2014-08-29 - Friday Prayer - Sheikh Asil Khan

The Significance of Hajj

My respected elders, all our brothers and sisters, innocent children. As-salāmu alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh. The Hajj season has already started.

Hajj season means after Ramadan, the first of Shawwal, the Hajj season starts. It means the person who puts on Ihram in Shawwal, this Ihram will be considered until he performs Hajj. The ayah that I have recited, Allah says:

Hajj is the well-known months — the entire month of Shawwal, Dhul Qi'dah, and the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah — it is called the Hajj season, the months of Hajj. Although Hajj is performed within 5 days, starting from the 8th of Dhul Hijjah, the Hajj season starts earlier.

Fa man farada fihinna al-Hajj, fa laa rafatha wa laa fusuqa wa laa jidala fil-Hajj. So whoever intends to perform Hajj, he should not have husband-wife relations — wa laa rafath — nor commit any sin — wa laa fusuq — nor any kind of dispute — wa laa jidal fil-Hajj. Whatever you do good, Allah knows it.

Wa tazawwadu fa inna khayra al-zaadi al-taqwa. Take provision with you; the best provision is taqwa.

Today my topic is the significance of Hajj. Because the Hajj season has started and some of the hujjaj are already there. Some of them are preparing, and some of them are still on the fence — whether to perform Hajj this year or next year. So this is helpful for all of us.

The Five Pillars and the Obligation of Hajj

As we all know, there are 5 pillars of Islam, and the basic knowledge is compulsory — to know about salah, fasting, zakah, and at the same time to know about Hajj. The basic masa'il of Hajj are compulsory to know. We have limited time, although we cannot cover everything within 30 or 15 minutes, but at least we can remind ourselves of a couple of things. There are certain things related to our information and our knowledge.

The History of Hajj

When Hajj became fard — the history of Hajj, as you may know, started all the way from Sayyidina Ibrahim (peace be upon him). When Sayyidina Ibrahim (peace be upon him) established the Baitullah, after that he was asked to make the announcement. So Ibrahim (peace be upon him) announced, and whoever said labbayk, Allah would bless him. So the history started from Sayyidina Ibrahim (peace be upon him).

But in Islam, Hajj became fard — compulsory — according to some scholars, in the 5th year of Hijri; some have the opinion of the 6th year of Hijri. But the most authentic opinion is that Hajj became fard in the 9th year of Hijri, because this ayah was revealed in the 9th of Hijri.

When Hajj became fard in the 9th of Hijri, Sayyidina Rasul (peace be upon him) did not perform Hajj that year. Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was leading the caravan, leading the group of hujjaj. And when this ayah was revealed — that the mushrikoon are najas, impure, and they must not come to Masjid al-Haram after that year — Sayyidina Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) took this message to Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) to announce it.

Previously, before this, all the mushrikoon used to perform Hajj but they had their own way. When they would make tawaf, some of them would make tawaf naked, they would whistle, they would clap. Some of them would go only up to Muzdalifah; those who were rich would stay at Muzdalifah, while those who were poor would go further to Arafah. So Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) made the announcement before this happened. They had their own rituals, such that the actual concept of Hajj was completely disrupted.

So in the 9th of Hijri, when Hajj became fard, the Rasul (peace be upon him) performed Hajj the following year. And coincidentally, this was the first Hajj of the Rasul (peace be upon him) and also the last Hajj. This is for our information: Hajj became fard in the 9th of Hijri, and after becoming fard, the Rasul (peace be upon him) performed only one Hajj — that was both the first and the last.

Types of Ibadah

You know, there are three kinds of ibadah. There is ibadah which is related only to our bodies — just like we perform salah; we don't have to pay anything, we just perform salah. We fast — these ibadah are related to our body. Then there is ibadah maliyah — like zakah. And there is ibadah badaniyyah wa maliyyah — both, the combination of ibadah related to our body and related to our wealth as well. This is Hajj — because our body is involved, we have to travel from one place to another and stay there for a couple of days, and also financially it requires means.

Conditions for Hajj Becoming Obligatory

The conditions under which Hajj becomes fard upon a person are as follows. The person must be mentally fit — meaning he is not of unsound mind — and physically fit, meaning he can travel and walk by himself, not dependent on someone, not paralyzed. At the same time, he must have enough means — enough for transportation, for accommodation, for basic food and basic needs. At the same time, he must not be owing anything to anyone, because he has to fulfill the rights of people first — huqooq al-'ibad must be fulfilled first. Hajj is a right of Allah — huqooqullah — so the debt must be paid first. Also, the way must be safe; he must be an adult and a Muslim.

When all these conditions are fulfilled, do not delay. One of the conditions is also that the person has enough — for transportation, accommodation, and basic needs — and at the same time, if someone is depending on him, like his parents or his children, he must have enough for them as well. It does not mean that you deprive them while they are truly in need and you go and perform Hajj.

Should Hajj Be Performed Immediately?

After these basic conditions are fulfilled, is Hajj fard ala al-fawr — immediately — or ala al-tarakhi — can it be delayed? Here there are schools of thought. Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, and Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal all agreed that once all these conditions are fulfilled, Hajj becomes fard immediately — it is wajib immediately. Do not delay till next year. If you still have time and you can perform Hajj and all the conditions are fulfilled, then deliberately do not delay it. If you are delaying deliberately without a valid reason, this is considered a fisq — a sin. And if later on you had enough but you could not do it, you will be considered a sinner.

Imam Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) has given a little flexibility — ala al-tarakhi — that if you have a hope that you may be able to perform it next year or later in your life, you may delay it. But if you have no hope — and who has a hope? We don't know what happens next — so for that reason, the opinion is that once the conditions are fulfilled, do not delay till next year.

Some of us always keep saying, "I have this plan this year," or "I have these activities," or "these are my plans, so I will perform next year." Then finally it becomes very difficult. So the Rasul (peace be upon him) said in a hadith:

Whoever intends to perform Hajj, let him hasten — do not delay it, perform it the same year, don't wait for next year, because who knows what happens next year. (Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1732)

So this is one of the messages: those who are on the fence, if they think they still have time and they can manage it, they should take action at the earliest instead of delaying till the last moment or delaying to next year.

The Reward and Significance of Hajj

What is the significance of Hajj? What is the reward for Hajj? We cannot describe it within a few minutes, but in a hadith, the Rasul (peace be upon him) said:

The person who performs Hajj and does not engage in marital relations and does not indulge in any kind of indecent activities or actions, he returns like the day his mother gave birth to him. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1521; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1350)

He returns as a newborn baby — sinless. Hajj is the best source for our forgiveness. He becomes as innocent as a newborn baby who has no sin. SubhanAllah. And this is only once in your lifetime — it becomes fard only once in your lifetime. Salah is fard upon us five times a day. Fasting is in the month of Ramadan. Zakah is once a year for those who can afford it, those who have the nisab. Hajj — once in your lifetime.

The Rasul (peace be upon him) was once giving a khutbah and he said, "Hajj has become fard upon you, perform Hajj." A person asked, "O Rasul of Allah, is it every year?" The Rasul (peace be upon him) remained silent. He repeated the same question — "Every year?" — three times. Then the Rasul (peace be upon him) said:

If I had said yes, Hajj would have become obligatory every year, and you would not have been able to do it. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1337)

Further, the hadith says: leave me alone. Whenever I say something, take it. If something is left unaddressed, do not argue and do not force questioning, because previous nations were destroyed because of frequent questioning to the Prophets.

So what it means: Hajj is once in a lifetime. For those who are performing many Hajj — may Allah bless them. So Hajj became fard for us in the 9th of Hijri. Hajj is upon those whose basic conditions are fulfilled; we should not delay it deliberately. The reward of Hajj is great. These are the basics that we have to understand.

The Spirit of Hajj: Peace, Love, Brotherhood, and Equality

What is the significance? There are more significances to mention. There are rituals — those who have already performed Hajj have had a great experience. We make du'a for those who are performing Hajj this year, and we make du'a for all those who did not have a chance to perform Hajj. May Allah make it easy for all of them, and may Allah bless every one of us to perform Hajj at least once in our life.

There are rituals — those who are performing Hajj make Tawaf, they make Sa'i between Safa and Marwa, they go to Mina, Muzdalifah, Arafat. They have rituals, they sacrifice, they shave their heads. These are all rituals.

But there is also a spirit in it. What is that spirit? What does Islam tell us all about? What is the universal message of Islam? The universal message of Islam is peace, love, brotherhood, sisterhood, equality, and justice — and this is the spirit of Hajj.

When we talk about Islam's universal message of peace — what does Hajj tell us?

Do not indulge in any kind of indecent activities or indecent language. Wa laa jidal — no arguments, no fighting, no jadal. What it means is that Hajj tells us Islam loves peace. This is training for us — that we have to promote peace.

Love: Following the Footsteps of Ibrahim and Hajra

And what is love? Hajj is all about love. If we look at these rituals — Sayyidina Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was pelting the Jamarat, as we pelt the Jamarat today. He was throwing the pebbles because the Shaitan was there. Right now, when we go, we don't see the Shaitan.

Sayyidina Hajra was running between the two hills of Safa and Marwa — back and forth. She had a reason. The reason was her baby was thirsty and she was looking for water. Even today, when you perform Hajj and go between Safa and Marwa, there are two green lights — when you reach that section, you don't walk at a normal pace; you walk faster. Why? Because Sayyidina Hajra was running between those two hills. She had a reason. But when we run, we have no reason other than following her footsteps out of love.

Why are we pelting the Jamarat? Throwing the pebbles — do we see Shaitan there? We don't see the Shaitan; only the pillars or the wall. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) sacrificed his son, and we are following his footsteps. So what Islam tells us is that we do all these actions and all these rituals out of our love.

Sometimes we argue — it doesn't make sense — and we judge each and every single action of our Shari'ah with our intellect. Apparently it may not make sense, but we have been commanded. We do it whether it appears to make sense or not. We follow it. And why do we follow? Out of love. Islam's basic universal message is peace and love. We have to share, we have to love — we have to love Allah, and we have to love Allah's creation.

Equality and Justice: The Spirit of Hajj

And when we talk about equality and justice — unfortunately, today the Muslim world is still struggling to regain the equality and justice that was established at the time of the Rasul (peace be upon him). We are struggling. Every day we are trying. In the Muslim world, they know the words — rich are rich and poor are poor, and when they interact there is a barrier. "These are the people who are rich. These are the people who are white. These are the poor, less fortunate people."

And what does Hajj tell us about equality? When everyone — whether he is rich or poor, whether he is a king or a slave, whether he is black or white — when they put on Ihram saying Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik, they are moving in the same direction. What does it tell us? Next to you may be a king. Next to you may be a millionaire. Next to you may be someone of a different color.

And what did the Rasul (peace be upon him) say in the Hajjatul Wida' — the Farewell Hajj khutbah? This is the essence. This is the spirit of Hajj. The Rasul (peace be upon him) said:

There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, nor of a white person over a black person, nor a black person over a white person — except by taqwa. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 23489)

The criterion was established. The one most honored in the sight of Allah is the one with the most taqwa. Taqwa is the criterion — not race, not color, not being rich or poor. This is called equality. The Rasul (peace be upon him) established this, and this is the essence of our Islam — that which today we are lacking. Equality and justice. Today we are struggling with that.

I am talking about the Muslim world. If you compare — here, in the society we live in, at least you will see some equality, at least you will see some justice. But what happens in the Muslim world?

When we perform Salah, we stand side by side. When we come to perform Salah — this is like a small daily gathering — we get together. What does it mean? When we stand side by side, it is first come, first serve. No reserved seats for certain people. First come, first serve. Next to you could be someone completely different — we don't know who. This is one form of equality that we are establishing — but only when we perform Salah.

What about after that? When we fast, we all have to fast for the same reason. When we give Zakah, we share with those who are less fortunate, to bring them up. And when we perform Hajj — this is the grand gathering. You could say the small conferences are everyday salah, or Jumu'ah — once a week, a little bigger. Twice a year at Eid — bigger. And Hajj is bigger than all of them. Each pillar of Islam tells us about equality and justice — that which we are lacking today.

Conclusion: Rituals and Spirit

So on one hand there are rituals. But we have to look beyond the rituals toward the spirit. If we don't look for the spirit, then it will remain only rituals. For those performing Hajj this year — as I mentioned earlier, it needs some preparation. But just to make up your mind: if all the conditions are fulfilled, do not delay it. And when we perform Hajj, look for the reasons, look for the spirit. And with this spirit, if we perform Hajj, insha'Allah Allah will bless this Ummah.

Please check next to you — if there is a gap, please fill it up. Always complete the first Saff first. Don't leave any gap. JazakAllah Khair. Please check your cell phones. JazakAllah Khair.