When Ibrahim (‘alaihis salaam) completed the structure of the Ka’aba, Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) commanded him to call the people to Haj. Ibrahim (‘alaihis salaam) pleaded, “O Allah! How shall my voice reach all of those people?” Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) told him that his duty was only to give the call and it was up to Allah to make it reach the people. Ibrahim (‘alaihis salaam) then climbed Mount Arafat and called out in his loudest voice, “O People! Verily Allah has prescribed upon you Haj, so perform Haj.” Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) revealed in the Qur’an: “And proclaim the Haj among mankind. They will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways.” (Surah Al-Hajj, Ayat 28). To this very day millions upon millions of Muslims continue to answer the call of Prophet Ibrahim (‘alaihis salaam).
‘Amr ibn Al-’Aas narrates, “When Islam entered my heart, I went to the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and said, ‘Give me your hand so that I may pledge allegiance to you.’ The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) spread his hand, but I withdrew mine. He said, ‘What is wrong ‘Amr?’ I said, ‘I want to make a condition.’ ‘And what is that?’ he said. I said, ‘That Allah will forgive me.’ Then the Messenger of Allah said, ‘Did you not know that Islam wipes out what came before it, and that Hijrah wipes out what came before it and that Haj wipes out what came before it!” (Sahih Muslim).
Haj is the fifth pillar of Islam. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) made it compulsory upon every able Muslim male and female to perform it, at least once in a lifetime. Allah revealed: “Haj thereto is a duty mankind owes to Allah, those who can afford the journey, but if any deny faith, Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures” (Surah Ali-Imran, Ayat 97). Performance of the Haj washes away all sins. Abu Hurairah narrates: I heard the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) say, “Whoever performs Haj and does not commit any Rafath (obscenity) or Fusooq (transgression), he returns (free from sin) as the day his mother bore him” (Sahih Bukhari).
Haj is one of the greatest deeds one can accomplish in his or her lifetime.
Abu Hurairah narrates: The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) was asked, “What deed is the best?” He said, “Iman in Allah and His Messenger.” “Then what?” “Jihad in the sake of Allah.” “Then what?” “Haj Mabroor, a Haj accepted by Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala).” Abu Sha’thaa’ said, “I contemplated the good deeds that a person does. I found that salaat as well as fasting are a jihad of the body. And that sadaqa is a jihad of someone’s wealth. But Haj is a jihad of both body and wealth.”
Haj is the greatest jihad.
Aishah (radiallahu ‘anha) asked the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), “We find that jihad is the best deed, shouldn’t we (women) do jihad?” The Prophet replied, “Rather the best jihad is a Haj Mabroor!” Aishah later said, “I’ll never cease performing Haj after I heard that from Rasul Allah” (Agreed Upon).
The dua of the one in Haj shall be accepted.
The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “The soldier in the path of Allah and the one who performs Haj and the one who performs ‘Umrah, all are the delegation of Allah! He called them and they answered. And they asked Him, and He shall grant them (what they ask for)!” (Authentic, narrated by Ibn Majah and Ibn Hibban).
In the Islamic history books it was narrated that on the day of Arafat, a man from Turkmenistan stood on the plains of Arafat in Haj. To his left all he could see was Muslims crying and praying to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). To his right all he could see was Muslims crying and praying to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). Because of his native tongue, he could not imitate the lengthy prayers of the others. At this realisation everything blurred in front of him. His face reddened, his eyes poured tears as he raised his hands, “O Allah! Grant me everything that they are asking for! Grant me everything that they are asking for!” And Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) accepted his dua.
There is not a single day that the sun has come up on more beloved to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) than the Day of Arafat.
The Prophet (sallallaah ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “There is no day on which Allah frees more of His slaves from Fire than the Day of Arafat, and He verily draws near, then boasts of them before the angles, saying: ‘What do they seek?’” (Sahih Muslim). And in another hadith: “Verily Allah boasts of the people of Arafat before the people of Heaven (angels) saying: ‘Look to my servants who have come to Me dishevelled and dusty.’” Abdullah ibn Al-Mubaarak narrates: I went to Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah as the day of Arafat was setting. He sat on his knees, his hands raised to the Heavens, and tears moistened his cheeks and beard. He turned and looked at me, so I asked him, “Amongst the people who have gathered here for Haj, who is in the worst state?” Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah said, “He who thinks that Allah will not forgive him.”
Aishah (radiallahu ‘anha) would see the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) standing in prayer at night so much so that his feet would crack. She would ask him, “Why do you do this when Allah has forgiven all your sins, the past and anything you may do in the future?” And he would reply, “Shouldn’t I be a thankful slave?”
With this example of the Prophet (sallallaah ‘alaihi wa sallam), what should our attitude be when we hear of Paradise and forgiveness of sin for those who perform Haj? Does it mean that after Haj we fall back into all the disobedience that we went to Haj with? Does it mean that we are promised Jannah no matter what sin we do after Haj?
Many people think this to be the case and it is a very dangerous presumption. You will find in many of the Hadith regarding the virtue of Haj the term Haj Mabroor. Do you know what Mabroor means? It means an accepted Haj. A Mabroor Haj is one in which Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) is not disobeyed during or after. Others have said that a Haj Mabroor is one that is accepted, and the sign of it’s acceptance is that a person will go back in a better state than when he came, and that he will discontinue the sins that were between him and Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala).
When Ibn Umar was on his deathbed and his son reminded him of all the good deeds that he did with the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and the companions, he told him, “Quiet! Don’t you know whom Allah accepts from? Verily Allah only accepts from the God-Fearing (Al-Muttaqoon).” When Ali ibn Al-Husayn (radiallahu ‘anhuma) wore his Ihram towels and sat upright on his camel in preparation for the journey to Makkah, his face changed colour, his skin shivered and he cried, unable to say the Talbiyyah, Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk. Someone asked him, “What’s wrong?” And he replied, “I’m afraid that when I say it, it shall be replied, ‘Laa Labbayka wa Laa Sa’dayk’ (May you never have come and may you not have happiness).”
With that spirit, let us march forward in the search of the Mercy of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) and His forgiveness, to the first house of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) on earth, to Haj.
The Prophet (sallallaah ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “And there is no reward for an accepted Haj...except Jannah!”
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