A word by the Shaykh regarding the rank of Hajj in the religion of Islam, and about its obligation and its conditions.
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The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
As for what follows:
This is the ninety-seventh session of the Open Door series, which takes place every Thursday, and this Thursday is the second of Dhul-Qa'dah in the year 1419.
Since we are approaching the time of Hajj, I see that we should make these three sessions about Hajj and what is related to it, because the rulings of Hajj are hidden from many people, even from students of knowledge. Some of them exaggerate in it, some of them are lenient, and some are moderate.
In this session, that is, on this day, we will speak about the rank of Hajj in the Islamic religion, and about its obligation: when was it made obligatory? And about the conditions of its obligation.
As for the first point, we say: The rank of Hajj in the Islamic religion is that it is one of the pillars of Islam. Allah the Exalted made it obligatory upon His servants in His Book, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) explained its position in the religion. So Allah the Exalted said:[Ali 'Imran 3:97] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2609Sahih (Darussalam) Among them are people who worship the date stone and the tree. There are people who worship the tree, and there are people who worship the date stone, until they mentioned that in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, they would make a date paste, meaning a lump of dates, in the shape of an idol and then worship it. And when they were hungry, they ate it. Glory be to Allah! An object of worship that is eaten. Woe to this object of worship. So are these gods true or false? False, by the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Hajj 22:62] So what is the meaning of "There is no god but Allah"? There is no true object of worship except Allah, and Sahih al-Bukhari 2157 Muhammad is the son of Abdullah, the Hashimi, the Qurashi, the Seal of the Prophets meaning: He was sent to all people, indeed to all humans and jinn. The implication of the testimony that there is no god but Allah is sincerity: you must make your worship pure for Allah, not showing off, not listening [to others], and not associating anyone with Allah in it. And the implication of the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is that you believe in what he reported, you comply with his command in what he commanded, you avoid his prohibition in what he prohibited, and you worship Allah according to His Shari'ah, not innovating in it what is not from it. And so the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah became one pillar, because every act of worship must have in it sincerity and following meaning: you perform it upright and straight with its conditions, pillars, and obligations, and you complete it with its complements. We ask one of you about one of the conditions. What do you know of the conditions of prayer? No, its conditions. One of its conditions? No.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, purity. Good. Purity from hadath and najasah. Purity from hadath and najasah is one of the conditions. Facing the qiblah is one of the conditions. The takbir of ihram is one of the pillars. The first tashahhud? No, it is one of the obligations. Good. Repeating the tasbih three times is a sunnah. So you establish the prayer, you bring it with its conditions, pillars, and obligations, and you complete it with its complements.
meaning: you give the obligatory zakah from wealth to its rightful recipient, to the one who deserves it among people. And we do not speak about this here because it requires length, and it will come, if Allah wills, in its time.
meaning: you abstain from the things that break the fast from the rising of the dawn to the setting of the sun, in worship of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. This is the evidence. So the rank of Hajj in the Islamic religion is that it is a pillar of the pillars of Islam. As for the obligation of Hajj, it came in the Book and the Sunnah and the consensus of the Muslims, a definitive and necessary consensus. So in the Book: Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: [Ali 'Imran 3:97] And what is meant by the Book is what? The Qur'an. In the Sunnah: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: As for the consensus: The Muslims all agreed upon the obligation of Hajj.
So number one: The rank of Hajj is that it is one of the pillars of Islam. Its ruling is: an obligatory fard by the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Muslims.
As for the conditions of obligation, listen to them: Islam, intellect, maturity, freedom, and ability. Five. I repeat them: Islam, intellect, maturity, freedom, and ability.
Islam, its opposite is disbelief. So it is not obligatory upon a disbeliever to perform Hajj. We say: First, testify and embrace Islam, then we say: It is obligatory upon you to perform Hajj. Is this clear? Good.
Intellect, its opposite is insanity. So if we suppose that a person, may Allah grant us well-being, has been insane since his youth and he dies, then there is no Hajj upon him. Because all the acts of worship, pay attention to this, all the acts of worship are dropped from the insane person except one only, which is zakah, for it is obligatory in the wealth of the insane person. Because the place of zakah is the wealth, not the conscience. The place of it is the wealth. Good. This is a useful rule for the student of knowledge. All the acts of worship are dropped from the insane person except zakah. Why? Because it is a right of the wealth. It has no entry in his conscience.
Good. What is the third? Maturity. So it is not obligatory upon a child to perform Hajj, even if the child enters ihram. A person with a boy of ten years old enters ihram, then he gets annoyed with the ihram. Is this permissible or not? It is permissible because he is not accountable. So it is not obligatory upon a child to perform Hajj, neither initially nor continuously. By what is maturity achieved? Maturity is achieved by one of three things for males, and one of four things for females. The first: the completion of fifteen years. The completion of fifteen years. And on this basis, a man may be mature at the end of the day and not mature at the beginning of the day. Is that right? He can be mature at the end of the day and not mature at the beginning of the day. Is this possible or not? If we suppose that his birth was at twelve o'clock on the second of Dhul-Qa'dah, on this day he completes fifteen years. At the beginning of the day, before twelve o'clock, is he mature or not mature? Not mature. And at the end of the day, he is mature. This is one.
Second: the growth of pubic hair. The growth of pubic hair means: the coarse hair around the private parts of a male or female.
Third: the emission of semen with desire, whether awake or in sleep. These are three signs of maturity for males and females. There remains a fourth matter for the woman only, which is menstruation. So when a woman menstruates, even if she is ten years old, she is mature.
The fourth condition: freedom, and its opposite is slavery. It is not obligatory upon a slave to perform Hajj. Why? Because he is not able to. For the slave, my brothers, the slave's wealth belongs to his master. Even if he has a million riyals, his wealth belongs to his master, by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):Sahih Ibn Hibban 26:20 He said: He did not say: his wealth is his. It is for the one who sold him, and he is his master.
The fifth: ability. Ability is that one is able to perform Hajj physically and financially. What is ability? Say what?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Ability is that one is able to perform Hajj financially and physically. Good. Is Hajj obligatory upon the poor person or not? Answer, my brothers. It is not obligatory upon him as long as he needs money. It is not obligatory upon him. But if he does not need money, as if we suppose that he is from the people of Makkah and he is poor, but he is able to walk to 'Arafah, then here we do not condition that he has money. Why? Because he is able and does not need money.
The physical condition: that one must be physically capable of performing the rites. If one is unable, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said: If the inability is permanent and one has money, one must appoint someone to perform Hajj on their behalf, such as an elderly person or a patient with an illness that is not expected to end. In this case, it is not obligatory for him to perform Hajj himself, but if he has money, what is required? He must appoint someone to perform Hajj on his behalf. If, however, the inability is temporary and expected to end, such as a person who is sick with a fracture that will heal—for example, if he suffered a fracture at the beginning of the month of Dhul-Hijjah and cannot travel—will the fracture be expected to heal or not? It is expected to heal. We say: This year’s season does not pass; he should perform Hajj next year if he has money, and he should not appoint anyone, because appointment is only for permanent inability. As for temporary inability that can end, he waits until his inability ends. If a person has money but also has a debt, for example, he has ten thousand and owes a debt of ten thousand, is Hajj obligatory on him? The answer is: No, it is not obligatory, because paying off the debt is obligatory. He must pay off the debt first, and then perform Hajj after paying off the debt if he has money remaining. If he says: I have a debt that becomes due in one year, and I have money with which I can perform Hajj this year, is it obligatory on me? We say: If he expects to find the means to pay it off when the year is complete, let him perform Hajj. If he does not expect to, he does not perform Hajj. For example, a person who is an employee currently does not have what to pay it off, but when the year passes, he will be able to pay it off. We say: Perform Hajj. Among those included in this are those who have installments for the Real Estate Development Bank. He currently has money to pay the installment, but the installment has not yet become due, and he hopes that when the installment becomes due, he will pay it. Does he perform Hajj or not? He performs Hajj, meaning there is no obstacle now. These are the conditions for the obligation of Hajj. And among the blessings of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is that He made conditions for acts of worship so that people are regulated and it is known who the act of worship is obligatory upon and who it is not obligatory upon. If these conditions did not exist, the matter would be chaos; everyone would say: Hajj is obligatory, and everyone would say: Hajj is not obligatory. These conditions that Allah and His Messenger established in worship are undoubtedly a requirement of wisdom, because they regulate people, and it becomes clear who the act of worship is obligatory upon and who it is not obligatory upon, and people are upon clarity in their religion.
And if one intends to perform Hajj, let him choose companionship that has knowledge and religion. Pay attention: choose companionship that has knowledge and religion. As for knowledge, so that he does not fall into disobedience without knowing it. And as for religion, so that there is no negligence in some of the rites of Hajj. So choose to have your companion in the Hajj journey be from those of knowledge and religion. And because when a person chooses companionship with knowledge and religion, he acquires knowledge and religion from them. How many people have acquired much good or much evil through the companionship of a person in a journey. Let him be with his companions of good character, be cheerful, easy-going, gentle... meaning active in work, serving his companions in pouring water, cooking food, and the like, because this is among the beauties of character. It is said: The journey is called a journey because it reveals the character of men. "Reveals" means it clarifies and displays the character of men.
And strive to have with you money in excess of your need, because perhaps matters will arise that are not on your mind. If you have money, it will enable you to meet this need from the money with you, and it will suffice you from saying: "O so-and-so, lend me," or "O so-and-so, give me charity." Spend more than the minimum as much as you are able, as long as you have it. And perhaps the need will be for someone else from the companionship who needs something, so you help him or lend to him. Carrying extra spending money is among the required matters.
And strive to perform the prayer in congregation. Do not say: I am a traveler, for the traveler is obligated to pray in congregation just as it is obligatory for the resident. Have you not seen that Allah the Exalted revealed to His servant:[An-Nisa 4:102] So Allah obligated the congregational prayer even in fear, because the congregation is an obligatory duty. So much so that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The congregation is a condition for the validity of the prayer, so whoever prays alone while being able to join the congregation has no prayer. But the correct view is that he has a prayer, but it is very deficient.
And strive to perform the rites in the required manner, as will be explained, if Allah wills, in the upcoming meetings. I ask Allah to grant us and you beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.
Among the ability: that the woman must have a mahram, so a woman does not perform Hajj without a mahram, even if she remains for years. And if she meets her Lord and she has not performed Hajj due to the absence of a mahram, Allah the Exalted will not hold her accountable and will not punish her. Why? Because Hajj did not become obligatory upon her, since she is unable to perform Hajj due to the absence of a mahram. Therefore, convey to the women who do not have mahrams and whose hearts are distressed when they do not perform Hajj, convey to them, and rather give them good news, that there is no blame on them, and that Hajj is not obligatory upon them just as zakah is not obligatory upon the poor. Give them good news and say to them: As long as you have not found a mahram, there is no Hajj upon you. And if you find a mahram and the conditions are met, then perform Hajj.
And with this, this speech ends. I ask Allah to make it beneficial. And we move to the questions. We start with the right. And for each person, one question.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
As for what follows:
This is the ninety-seventh session of the Open Door series, which takes place every Thursday, and this Thursday is the second of Dhul-Qa'dah in the year 1419.
Since we are approaching the time of Hajj, I see that we should make these three sessions about Hajj and what is related to it, because the rulings of Hajj are hidden from many people, even from students of knowledge. Some of them exaggerate in it, some of them are lenient, and some are moderate.
In this session, that is, on this day, we will speak about the rank of Hajj in the Islamic religion, and about its obligation: when was it made obligatory? And about the conditions of its obligation.
As for the first point, we say: The rank of Hajj in the Islamic religion is that it is one of the pillars of Islam. Allah the Exalted made it obligatory upon His servants in His Book, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) explained its position in the religion. So Allah the Exalted said:
And [due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House - for whoever is able to find thereto a way. But whoever disbelieves - then indeed, Allah is free from need of the worlds.
وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلاً وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَIslam is based upon five: the testimony of La Ilaha Illallah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the establishment of the Salat, giving the Zakat, fasting (the month of) Ramadan, and performing Hajj to the House.
بني الإسلام على خمس : شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله وإقام الصلاة وإيتاء الزكاة وصوم رمضان وحج البيت الحرامThat is because Allah is the Truth, and that which they call upon other than Him is falsehood
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُMuhammad is His Apostle
أن محمدًا رسول اللهthe Messenger of Allah
رسول اللهestablish prayer
تقيم الصلاةThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, purity. Good. Purity from hadath and najasah. Purity from hadath and najasah is one of the conditions. Facing the qiblah is one of the conditions. The takbir of ihram is one of the pillars. The first tashahhud? No, it is one of the obligations. Good. Repeating the tasbih three times is a sunnah. So you establish the prayer, you bring it with its conditions, pillars, and obligations, and you complete it with its complements.
and give zakah
وتؤتي الزكاةand fast Ramadan
وتصوم رمضانand perform Hajj to the House
وتحج البيتAnd [due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House - for whoever is able to find thereto a way
وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلاًIndeed, Allah has prescribed for you the Hajj. A man stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah, is it every year? He said: If I had said yes, it would have become obligatory, and you would not have been able to perform the Hajj even once. Whatever is done in excess is voluntary.
إن الله كتب عليكم الحج فقام رجل وقال : يا رسول الله أفي كل عام ؟ قال : لو قلت : نعم لوجبت ولما استطعتم الحج مرة فما زاد فهو تطوعSo number one: The rank of Hajj is that it is one of the pillars of Islam. Its ruling is: an obligatory fard by the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Muslims.
As for the conditions of obligation, listen to them: Islam, intellect, maturity, freedom, and ability. Five. I repeat them: Islam, intellect, maturity, freedom, and ability.
Islam, its opposite is disbelief. So it is not obligatory upon a disbeliever to perform Hajj. We say: First, testify and embrace Islam, then we say: It is obligatory upon you to perform Hajj. Is this clear? Good.
Intellect, its opposite is insanity. So if we suppose that a person, may Allah grant us well-being, has been insane since his youth and he dies, then there is no Hajj upon him. Because all the acts of worship, pay attention to this, all the acts of worship are dropped from the insane person except one only, which is zakah, for it is obligatory in the wealth of the insane person. Because the place of zakah is the wealth, not the conscience. The place of it is the wealth. Good. This is a useful rule for the student of knowledge. All the acts of worship are dropped from the insane person except zakah. Why? Because it is a right of the wealth. It has no entry in his conscience.
Good. What is the third? Maturity. So it is not obligatory upon a child to perform Hajj, even if the child enters ihram. A person with a boy of ten years old enters ihram, then he gets annoyed with the ihram. Is this permissible or not? It is permissible because he is not accountable. So it is not obligatory upon a child to perform Hajj, neither initially nor continuously. By what is maturity achieved? Maturity is achieved by one of three things for males, and one of four things for females. The first: the completion of fifteen years. The completion of fifteen years. And on this basis, a man may be mature at the end of the day and not mature at the beginning of the day. Is that right? He can be mature at the end of the day and not mature at the beginning of the day. Is this possible or not? If we suppose that his birth was at twelve o'clock on the second of Dhul-Qa'dah, on this day he completes fifteen years. At the beginning of the day, before twelve o'clock, is he mature or not mature? Not mature. And at the end of the day, he is mature. This is one.
Second: the growth of pubic hair. The growth of pubic hair means: the coarse hair around the private parts of a male or female.
Third: the emission of semen with desire, whether awake or in sleep. These are three signs of maturity for males and females. There remains a fourth matter for the woman only, which is menstruation. So when a woman menstruates, even if she is ten years old, she is mature.
The fourth condition: freedom, and its opposite is slavery. It is not obligatory upon a slave to perform Hajj. Why? Because he is not able to. For the slave, my brothers, the slave's wealth belongs to his master. Even if he has a million riyals, his wealth belongs to his master, by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):
Whoever sells a slave who has wealth, the wealth belongs to the one who sold him, unless the buyer stipulates otherwise.
من باع عبدًا وله مال فماله للذي باعه إلا أن يشترطه المبتاعThe one who sold him.
للذي باعهThe fifth: ability. Ability is that one is able to perform Hajj physically and financially. What is ability? Say what?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Ability is that one is able to perform Hajj financially and physically. Good. Is Hajj obligatory upon the poor person or not? Answer, my brothers. It is not obligatory upon him as long as he needs money. It is not obligatory upon him. But if he does not need money, as if we suppose that he is from the people of Makkah and he is poor, but he is able to walk to 'Arafah, then here we do not condition that he has money. Why? Because he is able and does not need money.
The physical condition: that one must be physically capable of performing the rites. If one is unable, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said: If the inability is permanent and one has money, one must appoint someone to perform Hajj on their behalf, such as an elderly person or a patient with an illness that is not expected to end. In this case, it is not obligatory for him to perform Hajj himself, but if he has money, what is required? He must appoint someone to perform Hajj on his behalf. If, however, the inability is temporary and expected to end, such as a person who is sick with a fracture that will heal—for example, if he suffered a fracture at the beginning of the month of Dhul-Hijjah and cannot travel—will the fracture be expected to heal or not? It is expected to heal. We say: This year’s season does not pass; he should perform Hajj next year if he has money, and he should not appoint anyone, because appointment is only for permanent inability. As for temporary inability that can end, he waits until his inability ends. If a person has money but also has a debt, for example, he has ten thousand and owes a debt of ten thousand, is Hajj obligatory on him? The answer is: No, it is not obligatory, because paying off the debt is obligatory. He must pay off the debt first, and then perform Hajj after paying off the debt if he has money remaining. If he says: I have a debt that becomes due in one year, and I have money with which I can perform Hajj this year, is it obligatory on me? We say: If he expects to find the means to pay it off when the year is complete, let him perform Hajj. If he does not expect to, he does not perform Hajj. For example, a person who is an employee currently does not have what to pay it off, but when the year passes, he will be able to pay it off. We say: Perform Hajj. Among those included in this are those who have installments for the Real Estate Development Bank. He currently has money to pay the installment, but the installment has not yet become due, and he hopes that when the installment becomes due, he will pay it. Does he perform Hajj or not? He performs Hajj, meaning there is no obstacle now. These are the conditions for the obligation of Hajj. And among the blessings of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is that He made conditions for acts of worship so that people are regulated and it is known who the act of worship is obligatory upon and who it is not obligatory upon. If these conditions did not exist, the matter would be chaos; everyone would say: Hajj is obligatory, and everyone would say: Hajj is not obligatory. These conditions that Allah and His Messenger established in worship are undoubtedly a requirement of wisdom, because they regulate people, and it becomes clear who the act of worship is obligatory upon and who it is not obligatory upon, and people are upon clarity in their religion.
And if one intends to perform Hajj, let him choose companionship that has knowledge and religion. Pay attention: choose companionship that has knowledge and religion. As for knowledge, so that he does not fall into disobedience without knowing it. And as for religion, so that there is no negligence in some of the rites of Hajj. So choose to have your companion in the Hajj journey be from those of knowledge and religion. And because when a person chooses companionship with knowledge and religion, he acquires knowledge and religion from them. How many people have acquired much good or much evil through the companionship of a person in a journey. Let him be with his companions of good character, be cheerful, easy-going, gentle... meaning active in work, serving his companions in pouring water, cooking food, and the like, because this is among the beauties of character. It is said: The journey is called a journey because it reveals the character of men. "Reveals" means it clarifies and displays the character of men.
And strive to have with you money in excess of your need, because perhaps matters will arise that are not on your mind. If you have money, it will enable you to meet this need from the money with you, and it will suffice you from saying: "O so-and-so, lend me," or "O so-and-so, give me charity." Spend more than the minimum as much as you are able, as long as you have it. And perhaps the need will be for someone else from the companionship who needs something, so you help him or lend to him. Carrying extra spending money is among the required matters.
And strive to perform the prayer in congregation. Do not say: I am a traveler, for the traveler is obligated to pray in congregation just as it is obligatory for the resident. Have you not seen that Allah the Exalted revealed to His servant:
And when you are among them and lead them in prayer, let a group of them stand [in prayer] with you and let them carry their arms. And when they have prostrated, let them be [in position] behind you and have the other group come forward which has not [yet] prayed and let them pray with you, taking precaution and carrying their arms.
وَإِذَا كُنْتَ فِيهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ الصَّلاةَ فَلْتَقُمْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ مَعَكَ وَلْيَأْخُذُوا أَسْلِحَتَهُمْ فَإِذَا سَجَدُوا فَلْيَكُونُوا مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ وَلْتَأْتِ طَائِفَةٌ أُخْرَى لَمْ يُصَلُّوا فَلْيُصَلُّوا مَعَكَ وَلْيَأْخُذُوا حِذْرَهُمْ وَأَسْلِحَتَهُمْAnd strive to perform the rites in the required manner, as will be explained, if Allah wills, in the upcoming meetings. I ask Allah to grant us and you beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.
Among the ability: that the woman must have a mahram, so a woman does not perform Hajj without a mahram, even if she remains for years. And if she meets her Lord and she has not performed Hajj due to the absence of a mahram, Allah the Exalted will not hold her accountable and will not punish her. Why? Because Hajj did not become obligatory upon her, since she is unable to perform Hajj due to the absence of a mahram. Therefore, convey to the women who do not have mahrams and whose hearts are distressed when they do not perform Hajj, convey to them, and rather give them good news, that there is no blame on them, and that Hajj is not obligatory upon them just as zakah is not obligatory upon the poor. Give them good news and say to them: As long as you have not found a mahram, there is no Hajj upon you. And if you find a mahram and the conditions are met, then perform Hajj.
And with this, this speech ends. I ask Allah to make it beneficial. And we move to the questions. We start with the right. And for each person, one question.