1)Notes of Lectures on
Fiqh
by Maulana Sadiq Hasan
IMPORTANCE OF
HAJ , CONDITIONS OF ATTAINING
CAPABILITY (ISTETA’AT) FOR
HAJJ , MINIMUM TIME REQUIRED FOR
HAJJ LOAN (QARZ) REPAYMENT AND
HAJJ
,
RULES FOR HAJJE NIYABAT :-
IMPORTANCE OF HAJJ lecture # 7 (Friday 27 July
2001)
Among all the acts of worship (furoo-e-deen),
Hajj is the only worship, for
which a
complete
surah
(Surah
Hajj) is revealed in the Holy
Quran.
Hajj is also mentioned in
Surah
Ale Imran
and Surah
Baqarah
in Quran.
Hajj is also the only worship,
which, if started, must
be
completed and can not be left
half-done, even if it is a
Mustahab
Hajj (unlike
Mustahab
Sawm,
which can be broken anytime, if
necessary, without any sin).
Quran:
"And the Hajj is incumbent upon
mankind for the sake of Allah,
for those who canafford
to undertake journey to it; and
whoever denies, then surely
Allah is Self-sufficient,independent
of the worlds",
Surah
Ale Imran,
(3:97).
Hadees
1: If a person, on whom Hajj has
become
wajib, does not perform
Hajj and dies,he/she
will die as a
christian
or a jew.
Hadees
2: If Hajj becomes
wajib
on a person and it is not
performed, then he/she will be
raised
as a
christian or
jew
on the day of
judgement.
Hadees
3: When a person, on whom Hajj
becomes
wajib, completes the Hajj
properly,his/her
sins are forgiven such as if
he/she is a newly born person.
Hadees
4: When a person completes a
Hajj properly, his/her every
dua
is accepted for four
months.
WHEN DOES HAJJ BECOMES
WAJIB ?
Hajj becomes
wajib
only when a Muslim attains
certain capability (Isteta’at)
as defined by
Islamic
sharia.
Hajj is therefore a conditional
wajib
(wajibe
mashroot)
act as opposed to
absolute
wajib
(wajibe
mutlaq)
acts such as
salat
and sawm.
Another example of conditional
wajib
act is
Salatul
Juma
(Friday Prayer). For conditional
wajib
acts, it is not necessary for a
person
to deliberately create the
conditions for the act to become
wajib.
If a person does not attain the
required capability (Isteta’at),
then Hajj is not
wajib
on
him/her.
If such a person performs the
Hajj without the required
capability, then his Hajj is OK,
but he has to perform the Hajj
again in future if and when he
attains the required
capability
(isteta’at).
It is not
wajib on a person to try
to achieve the required
capability in order to perform
Hajj.This is not the case for
other acts of worship such as
wudu
for wajib
salat,
for which it iswajib
to try to get the water for
performing
wudu.
The wajib
Hajj is of two types depending
upon how it becomes
wajib:
(1) Hajje
Isteta’ei
(wajib
when attaining required
Isteta’at
automatically)
(2) Hajje
Bazli
(wajib
when someone gifts sufficient
money to someone for Hajj)
When someone gives you
sufficient money as a gift for
performing the Hajj, then it is
wajib
for
you to accept the gift and go
for Hajj. For example, if
husband is willing to pay for
his
wife
or for his
baligh child for Hajj,
then it is
wajib for the wife or
that child to go for Hajj. If
they
go to Hajj with this gifted
money, then they have performed
their wajib
Hajj and need
not
go again even if they get their
own sufficient money in future.
If someone is giving sufficient
money as a gift to someone
without putting a condition togo
for Hajj, then it is not
wajib
for the receiver to accept the
money. But if he accepts and themoney
is sufficient and other
conditions of
isteta’at
exist, then he has to go for
Hajj.
If a person, on whom Hajj is not
wajib
(eg
na-baligh
person, or when the passage is
not
safe),
performs the Hajj somehow, then
he will get the
sawab
of that Hajj, but he will have
to
go
to do his
wajib Hajj in future when
Hajj becomes
wajib
on him.
CONDITIONS OF ATTAINING
CAPABILITY (ISTETA’AT) FOR HAJJ
There are four types of
capability (isteta’at)
which must all exist for the
Hajj to become
wajib.
Such a
wajib Hajj is called
Hajj-e-Islam. These capabilities
are:
(1) Mental Capability (Isteta’at-e-Aqli)
(2) Passage Capability (Isteta’at-e-Tariqi)
(3) Physical Capability (Isteta’at-e-Badni)
(4) Financial Capability (Isteta’at-e-Mali)
Mental Capability means that the
person must be
aqil
(sane) and
baligh
Islamically.Passage
Capability means that the
passage for going to Hajj and
return must be secure and
safe
without any danger to life. This
also includes getting the visa.
If passport or visa is
denied,
Hajj is not
wajib.
Physical Capability means that
the person must be physically
fit to perform the Hajj. If a
person
has sufficient money to perform
the Hajj, but he is physically
unfit and does not
expect
to become fit in future, then it
is wajib
for him to send someone else to
perform the
Hajj on his behalf.
This is the only situation when
a person can perform a Hajj on
behalf of a
living
person. But if the unfit person
gains health in future and gains
physical capability, then
he
must perform the
wajib
Hajj himself if other
capabilities (financial, mental,
passage) also
exist.
According to some
marja,
if he is physically unfit now,
he has to send a
naib(representative)
to do Hajj on his behalf as well
as perform Hajj himself later on
when he
becomes
fit, if other capabilities also
exist.
Financial Capability means that
the person must
fulfil
the following conditions
:(a) Has expenses for to-and-fro
travel to Mecca
(b) Has funds for local travel
(c) Has funds to maintain his
dependants during his absence
due to Hajj
(d) His source of income or any
job is maintained after
returning from Hajj
When the financial capability is
attained by having a certain
amount of funds to meet
above
expenses (say $5000), then it is
wajib
to go for Hajj, even if you
spend lesser amount
during
the completion of your Hajj. But
if you did not have the
financial capability (by not
having
the required amount, say $5000),
and if you still went ahead
somehow and performed
the
Hajj, then you will have to
perform the
wajib Hajj again in
future when you gain financial
capability
(plus other capabilities).
If Hajj had become
wajib
on a person once in the past,
but he did not go to Hajj at
that
time,
then it remains
wajib
on him even if he loses the
required capabilities later on,
and in
such
a case, he has to go and perform
the Hajj even with hardships and
with any minimum
amount
of funds possible.
It is not necessary that the
required funds for expenses for
Hajj should be available in cash
in
hand. Two cases will clarify
this rule:
Case 1:
If the Mahr
of a woman, fixed at the time of
marriage, is of sufficient
amount to
perform
the Hajj, and the agreed time of
Mahr
payment has also come, then it
is wajib
on her
to
claim the
Mahr from her husband,
and use it to perform Hajj.
Case 2:
If you have given a loan to
someone, and the amount is
sufficient to perform Hajj,
and
the time of loan return is due
or the borrower is willingly to
pay even before due date,then
it is wajib
on you to claim the loan back
from that person, and use it to
perform Hajj.And if the borrower
refuses to return the loan, then
it is wajib
to take him to court or use
other
legal
means to get back the loan in
order to perform the Hajj. And
if he is incapable of
returning
the loan, then you must try to
find a person who can purchase
that loan and give
money
to you on agreed terms. If Hajj
has become
wajib on you due to the
loan money, then
it
is also not allowed to forgo the
loan or gift away the loan to
the borrower if the amount issufficient
for Hajj and, without it, you
can not do your Hajj.
MINIMUM TIME REQUIRED FOR HAJJ
Lecture # 8 (Friday 3 August
2001)
When considering the capability
(Isteta’at)
for Hajj (passage, physical and
financial
capabilities),
the decision about capability
should be based on the minimum
time required for
Hajj.
According to
sharia,
after reaching Mecca, the
minimum time required for
completing
all
acts of Hajj is 5 days (8 to 12
Zil
Hij).
However, according to current
Saudi laws, one
must
enter Mecca before 5th
Zil
Hij.
Therefore, the minimum time
required for completion
of
Hajj nowadays is 8 days.
If one is able to afford to go
for his
wajib Hajj by spending
only the minimum number ofdays
possible for Hajj, then it is
wajib
for him to go for Hajj.
Visit to Medina is highly
recommended in
sharia
although it is not part of Hajj.
However,one
can visit Medina and complete
all ziyarat
in Medina even in one day.
According to
Ahlul
Sunnah,
it is
mustahab to stay in
Medina for 8 days, but according
to
shia
ulama,
there are no
such
traditions.
MORE ON PASSAGE CAPABILITY
(ISTETA’AT E TARIQI)
If the government of a country
does not give permission to a
person due to quota restriction
imposed
on the number of persons allowed
for Hajj, then Hajj is not
wajib
on that person.
But if that person knows that
permission can be granted to him
by another country, then it is
wajib
for him to go to that country
and seek permission, provided
that his financial capability
allows
him to do so.
If a person can not get visa for
Hajj from Saudi embassy in his
own country, but he can get Hajj
visa from Saudi embassy of
another country, then it is
wajib
for him to go to that country
and
obtain Hajj visa, provided that
his financial capability allows
him to do so.
It is therefore
wajib
to try to attain passage
capability (isteta’at-e-tariqi)
for Hajj by all
possible
means. This is not so for
financial capability, i.e., it
is not
wajib to try to attain
financial
capability in order to do Hajj.
In the process of attaining
passage capability, if a person
is required to commit a sin
(such
as
speaking a lie), and if that sin
is a lesser sin than the sin of
not performing
wajib
Hajj, then
it
is wajib
to commit that lesser sin in
order to do the
wajib
Hajj.
If the passage for Hajj is not
safe by going alone, but it is
safe by taking a companion, then
it
is wajib
to take the companion provided
you could afford the expenses
for companion if
required.
And the Hajj performed by that
companion can be counted as his
wajib
Hajj.
According to Sunni
fiqh,
a woman is not allowed to go for
Hajj without a
mahram
man. Inshia
fiqh,
a woman is allowed to go alone
for Hajj if she feels that she
will be safe.
MORE ON FINANCIAL CAPABILITY
(ISTETA’ATE MALI)
If a woman is entitled to her
share of property from her late
father, and if the value of that
share
is sufficient to enable her to
go for Hajj, then it is
wajib
on her to claim that share in
order
to perform Hajj.
If a woman owns plenty of
jewellery,
and if she is of the age of
wearing that
jewellery,
and
it
is her daily requirement, then
it is not necessary for her to
sell the
jewellery in order to
perform
Hajj. But if she reaches such an
age that she does not wear it,
and if it is of sufficient
value
to sell it to perform Hajj, then
Hajj will become
wajib
on her. And in such a case, it
is
not
allowed for her to give away
such
jewellery as a gift to
anyone, including her daughter
or
daughter
in law. And if she dies without
performing Hajj, then it is
wajib
on her heir to
arrange
for Hajj on her behalf from her
property.
Israf
(extravagance) is a major sin in
Islam. Hajj can also become
wajib
on a person if he
leads
a life with
israf. However, one must
understand the difference
between the need (necessity),
the status and the
israf.
Islam allows a person to own
items of his daily life (such
as
clothes, car, house,
jewellery
etc), that are according to his
need, or even more than his
need.
But Islam does not allow a
person to own items, which are
above his status (shaan)
in the
community where he lives.
Israf
is a life style using such
luxurious items, which are
considered
beyond his status and is
considered
haram and a major sin.
If a person has obtained items
or property (car, house,
jewellery
etc), which are beyond
his/her
status, and if the difference
between the monetary value of
these things and the value
of
those things required to live
according to his status is
enough to perform Hajj, then
Hajj
becomes
wajib
on him/her. It is then
wajib
on him/her to sell that item or
property, set aside
the
amount necessary for performing
the Hajj, and then buy the items
according to his/her
status.
How do we define status of a
person ?
Status of a person is not to be
determined by the
person
himself. According to
sharia,
the status of a person is
determined by
urf
(opinion of
the
majority of people in the
community in which that person
is living).
Urf is considered an
important
criterion, which affects many
other laws of Islamic
sharia.
LOAN (QARZ) REPAYMENT AND HAJJ
Lecture # 9 (Friday 10 August
2001)
If you have got sufficient funds
to perform Hajj, but you are
also in debt and the funds are
enough
to either repay the loan or go
for Hajj, then should you go for
Hajj or repay the loan
first ?
In such a case, there are two
situations:
(a) The agreed time of repayment
of loan has come
(b) The agreed time of repayment
of loan has not come
If the agreed time of loan
repayment has come and if the
lender is not agreeable that you
can
go to Hajj first (ie
he wants his money back), then
you have to repay the loan to
him, and
then
Hajj is not
wajib on you. And if you
still went ahead and performed
the Hajj with that
fund,
it will not be counted as your
wajib
Hajj, but according to
Ayatullah
Khui,
it can be
counted
as your
wajib Hajj.
If the time of loan repayment
has come, but the lender has
agreed not to take the repayment
at
that time, then according to
Seestani
and
Khumaini, Hajj is not
wajib,
but according to
Khui,
you can go to Hajj and it will
be counted as your
wajib
Hajj.
If the agreed time of loan
repayment has not come at the
time of going for Hajj, then
Ayatullah
Seestani
and
Ayatullah
Khumaini
say that Hajj is not
wajib
on you, and if you still
went
for Hajj, it will not be counted
as your
wajib Hajj. But
Ayatullah
Khui
says that Hajj
becomes
wajib,
and you have to go for Hajj with
those funds.
The mortgage type of loan taken
from non-Muslim banks is a
different thing and can not be
considered
for repayment at the time of
Hajj in all above cases. Thus,
if you have got
sufficient
funds for Hajj, then Hajj may
become
wajib whether or not you
have got a
mortgage
loan. Any loan, which you take
with the intention of paying
interest (riba)
to the
lender,
is haram
in Islam. (More details of
mortgage and interest will be
covered in futurefiqh
lectures)
TAKING LOAN FOR HAJJ OR FOR
OTHER PURPOSE
It is not
wajib to take loan in
order to perform Hajj.
But if you take a loan, which is
sufficient to perform Hajj, then
Ayatullah
Khui
says that Hajj will become
wajib,
but
Ayatullah
Seestani
and
Khumaini say that Hajj
will not become
wajib.
If you take a loan for any
specific purpose (eg
car, house, marriage, education,
travel,
medical
treatment etc), and if the money
is not yet
utilised and is
sufficient for Hajj and the
time
for Hajj has come, then
according to
Ayatullah
Khui,
Hajj will become
wajib
if you are
satisfied
that you can pay back this loan
easily, but according to
Ayatullah
Seestani
and
Khumaini,
Hajj will not become
wajib.
If you have been saving money
for some specific purpose (eg
car, house, medical
treatment,
marriage of daughter etc), and
the amount becomes sufficient
for Hajj and the time
for
Hajj has come, then Hajj will
become
wajib on you, according
to all
marja. The only
exception
is that if the person does not
use the money for intended
purpose, he will face
exceptionally
extreme hardship (haraj
as defined by
sharia),
and then he can use the money
for
that purpose and delay the Hajj
for future.
KHUMS & ZAKAT AND HAJJ
If any amount of
khums
or zakat
is wajib
on a person, and if the time of
Hajj has come,then
it is wajib
on him to first pay the
khums
and zakat,
and if sufficient money is left
over
for
Hajj then go for Hajj. If the
amount left after paying
khums
and zakat
is not sufficient for Hajj, then
Hajj is not
wajib on him.
If your
marja or his
authorised
representative (wakil)
gives you permission to delay
the full
or
partial payment of
khums
at a later date, then you can
perform your
wajib
Hajj.
UNDOING CAPABILITY FOR HAJJ
(KHUROOJE ISTETA’AT)
If a person has attained all
capabilities (isteta’at)
for Hajj, then it is
haram
for him to undo
that
capability. For example, if a
person has got sufficient money
to perform his
wajib
hajj at
any
time, then it is
haram
for him to spend it for any
other purpose or to give it to
someone
for
any purpose.
If, during a year, you have got
money, which is sufficient for
your Hajj and other
capabilities
also exist, and instead of going
to Hajj, you spent the money on
overseas trip to
visit
your home country, then such a
visit is
haram, and the Hajj will
then become
wajib on
you
for ever, which you have to
perform at the first opportunity
even with hardships.
If you have got sufficient money
just to perform your own
wajib
hajj, then it is
haram
to
give
it to any one else (including
your parents) to perform their
Hajj. It is a great
sawab
(but not
wajib)
to send parents or any
momin
for hajj with your money, but it
is allowed only if
you
have performed your own
wajib
Hajj or if the Hajj is not
wajib
on you.
If a son has sent his father to
Hajj by paying him sufficient
money but without performing
his
own wajib
Hajj, then Hajj of his father is
OK, but the Hajj has become
wajib
on the son
for
ever and he has to perform it at
the first opportunity even with
all hardships.
If you want to donate your money
to your parent (or anyone) to
send him to Hajj, without
you
first going for Hajj, then one
possibility is to give away
money in
instalments to him at
different
times such that sufficient fund
for your own Hajj does not
remain with you at any
time.
Hajj will become
wajib
when you attain sufficient fund
necessary for your own Hajj,but
if you avoid attaining that
sufficient fund by permissible
means, then Hajj will not
become
wajib
on you.
RULES FOR HAJJE NIYABAT (HAJJ BY
A REPRESENTATIVE)
Hajje
Niyabat
(or Hajje
Badal)
is a Hajj performed by a person
on behalf of another person(such
as a dead person or a physically
unfit living person). It is
permissible to send a person
for
Hajje
Niyabat
from the country of the person
for which Hajj is to be done.
According to
Seestani,
Khui
and
Khumaini, it is also
permissible to take a less
expensive option of hiring a
person
from Medina or elsewhere in
Saudi Arabia to perform the
Hajje
Niyabat.
In Sunni
fiqh, a woman is not
allowed to do
Hajje
Badal
on behalf of any one. In
shia
fiqh,a
woman is allowed to do
Hajje
Badal
on behalf of a man or a woman.
Similarly a man can
do
Hajje
Badal
on behalf of a man or a woman.
In Sunni
fiqh, a man doing
Hajje
Badal
for anyone must first have
completed his own
wajib
Hajj.
In
shia
fiqh,
this is not so. A person can do
Hajje
Badal
only if Hajj was not
wajib
onhim/her
in that year.
Following conditions are
wajib
for a person going for
Hajje
Badal:
(a) He/she must be able to
perform
wudu and
ghusl
correctly.
(b) He/she must be able to offer
salat
correctly with proper
pronunciation (qirat)
of Arabic
words.
(c) He/she must know the Hajj
masail
(rules) of at least 2 or 3
marjas
(his own
marja,
marja
of
the person for whom Hajj is
being performed, and
marja
of the person who is sending
him
for Hajj) in order to perform
the Hajj correctly.
2)Hajj-
Rulings of
Ayatullah
Seestani
& Questions Answered
2044. Hajj
(pilgrimage) means visiting the
House of Allah (
Ka'bah),
and performing all those
worshipful acts which have been
ordered to be performed there.
It is obligatory on a person
once in his lifetime, provided
that he fulfils the following
conditions:
-
He should be
baligh.
-
He should be sane and free,
that is, he should not be
insane and should not be a
slave.
-
Because of proceeding to
Makkah
for Hajj, he should not be
obliged to commit a
haraam
act, avoidance of which is
more important than Hajj,
nor should he be compelled
to forsake an obligatory
work which is more important
than Hajj.
-
He should be capable of
performing Hajj, and this
depends upon number of
factors:
-
He should possess
provisions and means for
transportation, if need
be, or
heshould have
enough money to buy
them.
-
He should be healthy and
strong enough to go to
Makkah and per
form Hajj, without
suffering extreme
difficulties.
-
There should be no
obstacle on the way. If
the way is closed, or if
a person fears that he
will lose his life, or
honour, while on
his way to
Makkah, or he
will
berobbed of his
property, it is not
obligatory on him to
perform Hajj. But if he
can reach
Makkah by another
route, he should go to
perform Hajj, even if
the other route is a
longer one. But that
route should not be
unusually longer.
-
He should have enough
time to reach
Makkah, and to
perform all the acts of
worship in Hajj.
-
He should possess
sufficient money to meet
the expenses of his
dependents whose
maintenance is
obligatory on him, like,
his wife and children,
as well as the expenses
of those who have to be
paid, like, servants,
maids, etc.
-
On return from Hajj, he
should have some means
of livelihood, like,
income from the
property, farming,
business, employment
etc. so that he may not
lead a life of hardship.
2045. When a
person is in need of owning a
house, performance of Hajj will
be obligatory on him if he also
possesses money for the house.
2046. If a
wife can go to
Makkah
but does not have any means of
support on her return, and if
her husband is also poor, and
cannot provide her subsistence,
subjecting her to hard life,
Hajj will not be obligatory on
her.
2047. If a
person does not possess
necessary provision for the
journey, nor any means of
transport, and another person
asks him to go for Hajj
undertaking to meet his expenses
as well as of his family during
his Hajj, and he (i.e. the
person who is asked to go for
Hajj) is satisfied with what the
other man offers, Hajj becomes
obligatory on him.
2048. If a
person is offered the expenses
of his return journey to
Makkah,
as well as the expenses of his
family during the period of
Hajj, Hajj becomes obligatory on
him, even if he is indebted, and
does not possess means of
support with which to lead his
life after his return.
But if the days of Hajj and the
days of his work coincide,
meaning that if he abandons his
work and goes for Hajj, he will
not be able to pay his debts in
time, nor support himself for
the rest of the year, Hajj will
not be
Wajib on him.
2049. If a
person is given expenses of
going to and returning from
Makkah,
and the expenses of his family
during that period, and is asked
to go to Hajj without mentioning
that the help given is his
property, performance of Hajj
becomes obligatory on him, if he
is satisfied that it will not be
taken back from him.
2050. If a
person is given an amount to
cover expenses just sufficient
for Hajj, with a condition that
on his way to
Makkah
he will serve the person who
gave the expenses, Hajj does not
become obligatory on him.
2051. If a
person is given monetary help to
enable him to perform obligatory
Hajj, and he does perform Hajj,
another Hajj will not become
obligatory on him if he himself
becomes wealthy.
2052. If a
person goes, for example, to
Jeddah in connection with trade,
and acquires sufficient money to
go to
Makkah, he should perform
Hajj. And if he performs Hajj,
performance of another Hajj will
not be obligatory on him, if he
later acquires enough wealth to
enable to go to
Makkah
from his hometown.
2053. If a
person is hired to perform Hajj
on behalf of another person, but
he cannot go for Hajj himself,
and wishes to send someone else,
he should seek permission from
the person who hired him.
2054. If a
person could afford to perform
Hajj but did not perform it, and
then became poor, he should
perform Hajj facing all odds.
And if he is not at all able to
go for Hajj, and if another
person hires him for Hajj, he
should go to
Makkah
and perform Hajj on behalf of
the person who has hired him. He
should then remain in
Makkah
for a year if possible, and
perform his own Hajj.
But, if it is possible that he
is hired and given his wages in
cash, and the person who hires
him agrees that he may perform
Hajj on his behalf next year, he
should perform his own Hajj in
the first year, and that on
behalf of the person who has
hired him, in the second year,
if he feels that he might not be
able to perform his own Hajj in
the following year.
2055. If a
person goes to
Makkah
in the year in which he can
afford to perform Hajj, but
cannot reach Arafat and
Mash'arul
Haram
at the prescribed time, and
cannot afford to go for Hajj
during the succeeding years,
Hajj is not obligatory on him.
But, if he could afford to go
for Hajj in the earlier years,
and did not go, he should
perform Hajj in spite of all
difficulties.
2056. If a
person did not perform Hajj in
the year in which he could
afford to go for Hajj, and
cannot perform Hajj now owing to
old age, or ailment, or
weakness, and does not hope that
in the future, he will be able
to perform Hajj in person, he
should send someone else to
perform Hajj on his behalf.
In fact, even if he does not
lose hope, the obligatory
precaution is that he should
hire a person. And when he
becomes capable afterwards, he
should perform Hajj himself
also. And the same applies if a
person becoming capable of going
to Hajj for the first
time,
is prevented to perform Hajj
because of old age, ailment or
weakness, and loses hope of
gaining strength. In all these
cases, however, he should, as a
recommended precaution, hire a
male person, and the one who is
going to Hajj for the first
time.
2057. A person
who has been hired by another
person to perform Hajj should
perform
Tawafun
Nisa
also on his behalf, failing
which his own wife (i.e. the
wife of the hired person)
becomes
haraam for him.
2058. If a
person does not perform
Tawafun
Nisa
correctly, or forgets to perform
it, and if he remembers it after
a few days and returns to
perform it, his action is in
order. And if his returning is
difficult for him, he can depute
another person to perform the
Tawaf
on his behalf.
Hajj: The Pilgrimage to Mecca
Introduction
The pilgrimage to Mecca
(hajj) is one of the
fundmental
obligations in Islamic laws. The
holy
Qur’ăn
has clearly mentioned this
obligation. Almighty
Allăh
says in His holy Book:
“And it is for the sake of
Allăh
[a duty] upon the people to do
the pilgrimage of the
House—whosoever has the ability
[to travel] to it. And whosoever
is ungrateful,
then
surely
Allăh is free from need
of the universe.”
(2:196) The Almighty has
compared the negligence of
hajj to ingratitude
because of its importance.
Hajj
is one of the five pillars on
which Islam is based. In a noble
hadíth, Imam
al-Băqir
(a.s.)
said, “Islam is based on five
pillars: on prayer
(salăt),
alms
(zakăt),
pilgrimage
(hajj), fasting
(sawm),
and devotion [to the
Ahlul
Bayt]
(wilăya)."1
Imam ‘Ali bin
Abi
Tălib
(a.s.)
advised about
hajj by saying, “Do
not neglect the pilgrimage to
the House of your Lord;
otherwise you will perish."2
Imam as-Sădiq
(a.s.)
said, “If the people neglect the
pilgrimage to the House, the
chastisement will overwhelm them
and they would not be warned
[about it].”3
This is so because neglecting
hajj while the person
is in a position to fulfill all
its conditions is a great sin. A
hadíth says,
“When a person is capable of
doing the pilgrimage but does
not do it, he has indeed flouted
a law from the laws of Islam.”4
Another noble
hadíth says,
“One who keeps postponing
hajj until he dies,
Allăh
will resurrect him on the Day of
Judgement
as a Jew or a Christian.”5
1.
Tafsilu
Wasa'ili
'sh-Shi'a,
vol. 1, p. 20.
2.
Ibid, vol. 11, p. 23.
3.
Ibid, p. 22.
4.
Ibid, p. 28.
5.
Shaykh
as-Sadűq,
Muhammad bin
'Ali Ibn
Babwayh,
Man La
Yahdhuruhu 'l-Faqih,
vol. 4, p. 266.
Hajj- General Rules
-
When a Muslim becomes
capable,
hajj becomes
obligatory upon him. By “capability”
we mean the following:
a.
Availability of enough time to
travel to the holy places and
stay there for performing the
obligatory rites.
b.
Physical health and strength,
observing to travel to the holy
places, and staying there for
the obligatory rituals.
c.
The
road through which one has to
pass for performing the rituals
be open and secure, in the sense
that it does not place the life
or property or
honour
of the pilgrim in undue danger.
d.
Financial ability: One should be
able to get whatever is
necessary for the pilgrim in his
journey; e.g., food, drink,
clothes, including the means of
transportation according to his
status by which he can cover the
distance for
hajj.
e.
The
financial position of the person
should be such that by
travelling
for
hajj or by spending
from his wealth for it, he would
not be putting himself and his
dependents in need and poverty.
-
Hajj
Tamattu‘:
This is a kind of pilgrimage
that is obligatory upon
those who live in other
countries i.e. far away from
Mecca.
Hajj
Tamattu‘
consists of two
rituals: the first is known
as
‘umrah,
and the second
hajj.
-
In
‘umrah,
five things are obligatory:
.
(a)
Putting on the pilgrim’s dress
(ihrăm)
from one of the
miqăts.
Mawăqít
(plural of
miqăt) are
locations [around the holy
territory of Mecca] that
sharí‘a
has
specifically fixed for putting
on the
ihrăm.
a.
Circumambulating
(tawăf)
around the
Ka‘ba seven times.
b.
The
salăt of
tawăf.
c.
Sa‘i
(i.e., brisk walking) between
the hills of
Safa
and Marwa
seven times.
d.
Taqsír:
cutting off a little bit of your
hair or cutting the nail.
-
The obligatory acts of
hajj
tamattu‘
are thirteen as follows:
.
Putting on the
ihrăm from
Mecca.
a.
Staying in ‘Arafăt
on the 9th of
Dhu
’l-Hijja.
b.
Staying a part of the night (eve
of 10th Dhu
’l-Hijja)
until sunrise in
Muzdalifa.
c.
Stoning the smaller pillar in
Mina on the day of ‘Eid
(i.e., 10th of
Dhu
’l-Hijja).
d.
Sacrificing an animal in Mina on
the day of ‘Eid
or during the days of
tashríq [i.e.,
11th to 13th
of Dhu
’l-Hijja].
e.
Shaving one’s head or doing
taqsír in
Mina. By doing this, the pilgrim
is free from the restrictions of
ihrăm,
except the use of perfume and
sexual contact with women. Based
on obligatory precaution, the
restriction of hunting continues
even after shaving or
taqsír.
f.
Tawăf of
Ziyărat seven
times after returning to Mecca.
g.
Salăt of
Tawăf.
h.
Sa‘i
between
Safa and
Marwa
seven times. With this, the
restriction of using perfume is
also lifted.
i.
Tawăf of
Nisă’
seven times.
j.
Salăt of
Tawăt of
Nisă’.
With this, sexual contact with
women becomes permissible.
k.
Staying during over night in
Mina on the eve of 11th and 12th
Dhu
’l-hijja.
And also, under some
circumstance, the eve of 13th
Dhu
’l-hijja.
l.
Stoning the three pillars in
Mina on the 11th and the 12th of
Dhu
’l-hijja.
And also, under some
circumstance, on the day of 13th
Dhu
’l-hijja.
3)Questions and Answers from
Current legal issues &
Contemporary legal rulings books
-
Question:
Is it permissible to put on
the
ihrăm
for hajj
from the city of
Jeddah? If it is
not permissible, what should
one do since the plane lands
in Jeddah?
Answer:
Jeddah is neither a
miqăt nor
parallel to any of the
miqăts;
therefore, it is not in
order to put on the
ihrăm from
there for ‘umrah
or
hajj. However, if
one knows that between
Jeddah and the
Haram [the
holy territory around
Mecca], there is a place
which is parallel to one of
the
miqăts
—this is not improbable, if
one looks for a parallel of
Juhfah—
he can put on the
ihrăm from
there by offering
nadhr.
[Nadhr
means making a vow in the
name of
Allăh that he will
put on the
ihram from place
x.]
-
Question:
While shaving the head in
Mina, if the pilgrim’s head
is injured and blood flows
out, what should he do in
that case? And what are the
implications [as far as
penalty is concerned]?
Answer: If
the injury was not
intentional, there is
nothing upon him.
-
Question:
It is recommended to perform
hajj every year.
However, there are many poor
Muslims who are in dire need
of food and clothing in
various Muslim countries. If
it comes to making a choice
between spending the money
for
hajj repeatedly
or
ziyărat
(
