Encouragement to Perform Hajj - I

O people, fear Allaah The Almighty and perform the obligations that Allaah The Almighty has enjoined upon you, one of the most important among which is performing Hajj to His House whenever you can afford to do so. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And [due] to Allaah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House - for whoever is able to find thereto a way. But whoever disbelieves - then indeed, Allaah is free from need of the Worlds.} [Quran 3:97]

The Prophet, , said: "Islam is to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allaah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah; to observe prayer, pay Zakaah, observe fasting of Ramadhaan and perform Hajj of the House, provided you have the resources to make the journey to it."The Prophet, , told us that Islam is built on these five deeds, which means that the Islam of a person will not be complete or stand firm until he performs Hajj.

‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab said, "I was about to send men to these regions to see who should pay Jizyah (meaning the rich people) who have not performed Hajj and to take Jizyah from them. They are not Muslims, they are not Muslims." The obligation of Hajj is established by the Quran, the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) of the Messenger of Allaah, , and the absolute consensus of Muslims. So, whoever denies the obligation of Hajj has disbelieved, and whoever acknowledges it but abandons it out of negligence is at great risk.

Allaah The Almighty, after mentioning its obligation on people, Says (what means): {But whoever disbelieves - then indeed, Allaah is free from need of the Worlds.} [Quran 3:97] This is the reason why some scholars say that a person who can perform Hajj and does not do it is a disbeliever and an apostate from Islam although the majority of scholars hold otherwise, and this is the preponderant opinion.  If a Muslim abandons Hajj while he is able to perform it, he is at great risk.

Dear Muslims, how can a believer leave Hajj while he is financially and physically able to perform it, knowing that it is one of the duties and chief acts of worship of Islam? How can he withhold money in order not to perform this duty while he spends a lot of money in what his soul desires? How can he spare himself the hardship involved in Hajj whereas he exhausts himself in pursuing his worldly affairs? How does he find the obligation of Hajj heavy although it is not obligatory except once in man's life? Why does he delay performing it, when he knows not whether he will have access to it again? So, fear Allaah, O slaves of Allaah, and perform Hajj that Allaah has enjoined upon you as an act of worship to Him and an act of accepting His rule and obeying His order if you are believers. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.} [Quran 33:36]

O Muslims, when the believer performs Hajj and ‘Umrah once after reaching the age of puberty, he has discharged himself of the obligation and completed one of the main obligations of Islam. After that, he is not required to perform Hajj or ‘Umrah unless he vows to do so. Whoever vows to perform Hajj or ‘Umrah must fulfill his vow, because the Prophet, , said: "Whoever vows to obey Allaah, let him obey Him."

O Muslims, it is the very mercy of Allaah The Almighty and His profound wisdom that He has set limitations and conditions for the religious obligations so that they would be regulated and that responsibility can be defined. He made such limitations and conditions in a very appropriate manner including the time, the place and the person who should do the act. Hajj is one of these obligations. It has its limits and conditions that should be met before it becomes obligatory on the Muslim. These conditions include attaining the age of puberty. Hajj is not obligatory for Muslims who have not reached the age of maturity. The age of puberty in males occurs with one of three signs: the discharge of semen, the attainment of fifteen years or the growth of pubic hair. In females, puberty occurs with these three signs, in addition to a fourth one, which is menstruation.

Hajj is not obligatory on a Muslim who has not reached puberty, even if he is rich; but if he performs Hajj, it would be valid voluntary Hajj for which he is rewarded. When he reaches puberty, he must perform the obligatory Hajj because his Hajj before puberty does not discharge him of the obligation. Hajj does not become obligatory before the age of puberty; it is as if he gives away some money with the intention of paying Zakaah before he owns the minimum amount on which Zakaah becomes obligatory. Therefore, if a Muslim performs Hajj with his young sons and daughters, he would be rewarded and the children would have the reward of Hajj. If they did not perform Hajj, there would be no blame on them.

The opinion of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen is that today, due to conditions like overcrowding and other hardship, a person should not take his young children to perform Hajj with him. He should not allow them to enter the state of Ihraam for Hajj or ‘Umrah because of the hardship that he and they will undergo.  Allaah The Almighty loves and wants to make matters easy for His slaves; He does not want to place hardship on them. If the matter is easy, the schedule is flexible, and people are few in Makkah, it would be fitting to take children along to perform Hajj. However, in times of congestion and seasons of Hajj and the days of Ramadhaan, young children should not be taken for Hajj because of the hardship on them and on their parents as well.

In the Sunnah, a woman asked the Prophet, , when she raised a young boy saying, "Is there Hajj for that boy?" He said: "Yes, and you will receive reward."There is no record in the Sunnah that the Prophet, , ever ordered his Companions to let their young children enter the state of Ihraam, but he approved of it.

Another condition of Hajj is that the Muslim is financially and physically able because Allaah The Almighty laid this condition for the obligation of Hajj Saying (what means): {for whoever is able to find thereto a way.} [Quran 3:97] Hajj is not obligatory on the Muslim who is not able. Being financially able means that the Muslim owns enough money for Hajj which is over and above the needs of his home and what he needs of provisions and clothing for him and his dependants, rental accommodation and settling immediate debts. If a person has money that he needs for what has been mentioned, he is not obliged to perform Hajj. Whoever owes an immediate debt, is not required to perform Hajj until he has paid it off.

Debt in this context includes loans, the price of a commodity, rent and others. The person who owes one dirham that must be settled now is considered an indebted person on whom Hajj is not obligatory until he is discharged of it by paying it off or by forfeiting it. Settlement of debts is very serious in the sense that if a man is killed in the cause of Allaah The Almighty as a martyr, martyrdom remits everything except the debt. Also, if the indebted man dies, his soul is suspended by that debt until it is settled, as it was narrated from the Prophet, . Even when a man was brought to the Prophet, , to offer his funeral prayer, he would ask if the deceased was in debt. If they said that he has a debt that will not be settled, the Prophet, , would go back and not pray for him, saying, "You offer the funeral prayer of your companion."

It is amazing that some people today take the issue of debt lightly and borrow a lot of money without necessity or need at a time when the heirs no longer care for the debt of the deceased and do not pay it off immediately. Sometimes the deceased is heavily indebted and has real estate, but the heirs wait until this real estate commands higher prices. The heirs are indifferent to the deceased, who is more entitled to his money than them. Thus, it is not permissible for an heir to take one dirham until the debt of the deceased is paid off. As for deferred debts, if it is documented by mortgage enough to cover it, the obligation of Hajj is not waived. So, if the Muslim owes a debt for which he gave a mortgage that covers the debt and he has money and is able to perform Hajj provided that the debt is deferred, Hajj becomes obligatory because he is able to afford it. However, if the deferred debt is not documented by a mortgage that covers it, Hajj is not obligatory upon him until he pays off the debt.