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There is a verse of the 'Holy Quran'
"And pilgrimage to the house is a duty unto Allah for mankind, for
him who can afford the journey thereunto. And whosever disbelieves (i.e.
he does not come to the house despite his being able to do so) then (he
does Harm only to himself) Allah stands not in need of any of his creatures."
(3 : 97)
To afford journey to that House (i.e. the Ka'ba) means that apart from
one's day-to-day necessities of life one has sufficient funds to meet
all the expenses of journey to and from the house of Allah at Mecca as
well as the Expenses during the period of one's stay there. Moreover,
one should be able to manage the Wajib (obligatory) maintenance of one's
dependants upto one's return from the journey. There are severe warnings
in the 'Holy Quran' and 'Hadith' for a man who does not perform the 'Hajj'
Pilgrimage despite his being capable as mentioned above.
Rule Of Action :
Suppose a person who, at any time of his life, possessed money sufficient
to meet the Hajj expenses, was able to retain it as his property upto
the beginning of the Hajj season i.e. the beginning of the month of 'Shawwal'.
If thereafter, instead of performing Hajj he spent the funds on raising
a building or holding a function of marriage or on some other affairs,
the Hajj already became obligatory as Fardh on him. He would be bound
to collect sufficient funds again by doing his best in order to discharge
the Hajj obligation.
Hadith. The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said, "One who
performs Hajj for the sake of Allah and therein abstains from obscene
acts and words, wickedness and sins, he returns so purified from sins
as he was at the time when his mother gave him birth." (Bukhari and
Muslim).
Hadith. The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said, "The Pilgrims
for Hajj and Umra are the guests of Allah. If they Pray for a thing to
Allah, He will grant it. (Ibn-e-Majah).
What greater blessing there could be for a Muslim than to be forgiven
by Allah for All the sins he committed throughout his life and to be blessed
with Allah's granting to whatever he prayed for. By dint of this blessing
he could easily be successful in achieving all his worldly and Heavenly
objects.
A Very Important Warning :
The attainment of all these virtues and blessings is subject to the accomplishment
of all the 'Fara'idh'. Wajibat' and Sunna of Hajj Pilgrimage must be abstained
from ; otherwise if one is at all relieved of the obligation of Hajj,
deprival from its virtues and blessings is however indisputable. Hajj
Pilgrims are usually careless in this respect. They do not care to acquire
knowledge of dictates about Hajj and visiting sacred places and the religious
instructions regarding them. On reaching the holy place they are put under
the charge of inexperienced servants of Mu'allims. Neither they care for
the correct fulfillment of Wajibat (obligatory acts) of Hajj nor they
are vigilant about refraining from sins during "Ihram. It may place
be noted that after wearing Ihram for Hajj or Umra one comes under certain
restrictions imposed by Shariat violation of which is a grievous sin.
Moreover for a sin committed in the Haram of Mecca, the punishment is
also extremely severe. After performing Hajj these ignorant people start
reckoning that they have returned after being purified from sins and that
they have stored plenty of divine rewards for the life hereinafter. But
what happens in fact is that they return with a store of sins due to contravention
of Wajibat and Sunnan of Hajj and with a stock of penalties for the omission
of Wajibat of Ihram. Possibility is there of course that all these misdoings
are forgiven by Allah out of His endless mercy and for the innumerable
blessings of "Haramain Sharifain" but we have no right to be
careless about them. Besides, sin not taken seriously and committed carelessly
has less possibility of forgiveness. That is why the 'Ulama' of every
age have purposely composed the necessary dictates of Hajj after rendering
them easy or the sake of Hajj after rendering them easy for the sake of
Hajj pilgrims, only out of their well wishing and sympathy towards them.
If these are kept under continuous study before the start of the journey
as well as throughout its duration, if Almighty Allah wills, the Hajj
will be accorded approval by Him.
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