Hajj and Its Status in Islam

Question:
What is the virtue and status of Hajj in the religion? Is it an immediate obligation? When does it become obligatory for a person of legal capacity? Please inform us, may Allah reward you.

Answer:
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Allah the Exalted said: “And [due] to Allah from the people is the pilgrimage to the House for whoever is able to afford it. And whoever disbelieves – then indeed, Allah is free of need of the worlds.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “O people, Allah has made Hajj obligatory upon you, so perform Hajj.” A man stood up and said: “Every year, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah has made Hajj obligatory upon you, so perform Hajj.” That man stood up and said: “Every year, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “O people, Allah has made Hajj obligatory upon you, so perform Hajj.” That man stood up and said: “Every year, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “If I had said yes, it would have become obligatory every year, and you would not have been able to do it.” Then he said: “Leave me as I have left you.” Hajj is once in a lifetime; so whoever is able, Hajj is once in a lifetime, and whoever does more than that, it is voluntary. So Hajj to the House of Allah the Sacred is an obligatory duty once in a lifetime for the one who is able. And the one who is able is the one who finds the provisions and a mount suitable for his transportation to Hajj. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said to His intimate friend Ibrahim: “And proclaim to the people the Hajj; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every distant pass. That they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the name of Allah on known days, [in appreciation] of what He has provided for them of cattle.” Hajj is obligatory upon the one who is able, and he is the one who finds the provisions that take him to Hajj and suffice him from his departure to his return, such that he does not need people. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said: “And take provision, and indeed, the best provision is taqwa (mindfulness of Allah).” So the provision for the journey is food and drink, and the provision for the Hereafter; the journey of the Hereafter is with taqwa. The human being remains a traveler who needs material and spiritual provision; the material with food and drink, and the spiritual with taqwa, which is doing what Allah has commanded and leaving what Allah has forbidden out of fear and hope. Thus the Muslim takes provision from righteous deeds, and he also takes provision for his travels, taking provision for his Hajj and 'Umrah, by taking what suffices him and makes him independent of people, going and returning. And the one who is not able to perform Hajj does not have Hajj upon him, because it requires travel, it requires expense, so ability is necessary (“whoever is able to afford it”), and this is from Allah’s facilitation for His servants. And if he finds the provisions and finds a mount suitable for him, and he has not performed Hajj, it becomes obligatory upon him to perform Hajj immediately, and he should not delay, but he should hasten to perform Hajj whenever he is able to find a way to it, and he should not be late in that. If he delays, then Hajj remains in his debt until he performs it, because it is a pillar of Islam. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Islam is built on five: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, giving zakah, fasting the month of Ramadan, and Hajj to the House for whoever is able to afford it.” And whatever is more than the once is voluntary. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Follow one after the other between Hajj and 'Umrah, for indeed, following one after the other between them expels poverty and sins, just as the bellows expel the dross from iron.” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to this House and does not commit lewdness and does not commit open sinfulness, returns as his mother bore him.” And Hajj is undoubtedly among the best of deeds, and it is jihad in the path of Allah, so it is a jihad in which there is no fighting. It falls into the types of jihad because of what it requires of travel and what a person is exposed to of danger, so it is jihad in the path of Allah, and it is also fatigue, movements, and it is also being away from family and homeland, so it is from the jihad in the path of Allah, but its virtue is great, and its reward is abundant, and Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) does not waste the reward of the doers of good.