Status of the righteous forefathers in Hajj

All praise is due to Allah, Who enjoined upon His servants pilgrimage to His ancient house, although He Almighty is Free of all needs. And prayers and peace of Allah be upon our prophet Muhammad, the perfect model imitated by performers of Hajj and 'Umra, and upon all his family and companions and whoever followed their path till the Day of Judgment.

Hajj is an obligatory act of worship and a life time experience. The capable Muslim has to perform it at least once in a life time, from his country to another country he is not accustomed to go, where there are conditions he had never experienced.

In such a country, he should spend his money, leave his children behind, exert effort, endure the hardships of travel and the troubles of stopping and going in places crowded with people who met together in the same time.

In the shade of the ignorance that has been spread between many Muslims, you see the effects of the religious and scientific ignorance and the lack of consciousness clear in the gathering of the pilgrims for performing their rituals. You will be in a state of shock because of the forms of polytheism, creations in religion, sins and committing mistakes in the rituals of Hajj in specific and the acts of worship in general, and you would feel sad because of the signs of ignorance with its different forms. Matters would be worse when you see some merchants of this worldly life do their best to increase their profits through the scamming of the pilgrims, displaying their ignorance and not knowing the rules of their religion. Therefore, the people and students of knowledge that follow the Qur'an and Sunnah feel the gravity of theses consequences and responsibility.

Based on the true clear message of Islam and preachers' care for spreading the true knowledge of Shar'ia, in order to give Muslims the opportunity to follow Sunnah and avoid the innovation (in religion) and what is detested …

And because the only way for knowing this is to know the guidance of the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) and his status during Hajj, we dedicated this issue for the status of the righteous forefathers in Hajj. We invoke Allah to accept the righteous deeds of everyone.

Warning against neglecting Hajj:

Abu Sa'ied Al-Khudry (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah Glory be to Him the Exalted says: the servant whom I gave him health and provision and spends five years without coming to Me is deprived" [Reported by Ibn Hibban, With a good (Hasan) chain of transmission]

Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father too) narrated that the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Hasten to Hajj because you do not know what may emerge to you (obstacle)" [Reported by Al-Albani, Authentic]

And it is narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "The accepted Hajj has no reward but Paradise" [Reported by An-Nasa'i, Authentic (Saheeh)]

Status of the righteous forefathers in Hajj:

Hajj had great effects on purifying the selves and tendering the hearts, because of the meanings of slavery and the divine miens which are implied in all its rituals and acts; they had grown in the lives of the righteous forefathers' hearts that fear Allah, smart minds and pure virtuous bodies. Although they used to perform the acts of worship perfectly, they were restless lest their deeds may not be accepted. On the other hand, in spite of the fact that we (except whom Allah Merced) do not perform the acts of worship well or fear Allah, we sleep well, as if we had held the luxuries and guaranteed the supreme ranks of Paradise!

If it is narrated that one of the righteous forefathers said: "the travelers for pilgrimage are many, but the true pilgrims are few," what can we say? We invoke Allah not to hate us.

It is befitting for us, Muslims, to return to the ways of the righteous forefathers in the creed, worship, behavior and style of life to gain, like them, the joy of the two lives; they gained honor in the worldly life and felicity in the hereafter.

Among the morals of the righteous forefathers in travel and Hajj:

The righteous forefathers (may Allah mercy them) knew the right of the fellow in travel; therefore, they used to be generous with him and comfort him with what they have of food and drink. Every one of them desired serving his brother without feeling embarrassment because of noble descent or loftiness in society.
Mujahid said: "I accompanied Ibn Omar in travel to serve him, but it is he who served me."

Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak used to feed his fellows in travel the best food while he is fasting. And whenever he intended to perform Hajj from his country, he gathered his friends and said: "who among you want to perform Hajj?" then takes from them the expense and puts it in a box and closes it, then he accompanies them to Hajj and spends upon them as much as he can and feeds them the best food then buys for them, from Makkah, the gifts that they like, then returns with them to his country, and at their arrival, he prepares for them food and brings the box that contains their expenses and returns to everyone his expense!

Forefathers' worship in Hajj:

Imam Ibn Rajab (may Allah mercy him) mentioned that among the greatest characteristics of piousness in Hajj is to observe prayer. The person who performed Hajj without observing prayer (especially if it was voluntary Hajj) is like the one who sought winning a dirham and wasted his capital which is numerous thousands. The righteous forefathers used to observe the supererogatory prayers during Hajj. The prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) used to observe the supererogatory prayers and Witr on the back of his ride in all his journeys. 'Amer Ibn Rabi'a (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that he had seen the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) observing supererogatory prayer at night in a journey on the back of his ride in whichever direction it turned its face [Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, Authentic (Saheeh)]

Ancestor's wariness of hypocrisy and boast:

Among the things that the pilgrim has to beware of, to make his Hajj fully accepted, is not to perform his Hajj for gaining reputation or boast; he should seek only the face and satisfaction of Allah Almighty and he should be modest in his Hajj and submit to his Lord. The righteous forefathers (may Allah mercy them) used to attentively beware of letting hypocrisy or boast get in their deeds, because they knew that Allah Almighty accepts only the deeds that are dedicated only to Him and performed according to the Sunnah of His Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him): "If anyone does anything in which he associates anyone else with Me, I shall abandon him with one whom he associates with Me" [Reported by Muslim, Authentic (Saheeh)]

Therefore; when a man said to Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father too): "How many the pilgrims are!" Ibn Omar said: "How few they are!"
Shuraih Al-Qadi said: "The true pilgrims are few, although the travelers for pilgrimage are many. How many people do good, but how few people seek His face!"
Not all forms are accepted; the accepted forms have a sign.

Reasons of self's longing to Makkah:

First: A person feels longing to it because it was his home and he got out of it, so he feels longing to his home.

Second: A person tastes in his going to it the sweetness of the worldly life's profits; such a person feels longing to his profits not to Makkah itself. He feels longing to it just because it is a reason for the profits.

Third: A person feels narrowness in his country; thereupon, he likes tourism and seeing what pleases him in his way to Mecca, then he forgets his pains because of the joy of his tourism and his self-betrays him and makes him believe that he likes Hajj. In fact, he likes resting.

Fourth: A person whose self-conceals hypocrisy that he does not notice; this is like his loving being known as a person performed Hajj. In fact, he longs to being known by performing Hajj but his self-betrays him by making him think that he longs to Hajj itself. This is an unclear kind of self-conceit; so, it must be monitored.

Fifth: A person knows the merit of Hajj; therefore, he longs to having the reward of Allah Almighty, because multiplying the rewards in such places is greater than any other place. In fact, this is the believer.

Sixth: General longing, because of the invocation of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) when he said: {So fill some hearts among men with love towards them} [Surat Ibrahim 14:37]

Transliteration: faijAAal afidatan mina alnnasi tahwee ilayhim

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father too) said: "He meant the love of living in Makkah, and if he had said 'fill the hearts of men with love towards them', Jews and Christians would have come to Makkah, but he said 'Hearts among men'"

Among Fatawa of the permanent committee for scientific researches and Fatwa:

Fatwa No. 10701: A wife does not have the expenses of Hajj and her husband is rich; is he obliged to pay the expenses of her Hajj?

The husband is not obliged to pay the expenses of her Hajj, even if he is rich; but it is a kind of beneficence. And she is not obliged to perform Hajj, because she does not have its expenses.

Fatwa No. 5545: If the Muslim wanted to perform the obligation of Hajj, while he is debtor, and asked the permission from the creditor (or creditors) and he is allowed to perform Hajj, would his Hajj be sound?

If it is so; the creditor (or the creditors) allowed you to perform Hajj before paying back your debt, you could perform Hajj before paying back your debt, and your being debtor does not affect upon the soundness of your Hajj in such case. And we seek success from Allah, and prayers and peace of Allah be upon our prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.

Fatwa No. 4909: Can a Muslim woman perform the obligation of Hajj with trustworthy women, if it is not possible for her to accompany with her one of her relatives, or if her father was dead? Could her mother, maternal aunt, paternal aunt or any other person accompany her to be Mihram with her in her Hajj?

The sound opinion is that she is not allowed to travel for Hajj except with her husband or unmarriageable relative. She is not allowed to travel with trustworthy women, marriageable trustworthy men, paternal aunt, maternal aunt or mother; rather, she has to be with her husband or unmarriageable man. If she found none of those, Hajj would not be obligatory upon her as long as she is in this case, because of not having the condition of 'The religious ability', and Allah Almighty says: {And Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) to the House (Ka'bah) is a duty that mankind owes to Allâh, those who can afford the expenses (for one's conveyance, provision and residence);} [Surat Al-Imran 3:97]

Transliteration: walillahi AAala alnnasi hijju albayti mani istataAAa ilayhi sabeelan

Al-Alamatayn Series

Translated by Wathakker.net website
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