Obligation
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The Jews claimed that they were Muslims and that they were upon the religion of Ibraaheem, so Allaah the Majestic and Most High tested them in this aayah, and He said:
وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النّاسِ حِجُّ البَيتِ مَنِ استَطاعَ إِلَيهِ سَبيلًا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ العالَمينَ
And Hajj to Allaah’s Sacred House is an obligatory duty that is owed to Allaah by those who have the ability to make their way there. And whoever rejects the obligation of the Hajj, then Allaah has no need of him or any of the creation.
Therefore If you are Muslims, then perform the Hajj, because Allaah has made the Hajj to the Sacred House obligatory upon the Muslims, if you do not perform it, and you refuse to perform it, then this is a proof that you are not Muslims, and you are not upon the religious way of Ibraaheem:
وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ العالَمينَ
And whoever rejects the obligation of the Hajj, then Allaah has no need of him or any of the creation.
وَلِلَّهِ
: Meaning: this is an obligation, a rite, and a binding duty which is due for Allaah, the Perfect and Most High from mankind.
حِجُّ
: Its meaning in the language is al-qasd (to head towards an intended goal). And the word Hajj in the legislation is to head towards the honourable Ka`bah and the Sacred sites (of pilgrimage) at a particular time, and to carry out specific acts of worship and they are the rites of the Hajj.
حِجُّ البَيتِ
: Meaning: the Ka`bah and whatever is round about it from the sites of pilgrimage which follow on from it.
مَنِ استَطاعَ إِلَيهِ سَبيلًا
: This explains the condition being obligatory, and it is bodily and monetary capability; bodily capability such that he is able to work, ride, and move from his land to Makkah from whatever place he is in upon the earth. This is the bodily capability. It excludes the person who is permanently unable, such as a person with an illness which persists, the feeble old person, and such a one who does not have the bodily ability. But if he has monetary capability, then he should deputize someone to perform the Hajj on his behalf, the obligatory Hajj of Islaam.
As for monetary capability, then it is having the transport necessary to carry him, the riding animal, the plane, or the ship, each as is appropriate to the time; and that he has wealth which is sufficient for him to seek transport to convey him for the performance of the Hajj; and also, that he has provision and money for the journey, going and returning; and for his dependence, such that they will have sufficient funds until he returns to them. So, provision means that he has sufficient funds to suffice him upon his journey, and to suffice his dependents; his children, his parents, his wife, and everyone it is obligatory to spend upon; that he gives them that which will suffice them until he gets back to them, after securing guarantees for the payments of any debts which are upon him.
So this wealth is surplus, remaining after his debts have been dealt with. So, if this is available, then this will be his ability to make his way there, “provision and transport”[1] as occurs in the hadeeth of Ibn `Abbaas radiyallaahu `anhumaa.
And whoever does not have the ability, meaning: he does not have the provision nor the transport, then the Hajj is not upon him, because he does not have the ability to do it. So the condition for the Hajj being obligatory is ability.
Since the people come to the Hajj from far away, from all the regions of the earth, and every distant place, and it requires spending, and involves some difficulty and toil, and it may bring about dangerous situations, then from the Mercy of Allaah is that He made it binding only once in a lifetime. And whatever is in addition to that is supererogatory. This is from the Mercy of Allaah the Perfect and Most High, that He did not make it obligatory upon the Muslim every year just as the Prophet sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam said:
» إن الله فرض عليكم الحج فحجوا ، « قال الأقرع بن حابس – رضى الله عنه- أكل سنة يا رسول الله ؟ فسكت عنه الرسول ﷺ ثم أعاد السؤال ، فسكت عنه النبي ﷺ ثم أعاد السؤال ، فقال النبي ﷺ» لو قلت نعم لوجبت ، ولما استطعتم ، الحج مرة واحدة ، فما زاد فهو تطوع «
«Allaah has made the Hajj obligatory upon you, so perform the Hajj.» Al-Aqra` bin Haabis radiyallaahu `anhu said: Is it every year O Messenger of Allaah? So the Messenger sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam remained silent. Then he repeated the question, and the Prophet sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam remained silent. And then he repeated the question again, and the Prophet sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam said: «If I were to say yes, it would become obligatory and you would not be able to do it. The Hajj is a single time, and whatever is in addition, then it supererogatory.»
And His saying, He the Most Perfect:
وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ العالَمينَ
And whoever rejects the obligation of the Hajj, then Allaah has no need of him or any of the creation.
It contains a proof that whoever refuses to perform the Hajj and he is able to, and he does not perform the Hajj, then he is a disbeliever, because Allaah said: «whoever rejects» meaning: whoever refuses to perform the Hajj when he is able to perform it, then he has committed kufr. [This kufr] may be kufr asghar (lesser kufr), but whoever abandons it whilst denying its obligation, then this is kufr akbar (major kufr) by consensus of the Muslims. As for a person who acknowledges its obligation, but abandons it out of laziness, then this is lesser kufr. However, if the person dies and he has wealth, then someone should perform the Hajj on his behalf using money which he has left behind, because it is the debt of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, upon him. And this aayah shows the obligation of performing Hajj, it is a pillar from the pillars of Islaam. The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam explained that it is a pillar from the pillars of Islaam in the hadeeth of Jibreel and in the hadeeth of Ibn `Umar.
The Hajj was made obligatory in the nine year [after the Hijrah] upon one saying, and the Prophet sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam did not perform the Hajj in that year, rather he performed the Hajj in the year after it, in the tenth year. Why is this? This is because, he sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam:
« أرسل عليا ينادي في الناس في الموسم» : أن لا يحج بعد هذا العام مشرك ، ولا يطوف بالبيت عريان «
sent `Alee to call out to the people in the pilgrimage: «No person of shirk may perform Hajj after this year, and no naked person may perform tawaaf around the House.»
So when the people of shirk and the naked people were prevented from the Hajj in the tenth year, the Prophet sallallaahu`alaihiwasallam performed the Hajj, the Farewell Hajj.
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