What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "And [due] to Allah from the people is the pilgrimage to the House for whoever is able to find a way thereto"? What is the ability, and how is it determined?

The questioner : What is the meaning of What is the ability?

The Shaykh : Among the mercy of Allah the Exalted and Sublime toward His servants and His wisdom in His legislation is that He uses terms that He does not define, because wisdom dictates leaving them undefined, as the ability varies from person to person. Some have restricted the ability to one who possesses provisions and a mount, and some even claimed this to be a hadith attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This attribution to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not authentic. Therefore, the ability remains general, and every person knows for himself whether he is able or not. We are here, and our number may reach close to one hundred, and each of us has an ability that is not like the ability of the other. Who is able to say that the ability is such and such? No, this is like his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) So who judges for you or against you, because of an illness that has befallen you, that you cannot pray standing, or that you can pray standing? No one but you, after Allah the Exalted and Sublime. You are the one who judges regarding the ability or its absence. Likewise, the prescribed ability in the verse of Hajj . As for the hadith that says "Whoever possesses provisions and a mount and does not perform Hajj, let him die if he wishes as a Jew, a Christian, or a Zoroastrian", this hadith is not authentic as attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); rather, it is a weak hadith when attributed to him. It is only authentic as a statement from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and it is a report stopping at 'Umar. Even so, no jurist is able to apply this authentic statement of 'Umar in its absolute sense. So this is the ability, which is one of the conditions for the obligation of Hajj. And what indicates this is the hadith in al-Bukhari from al-Fadl ibn 'Abbas, when the woman from Khath'am asked him, saying: "My father is an old man who cannot stay on the saddle. Should I perform Hajj on his behalf?" He said: As long as he cannot stay on the saddle, perform Hajj on his behalf, because he is not
able. So this word of 'Umar cannot be interpreted exactly as it came, except... another [condition] by which the ability required in the verse is realized.