively participate in it?” The Prophet
(peace
be  upon  him)  replied:  “The  best  jihad  for  you  is  Ha
jj
Mabrur.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
In another report ‘Aishah says:  
“I  once  asked  the  Prophet  (peace  be  upon  him):  ‘O
Prophet of Allah! Should not we (women) strive and
ac-
tively  participate  in  the  Islamic  war  with  you?’  Th
e
Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: ‘The best and
the
most  beautiful  striving  for  you  in  the  cause  of  All
ah  is
Hajj Mabrur.’ ” (Bukhari and Muslim)  
‘Aishah  commented:
“After  hearing  this  from  the  Prophet
(peace be upon him) I shall never cease performing
Hajj.”
Hajj Wipes Off Past Sins:
Abu  Hurairah  reported  that  the  Prophet  (peace  be  up
on  him)
said:  
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“He  who  performs  Hajj  for  Allah’s  pleasure  and  avoi
ds
all  lewdness and  sins  will  return  after  Hajj  free  f
rom  all
sins  as  he  was  the  day  his  mother  gave  birth  to  him
.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
‘Amr ibn al-‘As says:  
“When Allah guided me to Islam, I went to the Proph
et
(peace be upon him) and said to him: ‘O Prophet of
Al-
lah! Stretch out your hand so that I may pledge my
alle-
giance  to  you.’  The  Prophet  (peace  be  upon  him)
stretched  out  his  hand  to  me,  but  I  withdrew  my  han
d.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked: ‘O ‘Amr! wha
t
is the matter with you?’ I said: ‘I would like to s
tipulate a
condition!  ‘The  Prophet  (peace  be  upon  him)  asked:
‘What  is  it?’  I  said:  ‘That  all  my  past  sins  be  for
given!’
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘O ‘Amr! Do y
ou
not  know  that  Islam  wipes  off  all  past  sins,  and  hi
jrah
(leaving one’s home and hearth for Allah’s cause) w
ipes
off all sins, and (similarly) Hajj wipes off all pa
st sins!”’
(Muslim)
Abdullah  ibn  Mas’ud  narrated  that  the  Prophet  (peac
e  be  upon
him) said:  
“Alternate  between  Hajj  and  ‘Umrah  (regularly),  for
these  two  remove  poverty  and  sins  just  as  the  black
-
smith’s  bellows  removes  all  impurities  from  metals
like
iron,  gold  and  silver.  The  reward  for  Hajj  Mabrur  i
s
nothing  short  of  Paradise.”  (Nasa’i  and  Tirmidhi,  w
ho
regards it a sound hadith)
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Pilgrims are Allah’s Guests:
Abu  Hurairah  reported  that  the  Prophet  (peace  be  up
on  him)
said:  
“Pilgrims  and  those  performing  ‘Umrah  are  Allah’s
guests;  their  prayers  are  answered  and  their  suppli
ca-
tions for forgiveness are granted.”  
This  is  reported  by  Nasa’i,  Ibn  Majah,  Ibn  Khuzaima
h  and
Ibn  Hibban  in  their  collections  of  Sahih  hadith.  In
  the  last
two we read:
“And  Allah’s  guests  are  three:  A  pilgrim  performing
Hajj, one performing ‘Umrah, and a person who fight
s in
the cause of Allah.”  
The Reward of Hajj is Paradise:
Abu Hurairah says the Prophet (peace be upon him) s
aid:  
“All sins committed in between the performance of o
ne
‘Umrah  and  another  are  expiated  and  erased,  and  the
reward of Hajj Mabrur is nothing save Paradise.” (B
uk-
hari and Muslim) In another sound hadith Ibn Joraij
 re-
lates  from  Jabir  that  the  Prophet  (peace  be  upon  hi
m)
said:  “This  House  of  Allah  (the  Ka’bah)  is  the  pill
ar  of
Islam, so whosoever heads to it with the intention
of per-
forming  Hajj  or  ‘Umrah  is  under  Allah’s  security.  I
f  he
should die (during his trip) he is granted Paradise
, and if
he  returns  home  safely,  he  returns  with  reward  and
gain.”

The Excellence of Spending in Hajj:
Buraidah reports the Prophet (peace be upon him) as
 saying:  
“Spending during Hajj is akin to spending in the ca
use
of  Allah,  and  every  dirham  thus  spent  will  be  rewar
ded
seven  hundred  times  over.”  (Reported  by  Ibn  Abi  Sha
i-
bah, Ahmad, At-Tabarani and Al-Baihaqi)
Can the Performance of Hajj Be Deferred to a More C
onve-
nient Time or Must It Be Performed Immediately afte
r One
is Able to Do So?
Ash-Shafi’i, Ath-Thawri, Al-Awza’i and Mohammad bin
 al-Hasan
are of the opinion that Hajj may be performed at an
y time during
one’s life, and there is nothing wrong if someone,
for whom it is
obligatory, delays it until a later date in his (or
 her) life, for, al-
though Hajj was prescribed in the 6
th
 year of Hijrah, the Prophet
(peace be upon him) delayed it until the 10
th
 year of Hijrah when
he  performed  it  along  with  his  wives  and  many  of  hi
s  compa-
nions. Had performing it earlier been essential the
 Prophet (peace
be upon him) would have never delayed it.
Ash-Shafi’i  says:
“We,  therefore,  are  convinced  that  Hajj  is
obligatory upon a Muslim, male or female, from the
age of
puberty until before his death.”
Abu Hanifah, Malik, Ahmad, some of Ash-Shafi’i’s fo
llowers and
Abu  Yusuf  are  of  the  opinion  that  Hajj  must  be  perf
ormed  as
soon as one is (physically and financially) in a po
sition to do so.
This opinion is based on a hadith that is related b
y Ibn ‘Abbas
that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:  
“He who intends to perform Hajj let him do so exped
i-
tiously,  for  he  may  well  fall  sick,  may  lose  his  mo
unt

(ability  to  bear  expenses  of  the  journey)  or  he  may
  be
prevented  by  some  other  exigency.”  (Reported  by  Ah-
mad, Al-Baihaqi, At-Tahawi and Ibn Majah)  
In  another  report  by  Ahmad  and  Al-Baihaqi,  we  read
that  the
Prophet (peace be upon him) said:  
“Hasten to perform Hajj - the basic obligation - fo
r you
don’t  know  what  might  happen  to  you,”
meaning
  “one
may fall sick or be prevented by some other exigenc
y.”  
The earlier scholars interpreted these ahadith sayi
ng it was com-
mendable for a person to perform Hajj as soon as po
ssible pro-
vided he had the ability to do so.
Prerequisites for Hajj:
There is a consensus among jurists concerning the p
rerequisites
that must be found in a person for Hajj to be incum
bent on him:
1. He must be a Muslim.
2. He must be an adult.
3. He must be of a sound state of mind.
4. He must be free.
5. He must have the necessary power and ability.
Anyone lacking any of these conditions is not oblig
ated to per-
form Hajj. All these conditions, that is, being a M
uslim, being of
adult age and of sound mind, being free, and posses
sing the pow-
er to discharge a duty are equally valid with respe
ct to all other
forms  of  worship  in  Islam.  This  is  based  on  a  hadit
h  of  the
Prophet (peace be upon him) which says:  
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“Three persons are not to be held accountable: a sl
eep-
ing  person  until  he  awakes,  a  minor  until  he  comes
of
age, and a mentally disturbed person until he regai
ns his
reason.”
Freedom  is  an  essential  prerequisite  for  Hajj,  for
this  worship
needs time as well as financial ability. A slave la
cks both, for all
his time is spent in the service of his master, and
 financially he
lacks the ability to undertake this obligation. The
 Qur’an says:
“Pilgrimage  thereto  is  a  duty  men  owe  to  Allah  -  th
ose
who can afford the journey” (3.97)

 One of the most detailed books describing the rulings of Hajj, Umrah, and visiting the Masjid of the Prophet peace be upon him .