Sublime Benefits and Objectives of Hajj - I

Hajjis one of the pillars of Islam which was prescribed in the ninth
year after theHijrah)emigration( of the Prophet,. It is out of the
mercy of Allaah The Almighty towards His slaves that He has
enjoinedHajjupon them at least once in a lifetime. 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.{]Quran 3:97[
Abu Hurayrahnarrated that the Messenger of Allaah,addressed them
saying:"O people, Allaah has made Hajj obligatory for you; so perform
Hajj."Thereupon, Al-Aqra' ibn Haabis said,"O Messenger of Allaah, )is
it to be performed( every year?"The Prophet,, remained silent, but the
man repeated )these words( thrice, whereupon the Messenger of
Allaah,,said:"If I were to say 'yes', it would become obligatory )for
you to perform it every year( and you would not be able to do it."Then
he said:"Leave me with what I have left to you, for those who were
before you were destroyed because of excessive questioning, and their
opposition to their prophets."]Saheeh Muslimand others[
The occasion ofHajjhas many benefits and objectives spanning
ideological, personal, societal, moral and educational aspects. These
include the following:
1- Deepening faith and strengthening piety:
There is no doubt that performingHajjin theSharee'ah-prescribed manner
strengthens faith and cleanses the self from its impurities. It rouses
Islamic emotions with the purpose of realizing the greatness of Allaah
The Almighty and feeling humble submission to Him where pilgrims
actually live for a number of appointed days in the atmosphere of
divine inspiration and in the places of the revelation of the Noble
Quran. Thus, thousands of souls head in overwhelming spirituality
towards greater, more tangible religious commitment, complete
submission to Allaah The Exalted, sincere adherence to and fruitful
interaction with His orders and prohibitions.
Allaah The Almighty referred to this great purpose and the useful
positive meanings it encompasses in the verse in which He Says about
aHajjritual )what means(:}Their meat will not reach Allaah, nor will
their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you.{]Quran 22:37[
2- Feeling the sacrifices of the first Muslims:
The heightened spirituality of the days ofHajjmakes the Muslims recall
the early days of Prophethood. A believer experiences first-hand the
extent of the sacrifices of the Companionsand realizes the efforts of
the first Muslims who established the basics of religion, adhered to
the rulings and spread the virtues and merits of this religion. They
endured the sufferings and trials they faced from their enemies and
the sacrifices they offered in terms of their souls, money, families,
times and interests. Due to these trials and sacrifices, the Prophet,,
warned againstdisparaging or abusing them. He said:"Allaah, Allaah!
Fear Him with regard to my Companions! Do not revile them after me!
Whoever loves them loves them with his love for me…"He also said in
another narration:"If any one of you spent gold equal to Uhud )in the
cause of Allaah( it would not be equal to even a handful or even half
a handful of what was spent by one of them."]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
3- Total obedience to Allaah The Almighty:
Performing the rituals ofHajjin spite of the variety of their forms,
times and places and the difference in their utterances, numbers and
contents instills in the souls of the pilgrims the value of obeying
Allaah, the One and the Only. It teaches them to comply in totality
with His orders, rulings and instructions even if they do not know the
wisdom behind them or their material consequences.
Among the actions that prove this total submission to Allaah are
performingTawaafaround theKa'bahseven times, kissing the Black Stone,
throwing the pebbles with known and appointed times and numbers,
standing at'Arafaatand then heading at night towardsMuzdalifahto stay
the night therein.
Thus, the physical, intellectual and spiritual activities of man merge
in a great and noble manner for him to get used to executing the
orders of Allaah The Almighty and adhering to His instructions with
truthfulness, sincerity, submission and humility without hesitation
nor delay, even if the material benefits of this do not appear
immediately.
'Umarused to kiss the Black Stone and say,"No doubt, I know that you
are a stone and can neither benefit anyone nor harm anyone. Had I not
seen the Messenger of Allaahkissing you, I would not have kissed
you."]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
)To be continued(

Dought & clear, - He suffers from compulsive waswaas and speaks words of kufr; does he have to doanything?

My question is: I am a young girl of 19 years who has received a
proposal. He was my senior in high school and unfortunately we had a
short lived haram relationship of talking to each other unlawfully. We
both repented and he wants to marry me. His father is an apostate
suffering from Bipolar type 2 disorder and Obsessive compulsive
disorder. I read that OCD patients suffer from religious obsessions
about the devil. Is he accountable for his apostasy due to his mental
illness? secondly, he wants to know how to deal with this situation in
the correct way as well as the rest of the family. his mother still
lives with his father. Due to his illness, the father also caused
financial ruin (linked to bipolar 2). What are the rights of the
family in this case and the rights of the father over them? He is
extremely non compliant with treatment. Lastly, if i do marry him,
what kind of relationship should I and our children have with his
father?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Compulsive waswaas refers to thoughts and bad ideas that come one
after another to a person's mind even though he does not want them, in
such a way that he cannot rid himself of them, even though he knows
and is certain that they are foolish and unacceptable thoughts. They
keep coming to his mind compulsively, which causes him a great deal of
anguish and distress.
The remedy for compulsive waswaas and other types of waswaas is to
remember Allah a great deal, obey Him, and turn to Him, beseeching
Him, and seeking refuge with Him; to overlook and ignore the waswaas,
and not let oneself get carried away with it. In some cases there is a
need to consult a doctor.
See the answers to questions no. 39684and 90819.
Allah will not punish a person or call him to account for this
waswaas, because it is beyond his control and overwhelms him; it does
not happen by his choice. Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope"
[al-Baqarah 2:286]
"Allah puts no burden on any person beyond what He has given him.
Allah will grant after hardship, ease."
[al-Talaaq 65:7]
"So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you can"
[al-Taghaabun 64:16].
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:"Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, will forgive my ummah for whatever crosses
their minds so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6664; Muslim, 127.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Allah will not punish the one who suffers from compulsive waswaas,
because He, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):"our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have
strength to bear"[al-Baqarah 2:286]and"Allah burdens not a person
beyond his scope" [al-Baqarah 2:286]. But the one who is suffering
from waswaas has to frequently seek refuge with Allah from the
accursed Shaytaan and ignore it; if he does that, then it will depart
from him by Allah's leave. End quote.
Fataawa Noor 'ala ad-Darb, 24/2
If this man speaks words of kufr (disbelief) and words that put him
beyond the pale of Islam because of this compulsive waswaas, without
being aware of what he is saying or understanding what it means, or he
understands what it means but he did not intend to say it and did not
say it voluntarily – rather he said it under the pressure of this
waswaas which forced him to say it – then he will not be punished for
it, because it is beyond his control. He comes under the same ruling
as one who speaks words of kufr because he is forced to do so. Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Whoever disbelieved in Allah after his belief, except him who is
forced thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith but such as open
their hearts to disbelief, on them is wrath from Allah, and theirs
will be a great torment"
[an-Nahl 16:106].
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If he is forced to disbelieve and he disbelieves, but his heart is at
rest with Faith, then he is not deemed to be a disbeliever, because
there is an impediment to doing so, which is that he was forced. End
quote.
Majmoo' Fataawa wa Rasaa'il al-'Uthaymeen, 3/54
It says inal-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 13/229:
It is not permissible to describe as a disbeliever one who was forced
to utter words of disbelief when his heart was at rest with Faith.
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):"…except him who is forced thereto and whose heart is at rest
with Faith …" [an-Nahl 16:106]. End quote.
See also the answer to question no. 62839
Based on that, this man is not to be deemed an apostate, unless he
says or does something to indicate disbelief at the time when he is
aware of what he is doing, and he says or does it voluntarily. In that
case he would be deemed an apostate and would bear full responsibility
for his words or deeds.
Secondly:
The family's role towards this poor father may be summed up as follows:
1.All the members of the family have to show patience towards him with
regard to unpleasant things that happen with him, because that is
happening without him intending it to.
2.They should strive to find treatment for him and spend as much as
they can on that, and use tricks to treat him. Many cases of waswaas
are in fact cases of sickness that can be treated by psychologists and
the like.
3.They should offer a lot of supplication and beseech Allah to remove
this harm and heal him.
4.Ruqya as prescribed in Islam. His son, wife or any other family
member or other person may perform ruqya for him as prescribed in
Islam. Allah may heal types of chronic sickness by His grace, by means
of Islamically prescribed ruqya from the Qur'an and Sunnah.
See also the answer to question no. 3476
Thirdly:
If this suitor is of good character and religiously committed, then
there is nothing wrong with marrying him, whether his father is
healthy or otherwise, and whether he is a Muslim or an apostate. None
of those factors are an impediment to marrying his son, so long as the
son is religiously committed and of good character.
However we do not think that you should rush to accept such a person;
rather proceeding with caution in the case of such proposals that may
lead to complicated social problems is better, more sensible and
wiser.
You have to let your guardians know about the matter and they should
find out the facts for themselves, so that they can make the right
decision for their daughter.
If you feel that this will have an impact on your life and your social
relationships, then you are still young, so if you wait for a more
suitable opportunity that is less likely to cause you problems, then
perhaps that is better and more appropriate.
If you insist on accepting this suitor, and your guardians agree to
it, then you and your husband should have separate accommodation; that
is more likely to avoid problems and keep you away from troubles.
Moreover, he will be the grandfather of your children and also your
father-in-law, the father of your husband, so you should strive hard
to treat him. And Allah knows best.

Dought & clear, - Specifying the name of the person on whose behalf the sacrifice is being offered

Do I have to slaughter the hadiy (sacrificial animal) myself or is it
permissible to appoint one of the companies or banks in Makkah that
specialise in that (to do it on my behalf)?
Praise be to Allah.
The individual is not obliged to slaughter his hadiy himself; it is
permissible to appoint a trustworthy person to do that on his behalf.
However it is important to note something that has to do with
appointing or delegating someone to do that on one's behalf, which is
that at the time of slaughter, it is essential to state the name of
the one on whose behalf it is being done. So the one who is doing the
actual slaughter should intend that it is on behalf of So and so; it
is not permissible to slaughter a number of sheep, for example, on
behalf of a number of people without stating the names with each
slaughter.
Based on that, it is not permissible to appoint companies or banks
that do not specify the names of the people on whose behalf the
sacrifice is being offered, except in the case of necessity, when it
is not possible for the individual to go to the slaughter place
himself or to find a trustworthy person to slaughter the sacrifice on
his behalf.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: Some
Hajj groups collect money from the pilgrims for the hadiy (sacrifice),
and they slaughter the animals on their behalf, but they may fail to
mention the name of the one on whose behalf the sacrifice is offered
at the time of slaughtering each animal. Is this permissible?
He replied: This is not permissible. It is essential to state on whose
behalf this sacrifice is being offered every time an animal is
slaughtered. For example, if there are thirty men in the group, and he
(the person who is offering the sacrifice on their behalf) buys thirty
sheep for them, he should have a list of their names in front of him,
and every time he brings a sheep forward (for slaughter), he should
say: "This is on behalf of So and so," because it is essential to
state on whose behalf it is being offered. If he just sacrifices
thirty sheep on behalf of thirty men, that is not valid.
End quote fromal-Liqa' ash-Shahri, 73/32
He (may Allah have mercy on him) was also asked: We have heard that
you warned people against giving money to these companies, but what is
the solution with regard to what has happened in the past? We did Hajj
more than once, and we gave money to these companies and they did not
take our names. What is the ruling on what was done in the past? Is it
acceptable? If it is not acceptable, what do we have to do?
Answer: We did not warn against giving the hadiy (sacrifice), because
in fact the hadiy is necessary. The individual has two choices: either
to give money to these companies or to sacrifice it himself and leave
it on the ground, in which case neither he nor anyone else will
benefit from it. If the person is able to slaughter his hadiy and eat
from it, give some of it as a gift and give some of it in charity,
then undoubtedly this is much better. This is possible for some people
who have acquaintances in Makkah and are able to delegate them to do
this on their behalf, telling them: Slaughter the hadiy on our behalf.
In that case he can benefit from it, or he can go to Makkah, go to the
slaughterhouse and buy an animal and slaughter it there, and he will
find people crowding around him to take it from him. But what I think
is a serious mistake is to send the cost of the sacrifice to another
country so that it can be sacrificed there. This is the thing for
which there is no basis. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) used to send the sacrificial animal to Makkah to be
sacrificed in Makkah. There is no report from him, either in a saheeh
(sound) or da'eef (weak) hadeeth, that suggests that he sent his
sacrificial animal (udhiyah) to any other place; rather he used to
slaughter it in his house, and they would eat from it, give some of it
as gifts and give some as charity.
End quote fromal-Liqa' ash-Shahri, 34/17
If the company writes down the name of the person on whose behalf the
sacrifice is being offered, and hangs it around the sheep's neck, as
some companies do, and the slaughterer forms the intention that this
sacrifice is on behalf of the person whose name is written on this
paper, then that is acceptable and valid. It fulfils the need to
specify on whose behalf the sacrifice is being offered, and it is not
necessary to mention the person's name after that.
And Allah knows best.

Dought & clear, - Is the person who prays Friday prayeronly not a kaafir?.

Is it correct that who prays Friday prayer only is not considered
kaafir? I read that sheikh Ben Uthaimeen, may Allah have mercy on him,
said: whoever prays Friday prayer is not a kaafir; because he never
neglects it, because the prophet, peace be upon him, said (the prayer)
not (prayer). Is it true that ibn Uthaimeen and ibn Taymiyah said
this?.
Praise be to Allaah.
There is a difference of opinion among those who say that the one who
does not pray is a kaafir, with regard to the exact definition of the
omission of prayer which makes him a kaafir. Most of them are of the
view that he becomes a kaafir if he omits one obligatory prayer or two
obligatory prayers.
Some of them are of the view that the one who does not pray does not
become a kaafir unless he gives up prayer altogether.
The former opinion was narrated by Ishaaq ibn Raahawayh (may Allaah
have mercy on him) from the Sahaabah and Taabi'een. Imam Muhammad ibn
Nasr al-Maroozi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: I heard Ishaaq
say: it is narrated in a saheeh report from the Messenger of Allaah
(blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) that the one who does not
pray is a kaafir, and this was the opinion of the scholars from the
time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) until
our own time, that the one who deliberately does not pray without any
excuse until the time for the prayer is over is a kaafir.
The ending of the time means delaying Zuhr until sunset and delaying
Maghrib until the sun rises.
The end of the times for prayer was set as described above because the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) joined prayers at
'Arafah and Muzdalifah and when travelling, so he prayed one of them
at the time of the other. Because the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allaah be upon him) offered the first prayer at the time of the second
in some cases, and the second prayer at the time of the first in other
cases, the time for both became one time in cases where one has an
excuse, just as the menstruating woman, if she becomes pure before
sunset, is commanded to pray both Zuhr and 'Asr, and if she becomes
pure at the end of the night, she is commanded to pray both Maghrib
and 'Isha'. End quote fromTa'zeem Qadr al-Salaah(2/929).
Muhammad ibn Nasr (Allaah have mercy on him) narrated that Imam Ahmad
said: No one becomes a kaafir because of sin except the one who
deliberately does not pray. If he does not pray until the time for the
next prayer begins, he must be asked to repent three times. End quote.
It was narrated that Ibn al-Mubaarak said: Whoever deliberately does
not pray with no excuse until the time is over, is a kaafir. Ta'zeem
Qadr al-Salaah (2/297).
Ibn Hazm said:
We narrated from 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (me Allaah be pleased with
him), Mu'aadh ibn Jabal, Ibn Mas'ood and a number of the Sahaabah
(may Allaah be pleased with them), and from Ibn al-Mubaarak, Ahmad ibn
Hanbal, Ishaaq ibn Raahawayh (may Allaah have mercy on them), and from
17 of the Sahaabah in total (may Allaah be pleased with them) that the
one who deliberately and consciously does not offer an obligatory
prayer until the time for it ends is a kaafir and an apostate. This is
also the view of 'Abd-Allaah ibn al-Maajishoon, the companion of
Maalik. And it was the view of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Habeeb al-Andalusi
and others. End quote fromal-Fasl fi'l-Milal wa'l-Ahwa' wa'l-Nihal,
3/128.
He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: And it was narrated from
'Umar, 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn 'Awf, Mu'aadh ibn Jabal, Abu Hurayrah and
others among the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) that the
one who deliberately does not offer one obligatory prayer until the
time for it ends is a kaafir and an apostate. End quote from
al-Muhalla (2/15).
This view was also expressed in fatwas by the Standing Committee for
Issuing Fatwas, led by Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have
mercy on him).
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah(6/50, 40)
Some of the scholars quoted as evidence for this opinion the words of
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him): "Whoever does
not pray 'Asr, all his good deeds are cancelled out." Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (528), because cancellation of good deeds can only happen
as a result of becoming a kaafir, and because of what has been quoted
above from the Sahaabah who narrated these hadeeths.
With regard to the second opinion, which is that the one who does not
pray does not become a kaafir unless he gives up prayer altogether,
this is the view of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have
mercy on him), although he also ruled to be a kaafir the one who
misses some prayers and is called by the ruler to pray but does not
pray. He also stated that the one who prays sometimes and does not
pray sometimes, if he resolves in his heart to give up prayer
altogether, then he is inwardly a kaafir, i.e., it is between him and
Allaah, may He be exalted.
See:Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 22/49, 7/715;Sharh al-'Umdah, 2/94.
This was also the view of Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah be pleased
with him) who said: What appears to be the case from the evidence is
that he does not become a kaafir unless he gives up prayer all the
time, in the sense that he has decided not to pray, so he does not
pray Zuhr, 'Asr, Maghrib, 'Isha' or Fajr. This is the one who is a
kaafir. But if he prays one or two obligatory prayers, then he is not
a kaafir and he cannot truly be described as having given up prayer.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said: "Between
a man and shirk and kufr stands his giving up prayer (al-salaah)" and
he did not say "salaah (a prayer)". End quote
fromal-Sharhal-Mumti'(2/26).
We could not find any written comment of his concerning one who only
offers Friday prayer, but we asked him about that verbally and he
replied that it seems that he does become a kaafir because Friday
prayer is one of 35 prayers in the week, so the one who only prays
Friday prayer can be described as giving up prayer altogether so he
could become a kaafir as a result.
And Allaah knows best.