The Great Hajj of 2012 (1433H)
Hajj is one of the colossal pillars of Islam. It is a divine act of sincere worship for the sake of Allah. It is only obligatory on the believer once in a lifetime. It is a prompt obligation on whoever can afford it and it is desirable to perform it ever so often. The Lord says: “And Hajj to the House (Ka’bah) is a duty mankind owes to Allah, those who can afford it (provision, residence and transportation) and whoever disbelieves (i.e. denies Hajj, he is a disbeliever in Allah) then Allah stands not in need of anyone.” (ch.3 v 97) And in the Hadith narrations of Al-Bukhari & Muslim, the Messenger of Allah said: “Islam is built on five pillars—the Shahadah, Salaah, Zakah, Saum and to perform Hajj to the sacred House of Allah.” And in the Sunan on the authority of Umar the Messenger of Allah said: “I have intended to dispatch men to these areas and investigate those who have the means and didn’t perform the Hajj to impose on them the Jizyah (a protection tax levied on non-Muslims living amongst Muslims). Such persons are not Muslims. They are not Muslims.” Again the Messenger of Allah said: “One who doesn’t perform Hajj even though he can afford to do so, it doesn’t matter if he dies as a Jew or Christian.” This Hadith is narrated by Ali Ibn Abi Talib. And the great majority of Islamic scholars hold the view that Hajj is incumbent immediately on those who can afford the journey and is physically fit. The expeditious performance of Hajj is a must in accordance with the preceding command of Allah and the command of His beloved Prophet when he said: “Expedite the (compulsory) Hajj for no one knows what will confront him.” Abdullah Ibn Abbas narrated this as documented in Musnad Imam Ahmad. The Messenger said: “Oh mankind! Allah has made the Hajj compulsory on you, therefore perform it.” (Imam Muslim) This is referring to the obligatory Hajj which is enjoined on the Muslim once in a life time. It doesn’t mean, however, that Hajj should not be performed more than once, for such a dedicated and arduous act of devotion is highly meritorious and the immense reward promised by Allah is worth the sincere dedication and sacrifice to earn the greatest of all bounties and favors from Allah —the reward of Forgiveness. The Messenger of Allah said: “ Performance of Hajj is once and anything more than that is a voluntary act (of worship)” Also he said: “ The performance of Umrah after Umrah serves as an expiation of sins committed between them; and the sound Hajj, there is no reward for it except Paradise.” So it is desirable by the Sunnah itself to perform voluntary (nafl) acts of Hajj and Umrah. A person who intends the Hajj should earnestly and sincerely strive to earn the Pleasure of Allah by the good deeds of his hands and by the kind words of his tongue. He should endeavor to guard his tongue against backbiting, insults, lies and words of profanity. He should have a heart of goodness filled with compassion, love and mercy. He should not have evil traits and motives of hypocrisy, seeking fame, glory and honor. These will nullify his good deeds and it is fearful that Allah will reject his Hajj and all his arduous efforts will avail him not and he will indeed be a loser. There are basically three kinds of Hajj, namely Qiraan, Tamattu’ and Ifrad. The Tamattu’ is the only one that is usually performed by pilgrims from North America. It is the combination of Hajj & Umrah but in two Ihrams. Umrah is performed first and then the Muhrin (Pilgrim) is deconsecrated and returned to the regular state. On the 8th day of Zil Hijja (youm attarwiyah) the Pilgrim dons the Ihram again, but this time for Hajj only and performs the rituals of Hajj. In this ceremonial state, the Pilgrim goes to Mina and spends the night. On the 9th day of Zil Hijja, he presents himself in Arafah and then returns to Muzdalifah, and again to Mina.
He later stones the Jamarah Al-Kubrah, sacrifices an animal, shaves his head, goes to Mecca and performs the Tawaf and the Saee’ and then returns to Mina to stone the Jamaraat on the following days of Hajj. He spends two more or three nights in Mina and then returns to Mecca and prepares for the farewell Tawaf on departure.
