Do the five daily prayers and Hajj expiate minor and major sins, or only minor sins? With an explanation of the nature of the prayer and Hajj that expiate such sins.

The Shaykh : Briefly, we remind you of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), then we look—no, what...—we remind you of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him). And you, O Arabs, help us understand this hadith. Is its indication general or specific? Tell me, are they minor sins or major sins? And what do you understand from this hadith regarding minor sins? Does any of its filth remain? The first Arabs said, "No." So if we interpret the hadith to mean the expiation of minor sins, does the meaning imply that any of its filth remains? They said, "No," meaning from the minor sins. As for the greater filth, it remains clinging to the body. Is this the meaning of the hadith? I do not think a non-Arab like me would understand this jurisprudence and this understanding. Therefore, the expiating hadiths, whether related to prayer or related to Hajj, should be understood as expiating all sins, whether major or minor. Similarly, for example, this hadith is exactly like this one, and we are approaching Hajj, if Allah wills. His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Do you think that when a child is born, is he born burdened with sins and major sins? Of course not. So the expiating acts include major and minor sins. But what must be noted, and this removes the problem or doubt that may occur in people's minds, is that if every person who prays, no matter how much they act as they say in the land of Sham, "ninety-nine," then merely by praying, his sins are forgiven, even if they are like the foam of the sea. I want to draw attention to the fact that this prayer, which is capable of expiating major sins, let alone minor ones, is not our prayer. We are content with our prayer if half of it is recorded for us, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: That is the half at which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) stopped. This means that the best prayer people perform is for half of it to be recorded for them. So what about the one for whom not even a tenth is recorded? Is the one for whom half of the prayer is recorded the one that expiates major sins? This is one point. Then, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith about Hajj: Is it our Hajj in this time, where most of them do not perform Hajj in terms of the practical, formal, outward appearance? They do not perform Hajj as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed it. Rather, you see them trying to escape with the most trivial reasons by leaving many of the obligatory acts. Today, we were discussing an individual we think is among the righteous Muslims, if Allah wills, though there is some weakness in what we know of him. He wanted to take a fatwa from me that it is permissible for him to delegate the stoning on the second day of the days of Tashreeq, meaning to hasten before the prescribed hastening, delegating someone to stone on his behalf. And there are many, and very many, who try to lighten the rituals of Hajj until Hajj becomes a purely formal matter. So I say: Does this virtue, like the day his mother bore him, deserve to be attained by the majority of pilgrims who do not perform Hajj in its outward form? As for the obligations of Hajj, this expiating act which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specified in the previous hadith: Do these characteristics accompany today's pilgrims so that it can be said, "By Allah, so-and-so's Hajj is blessed for him, and all his sins are forgiven"? No, it is barely possible for many people to be told, "Your Hajj is accepted." The other group of pilgrims, and we have heard of one who curses the religion and curses the Lord of the Worlds, while he claims he went out as a pilgrim in the path of Allah. To people like these, we say in the tongue of that old Arab poet: "And I did not perform Hajj, but the camels performed Hajj." Therefore, if we keep these facts in mind, and their summary is that we cannot say that every person who prayed a complete prayer, or every pilgrim who performed a complete Hajj, is in that state. If that were the case, then attaining the prayer that takes its performer out of all sins, and also attaining a Hajj that takes its performer out of all sins, is, as it was said in old times, "rarer than red sulfur." So these hadiths remain, as is known, among the hadiths of encouragement and warning, urging the one who prays to try to perfect his prayer and master it, so that perhaps he may attain that forgiveness. As for being certain that he has attained forgiveness, that is the furthest thing from the truth. Similarly, a person tries to perfect his Hajj to the House of Allah the Sacred, and avoids open sinfulness, lewdness, harmful speech, and argumentation, as the Exalted said: So the one who tries to perfect his Hajj in this manner, as mentioned in the verse, perhaps he will return as clean from all sins as the day his mother bore him. In summary, it is hoped that all sins are expiated from the one who prays and perfects it, and from the one who performs Hajj and perfects it.

The questioner : Well, the exception in the hadith Does the hadith not apply to the rest of the hadiths?

The Shaykh : This is a condition similar to the condition in Then came So Allah bestows upon His servants what He wills. This was before he said or .