A Word on Hajj [When It Was Made Obligatory and Who It Is Obligatory Upon]
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The Shaykh : In that year, no polytheist would perform Hajj after this year, so Allah chose for His Prophet that his Hajj be a pure Hajj, with no polytheists sharing in it with him.
The third reason is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) announced to the people, meaning he informed them, that he would perform Hajj in the tenth year of the Hijrah. When he informed them of this, many people came to Madinah wanting to perform Hajj with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). They were as Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) described them: they were in front of him and behind him—come closer, come a little closer—they were in front of him and behind him, they were in front of him and behind him, and to his right and to his left, as far as the eye could see. For these reasons and others that we do not know, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) postponed Hajj until the tenth year.
As for who is obligated to perform Hajj, and this is the fourth issue: Hajj is obligatory upon every Muslim, free, adult, sane, and able person. There are five conditions: that one be a Muslim, free, an adult, sane, and able.
As for the Muslim, his opposite is the disbeliever, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory. And the meaning of our saying that Hajj is not obligatory upon the disbeliever is not that he is not punished for leaving it, but rather that we do not command him to do it, because we first command him to submit to Islam, and then after that we command him with the rest of the laws of Islam. However, in the Hereafter, he will be tormented and punished for it. For this reason, the people of the right ask the sinners:[Al-Muddaththir 74:42-46] They mentioned prayer, even though prayer is not obligatory upon them unless they submit to Islam.
The opposite of the free person is the slave, the owned one, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory. First: because he does not have money, since the money in his hand belongs to his master. Second: because he is pledged to his master in reality; he does not own himself, so he is not able to perform Hajj because he is pledged to the master.
And the opposite of the adult is the child, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory, just as the other acts of worship are not obligatory upon him, because the pen is lifted from him. But if the child performs Hajj, it suffices for him, and the meaning of "it suffices for him" is that it is valid from him. So when he reaches maturity, he has fulfilled the obligation of Islam.
Here we might ask: Is it better in our times to take our small children on Hajj, or not? We say: It is better not to take them in these times, in the days of the seasons, the seasons of 'Umrah or the seasons of Hajj, because this causes great hardship on the child, and it occupies his father from completing his rituals. And hardship is removed and lifted, because this is not obligatory, so that we would say: we bear it and be patient. And occupying the father contradicts the perfection of his Hajj. The father came to perform a complete Hajj and a complete 'Umrah, and if he is occupied with these children, it distracts him from the perfection of his Hajj and 'Umrah.
As for days of ease, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was asked by a woman when she brought him a child and said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 2645 But in our days now, in these severe crowds where a strong man is almost exhausted, and perhaps some people may perish, we do not think that it is befitting for a person to take his children on Hajj. Rather, he should rest them and rest from their toil and fatigue.
The opposite of the sane person is the insane person, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory, and Hajj is not valid from him, because he lacks reason and has no intention.
As for the able person, ability is of two types: ability by body, and ability by money. So whoever is not able with his money, Hajj is not obligatory upon him, such as the poor person, the debtor, and the like of them. For this reason, we reassure debtors that they have no Hajj upon them, and Allah has not made it obligatory upon them, and until now they have not been qualified for the obligation of Hajj upon them. And we say: Do not worry. Is it not the case that the poor man is not obligated to pay zakah? The answer is yes. He is not obligated to pay zakah, and yet he does not worry, he does not say: I wish I were rich so that I could pay zakah. Similarly, the person who cannot perform Hajj because of a debt that is obligatory upon him, we say to him: Do not worry, my brother. Until now you have not been qualified for the obligation. And if you die, you will meet Allah the Exalted without being sinful, because it did not become obligatory upon you. But unfortunately, some people today commit an error. You find him drowning in debt, and perhaps his debt is due, and he goes and performs Hajj, even though Hajj is not obligatory upon him in this case. He comes to something not obligatory and leaves something obligatory. The riyal or dirham that you spend on Hajj, spend it on paying off the debt, and it is better for you.
And debt is not a trivial matter for a person to be negligent with. If a person dies, it has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1078Hasan (Darussalam) And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when a dead person was brought to him and he had a debt and did not leave behind what to pay it with, he refrained from praying over him and did not pray over him. And he was asked about martyrdom, meaning: about the man who is killed in jihad as a martyr, does martyrhood expiate his debt? He said:
So martyrdom—and it is martyrdom—does not expiate debt. For this reason, it is obligatory for a person not to be negligent with it. And if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not guide the poor man who said: And he did not permit him, nor did he guide him to borrow in order to get married, even though marriage is obligatory for a person if he has desire and fears for himself.
So what I hope from my brothers present now and those who are listening to my words: that they strive with utmost striving to clear their debts and not burden them with debt. For that is foolishness in conduct, and an error from the religious perspective. And it is not befitting for a person to borrow, whether in advance or not, unless there is a dire necessity or something that is unavoidable, or a person knows that he will pay it off soon, like a man who needs something during the month and knows that at the end of the month he will receive the salary, for example, and pay it off. Then his matter is easy.
As for ability by body in Hajj: that a person be able to perform Hajj without severe hardship. If he is unable, we look at it. If his inability is expected to end, like a person who the time of Hajj comes and he is sick with a common illness, then let him wait until he recovers and performs Hajj. And if it is an inability that is not expected to end, like cancer, for example, may Allah keep you and us safe, and like old age, we say to him: Hire someone to perform Hajj on your behalf, as long as you have money. So you appoint a person to perform Hajj for you, and your conscience is cleared by that if he performs Hajj for you.
This is what we wanted to speak about regarding this topic. And we ask Allah the Exalted to make us and you among the callers to the truth and its true supporters, and to support our brothers in every place who are struggling in the path of Allah. And we ask Allah the Exalted in this place to destroy the Serbs and their helpers, and to grant our brothers who are besieged patience and counting on reward, and to support them with a spirit from Him. Indeed, He is over all things capable. And all praise is due 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 now, to the questions. We start from the right, and each person has one question, and no comments on the answer because time is short. Yes.
The third reason is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) announced to the people, meaning he informed them, that he would perform Hajj in the tenth year of the Hijrah. When he informed them of this, many people came to Madinah wanting to perform Hajj with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). They were as Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) described them: they were in front of him and behind him—come closer, come a little closer—they were in front of him and behind him, they were in front of him and behind him, and to his right and to his left, as far as the eye could see. For these reasons and others that we do not know, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) postponed Hajj until the tenth year.
As for who is obligated to perform Hajj, and this is the fourth issue: Hajj is obligatory upon every Muslim, free, adult, sane, and able person. There are five conditions: that one be a Muslim, free, an adult, sane, and able.
As for the Muslim, his opposite is the disbeliever, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory. And the meaning of our saying that Hajj is not obligatory upon the disbeliever is not that he is not punished for leaving it, but rather that we do not command him to do it, because we first command him to submit to Islam, and then after that we command him with the rest of the laws of Islam. However, in the Hereafter, he will be tormented and punished for it. For this reason, the people of the right ask the sinners:
(42) [And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?" (43) They will say, "We were not of those who prayed, (44) Nor did we used to feed the poor. (45) And we used to enter into vain discourse with those who engaged [in it], (46) And we used to deny the Day of Recompense
مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ * قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ * وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ * وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ * وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِThe opposite of the free person is the slave, the owned one, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory. First: because he does not have money, since the money in his hand belongs to his master. Second: because he is pledged to his master in reality; he does not own himself, so he is not able to perform Hajj because he is pledged to the master.
And the opposite of the adult is the child, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory, just as the other acts of worship are not obligatory upon him, because the pen is lifted from him. But if the child performs Hajj, it suffices for him, and the meaning of "it suffices for him" is that it is valid from him. So when he reaches maturity, he has fulfilled the obligation of Islam.
Here we might ask: Is it better in our times to take our small children on Hajj, or not? We say: It is better not to take them in these times, in the days of the seasons, the seasons of 'Umrah or the seasons of Hajj, because this causes great hardship on the child, and it occupies his father from completing his rituals. And hardship is removed and lifted, because this is not obligatory, so that we would say: we bear it and be patient. And occupying the father contradicts the perfection of his Hajj. The father came to perform a complete Hajj and a complete 'Umrah, and if he is occupied with these children, it distracts him from the perfection of his Hajj and 'Umrah.
As for days of ease, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was asked by a woman when she brought him a child and said:
is there Hajj for this one?" He said: "Yes, and you will be rewarded.
ألهذا حج؟ قال: نعم، ولك أجرThe opposite of the sane person is the insane person, upon whom Hajj is not obligatory, and Hajj is not valid from him, because he lacks reason and has no intention.
As for the able person, ability is of two types: ability by body, and ability by money. So whoever is not able with his money, Hajj is not obligatory upon him, such as the poor person, the debtor, and the like of them. For this reason, we reassure debtors that they have no Hajj upon them, and Allah has not made it obligatory upon them, and until now they have not been qualified for the obligation of Hajj upon them. And we say: Do not worry. Is it not the case that the poor man is not obligated to pay zakah? The answer is yes. He is not obligated to pay zakah, and yet he does not worry, he does not say: I wish I were rich so that I could pay zakah. Similarly, the person who cannot perform Hajj because of a debt that is obligatory upon him, we say to him: Do not worry, my brother. Until now you have not been qualified for the obligation. And if you die, you will meet Allah the Exalted without being sinful, because it did not become obligatory upon you. But unfortunately, some people today commit an error. You find him drowning in debt, and perhaps his debt is due, and he goes and performs Hajj, even though Hajj is not obligatory upon him in this case. He comes to something not obligatory and leaves something obligatory. The riyal or dirham that you spend on Hajj, spend it on paying off the debt, and it is better for you.
And debt is not a trivial matter for a person to be negligent with. If a person dies, it has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The believer's soul is suspended by his debt until it is settled for him.
أن نفسه معلقة بدينه حتى يقضى عنهYes, then he said to the questioner: Jibril came to me just now and said: except for a debt.
نعم، ثم قال للسائل: إن جبريل أتاني آنفاً وقال: إلا الدينSo martyrdom—and it is martyrdom—does not expiate debt. For this reason, it is obligatory for a person not to be negligent with it. And if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not guide the poor man who said:
I do not have a mahr - he did not say: borrow for the mahr - he said to him: seek even an iron ring, he said: I do not find one, he said: do you have anything of the Qur'an? he said: yes, he said: I have married her to you with what you have of the Qur'an.
ليس عندي مهر -لم يقل: استسلف للمهر- قال له: التمس ولو خاتماً من حديد، قال: لا أجد ، قال: معك شيء من القرآن؟ قال: نعم، قال: زوجتكها بما معك من القرآنSo what I hope from my brothers present now and those who are listening to my words: that they strive with utmost striving to clear their debts and not burden them with debt. For that is foolishness in conduct, and an error from the religious perspective. And it is not befitting for a person to borrow, whether in advance or not, unless there is a dire necessity or something that is unavoidable, or a person knows that he will pay it off soon, like a man who needs something during the month and knows that at the end of the month he will receive the salary, for example, and pay it off. Then his matter is easy.
As for ability by body in Hajj: that a person be able to perform Hajj without severe hardship. If he is unable, we look at it. If his inability is expected to end, like a person who the time of Hajj comes and he is sick with a common illness, then let him wait until he recovers and performs Hajj. And if it is an inability that is not expected to end, like cancer, for example, may Allah keep you and us safe, and like old age, we say to him: Hire someone to perform Hajj on your behalf, as long as you have money. So you appoint a person to perform Hajj for you, and your conscience is cleared by that if he performs Hajj for you.
This is what we wanted to speak about regarding this topic. And we ask Allah the Exalted to make us and you among the callers to the truth and its true supporters, and to support our brothers in every place who are struggling in the path of Allah. And we ask Allah the Exalted in this place to destroy the Serbs and their helpers, and to grant our brothers who are besieged patience and counting on reward, and to support them with a spirit from Him. Indeed, He is over all things capable. And all praise is due 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 now, to the questions. We start from the right, and each person has one question, and no comments on the answer because time is short. Yes.