Discussion of Hajj, its obligation, and learning its rituals.

The Shaykh : The second example corresponds to this: Hajj to the House of Allah the Exalted is not obligatory upon every adult Muslim who is accountable. This is because Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: A Muslim may not be able to perform Hajj, whether due to poverty, illness, or any other reason. In that case, we tell him: It is not obligatory for you to learn the rulings of Hajj. As for the others, as you hear, and praise be to Allah, there are pilgrims to the House of Allah the Exalted every year, but they neglect this obligation and do not learn the rulings of Hajj. For those who are able to go, it becomes an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) for them to learn the rulings of Hajj. As for the others, who are the majority and upon whom Hajj is not obligatory, it is not obligatory for them to learn the rulings of Hajj. Who are those upon whom it is obligatory to learn the rulings of Hajj? They are the jurists and scholars to whom people turn with their questions. It is obligatory for them to be knowledgeable about what they are exposed to being asked about. So, we do not want every individual from any group to become a scholar. As the Syrian saying goes: "So-and-so is a scholar like a Chinese plate; wherever you throw it, it answers." No, we only want every individual to perform the obligation that is required of him, just as we said: every person, once he reaches the age of accountability, must perform the prayer. It is not like that for Zakah, and it is not like that for Hajj. So, some of these rulings are an individual obligation (fard 'ayn), and whoever does not perform them is sinful before Allah. Therefore, we see the Tabligh Jama'ah, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Tahrir Party as groups—not every individual among them, because I know that in the Muslim Brotherhood and in all these groups, there are individuals who walk with us on the Salafi path, because no one can argue with us that this path we are following is the one about which our Lord said: No one among them can argue with us on this point. And so, by experience, we know that in all these groups, there are individuals with us in knowledge and action on this path. But as groups, they all do not perform the individual obligation. At the very least, they should know how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray, but they do not know. So, they do not perform the individual obligation. This is what we want from them. But in addition to this, as I said earlier, we want them to have scholars among them. By scholars, I mean those who have encompassed as much knowledge as possible of what is an individual obligation and what is a collective obligation. If he is asked...The questioner : "I am going to the House of Allah the Exalted. Should I perform Hajj as an individual (ifrad), or as a combined pilgrim (qiran), or as a tamattu' pilgrim?" He might answer the way that Turkish man answered who taught his father and appointed him a mufti. Perhaps some of our brothers have not heard this joke, especially since the lesson has been long and they say that knowledge is dry, so let us moisten it a bit with this joke. They claimed that a mufti was about to travel, so he said to his father: "Represent me after I leave." He said to him: "O my father, how can I represent you after you, when I am a man who knows nothing?" He said: "No problem, I will teach you a method to follow until I return." He said: "Bring it, let us see." He said: "You sit on the chair in my place, and whenever a questioner comes to you and asks any question, you say: 'There are two opinions in this matter. There are two opinions in this matter.'" He said to his son: "May Allah reward you with good." The mufti traveled, and his father sat in his place. As usual, the mufti was the one who gave them answers to their problems. He had no answer except: "My brother, there are two opinions in this matter." The question, for example, was: "I told my wife, 'Go, you are divorced,' whenever a Shaykh forbade you, a Shaykh, and so on. Did I divorce her or not?" He said: "My son, there are two opinions in this matter. Some say you divorced her, and some say you did not." Or: "I did such and such, and Zakah became obligatory on me, or not?" He said: "There are two opinions in this matter. Some say it is obligatory, and some say..." And so on. You do not need a great explanation. One of the clever ones noticed that this...The Shaykh : ...is a routine for him, like a tape recorder; it never brings anything new. "There are two opinions in this matter. There are two opinions in this matter." He said to a man next to him: "Go ahead, ask."The Shaykh : He said: "Is there any doubt about Allah?" He said: "O my master..."The Shaykh : "Is there any doubt about Allah?" He said: "There are two opinions in this matter."

The questioner : It became clear...

The Shaykh : Now, a pilgrim intending to perform Hajj might ask one of the Shaykhs who has no knowledge of this knowledge based on the Book and the Sunnah: "What should I do for Hajj, O Shaykh? Should I do ifrad, qiran, or tamattu'?" They say: "There are three opinions, and whichever you do, it is fine." And they add: "Whoever follows a scholar will find Allah safe." And, if Allah wills, they do not say: "The Messenger of Allah said..." because this has no basis. But as for it being jurisprudence (fiqh), this is the jurisprudence of "Whoever follows a scholar will find Allah safe." It is necessary that there be in the Muslim community (ummah) those who remove this confusion from them. Three opinions on the Hajj of the Messenger? Consider, O listeners: The Messenger performed Hajj in his time only once. How? If you wish, as an individual (ifrad); if you wish, as a combined pilgrim (qiran); if you wish, as a 'Umrah pilgrim...

Another questioner : ...or as a tamattu' pilgrim.

The Shaykh : It must be that the truth is one, because the truth does not multiply. And so the Messenger (peace be upon him) said in the hadith that you always hear, but few pay attention to the deviation of people from it: So the matter is either wrong or right. Here, there are three opinions on the matter of Hajj, while the Messenger did not perform Hajj in his entire blessed life except once, at the end of his life. This is because they do not know, or they know but they deviate. As it is said: "The sweetest of them is bitter." When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood on al-Safa, a man from the Companions said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, our 'Umrah is..." because the Messenger was a combined pilgrim (qiran), combining Hajj and 'Umrah. And although he said: meaning: "Make your Hajj a tamattu' Hajj," he said that...The questioner : He was at the foot of Mount al-Safa: “O Messenger of Allah, is this our ‘Umrah for this year only, or is it for eternity?” He said: “Our ‘Umrah is for this year,” meaning it was a specific privilege for us, the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and not for eternity. He said: “‘Umrah has been incorporated into Hajj until the Day of Resurrection,” and he interlaced his fingers (peace be upon him). What more could the Muslims want than a clearer explanation than this statement, which was practically demonstrated by interlacing the fingers? “‘Umrah has been incorporated into Hajj until the Day of Resurrection.” Even now, you find great scholars giving pilgrims the choice to perform Hajj as Ifrad, as Qiran, or as Tamattu’. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) abolished all these options except for Hajj Qiran, on the condition that the sacrificial animal is brought from Dhu al-Hulayfah. As for us here, there is no longer the practice of bringing the sacrificial animal; one person buys sheep from Dhu al-Hulayfah and loads them into a special car, well-groomed and engineered, and perhaps they shave their beards for the festival, and so on. The point is that this is not a reality. Therefore, it does not apply to them, because the one who performs Hajj Qiran and brings the sacrificial animal is combining what? He is combining Hajj and ‘Umrah, so this hadith applies to him. But he forgot the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him): meaning from Dhu al-Hulayfah. Those who did not bring the sacrificial animal, even though they intended Qiran, were ordered to exit the state of ihram. Even ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was in Yemen, sent by the Messenger (peace be upon him) as we mentioned earlier. He heard that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was performing Hajj that year, so he headed toward the Sacred Mosque. But he did not know what the Messenger’s intention was, so he declared his intention for Hajj, like the Hajj of the Messenger (peace be upon him). When he arrived in Makkah and performed the Tawaf and Sa’y of arrival, he entered his wife Fatimah’s tent and saw her in a state of tahallul, prepared to receive her husband, and the incense was burning in her tent. He asked her, “What is this?” rebuking her. She informed him that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had ordered it this way. In a hadith, it is mentioned that his household (peace be upon him) combined Hajj and ‘Umrah and exited the state of ihram. When he heard this from her, he went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was still in his state of ihram, whereas his wife had exited it. ‘Ali mentioned to the Messenger (peace be upon him) what he had seen from Fatimah. He (peace be upon him) said to him: He said, “I declared my intention with the intention of the Prophet.” He said: And ‘Ali had brought the sacrificial animal with him, so he said to him, “Then hold onto your state of ihram.” So he remained in Qiran, while his wife had exited the state of ihram. Therefore, the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him): It is not permissible for a Muslim to perform Hajj Ifrad. Why do many people today resort to Hajj Ifrad? There are two reasons. The first is the affliction of the Muslim world today: ignorance of the Sunnah. They do not know this hadith or others like it. The second reason is that some of them know, but they seek to fulfill in themselves the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: They do not want to slaughter; why should they slaughter? They would lose three hundred, four hundred riyals, or less or more, depending on prices. Therefore, he performs Hajj Ifrad, and there is absolutely nothing upon him: no slaughter, no fasting for three days there, nor seven days when he returns to his country. So this is the remedy, my brothers. The session has been long, and we must go pray early.