Hajj & Umrah, - Encouragement to Perform Hajj - I

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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 performingHajjto 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 Ramadan 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 performsHajj.
‘Umar ibn Al-Khattabsaid,"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 ofHajjis established by the Quran, theSunnah)Prophetic tradition( of the Messenger of Allaah,, and the absolute consensus of Muslims. So, whoever denies the obligation ofHajjhas 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 performHajjand 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 abandonsHajjwhile he is able to perform it, he is at great risk.
Dear Muslims, how can a believer leaveHajjwhile 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 inHajjwhereas he exhausts himself in pursuing his worldly affairs? How does he find the obligation ofHajjheavy 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 performHajjthat 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 performsHajjand‘Umrahonce 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 performHajjor‘Umrahunless he vows to do so. Whoever vows to performHajjor‘Umrahmust 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.Hajjis 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.Hajjis 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.
Hajjis not obligatory on a Muslim who has not reached puberty, even if he is rich; but if he performsHajj, it would be valid voluntaryHajjfor which he is rewarded. When he reaches puberty, he must perform the obligatoryHajjbecause hisHajjbefore puberty does not discharge him of the obligation.Hajjdoes not become obligatory before the age of puberty; it is as if he gives away some money with the intention of payingZakaahbefore he owns the minimum amount on whichZakaahbecomes obligatory. Therefore, if a Muslim performsHajjwith his young sons and daughters, he would be rewarded and the children would have the reward ofHajj. If they did not performHajj, there would be no blame on them.
The opinion of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeenis that today, due to conditions like overcrowding and other hardship, a person should not take his young children to performHajjwith him. He should not allow them to enter the state ofIhraamforHajjor‘Umrahbecause 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 performHajj. However, in times of congestion and seasons ofHajjand the days ofRamadan, young children should not be taken forHajjbecause of the hardship on them and on their parents as well.
In theSunnah, 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 theSunnahthat the Prophet,, ever ordered his Companions to let their young children enter the state ofIhraam, but he approved of it.
Another condition ofHajjis that the Muslim is financially and physically able because Allaah The Almighty laid this condition for the obligation ofHajjSaying )what means(:}for whoever is able to find thereto a way.{]Quran 3:97[Hajjis not obligatory on the Muslim who is not able. Being financially able means that the Muslim owns enough money forHajjwhich 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 performHajj. Whoever owes an immediate debt, is not required to performHajjuntil 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 whomHajjis 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 ofHajjis 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 performHajjprovided that the debt is deferred,Hajjbecomes obligatory because he is able to afford it. However, if the deferred debt is not documented by a mortgage that covers it,Hajjis not obligatory upon him until he pays

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