The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The accepted Hajj has no reward except Paradise.” Some references in the books of jurisprudence state that Hajj does not forgive [sins].

The questioner : From Jordan, Aisha from Oman, Jordan, says: “May the Shaykh be respected, my question is about Hajj. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Some references in the books of jurisprudence state that Hajj does not forgive anything except minor sins and the delay of obligatory acts from their times, while major sins are not forgiven by Hajj. Others say that Hajj forgives everything, even major sins and liabilities, but the condition is repentance from major sins and settling the liabilities. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view in this matter? May Allah reward you with good?”

The Shaykh : We say that the accepted Hajj is one that gathers several descriptions. The first description is that it be sincere for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such that the person does not seek praise from people, or a specific description by which the pilgrim is described, or anything of this world instead of the work of the Hereafter, or the like of that.
The second is that it be in accordance with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), such that one performs Hajj as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) performed it, or as he permitted. The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to say: From this, it becomes clear the necessity for a person who wants to perform Hajj to read the rituals of Hajj before he performs it, so that he performs Hajj with knowledge and proof. If he is unable to read, let him buy tapes to listen to from trusted scholars. If that is not available to him, let him ask the scholars of his land how to perform Hajj. I do not think the scholars will fall short in explaining that when asked about it.
Third, it must be from good expenses, meaning from good earnings, because bad earnings are bad. Let the person strive to ensure that his expenses in Hajj are from good earnings, because Allah the Exalted is Good and accepts nothing but what is good.
Fourth, he must avoid sins in it, whether these sins are specific to the state of ihram, such as the prohibitions of ihram, or general sins, such as backbiting, talebearing, and lying, and the like of that, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: .
From this, one must avoid harming people in the crowding during tawaf, sa'y, the stoning of the pillars, or anything else. Because this, I mean harming people, is among the forbidden matters. Allah the Exalted said: So it is not permissible to come to the stoning of the pillars with agitation, anger, and tensing of muscles, as if the people of Adam in front of him are sheep that he does not care about. For this is contrary to the Hajj being accepted.
And from that, meaning from what is required for the Hajj to be accepted, is to avoid smoking, because smoking is forbidden, as indicated by the general texts of the Book and the Sunnah. And if it is forbidden, then persisting in it is a major sin among the major sins. If the Muslim pilgrims had avoided smoking during the seasons of Hajj, their bodies would have become accustomed to leaving it, and then Allah would have granted them the ability to quit it completely. The accepted Hajj, about which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And this does not imply that the liabilities owed to the people of Adam are forgiven. The liabilities owed to the people of Adam must be delivered to them. So if a person took the money of people and performed Hajj, even if he performed Hajj with money other than the money he took, and even if he perfected his Hajj completely in sincerity and following, the sin is not forgiven for him until he returns the right to its owner. And if martyrdom in the cause of Allah, which is among the best deeds, and the martyms are with their Lord having their reward and their light: If martyrdom in the cause of Allah does not expiate debt, then Hajj is even more so. For this reason, we say that if a person has a debt, he should not perform Hajj until he settles this debt, unless it is a deferred debt and he is confident of settling it when the time comes. In that case, there is no harm in performing Hajj. But if the debt is due and not deferred, or if it is deferred but he is not confident that he will pay it when its time comes, he should not perform Hajj, and he should make the money he intends to use for Hajj a settlement for the debt.
And by this, it is known that the accepted Hajj does not drop the rights of the people of Adam, but it is necessary to deliver them to them, either by payment or by release. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.