Allah's Plan For You & Me

When Does Hajj Becomes Obligatory?

Hajj becomes obligatory only when a Muslim attains certain capability as defined by Islamic sharia. 

Hajj is therefore a conditional obligatory act as opposed to absolute obligatory acts such as salat and sawm.

Another example of conditional obligatory act is Salatul Juma (Friday Prayer). For conditional obligatory acts, it is not necessary for a person to deliberately create the conditions for the act to become obligatory.

If a person does not attain the required capability, then Hajj is not obligatory on him/her.

If such a person performs the Hajj without the required capability, then his Hajj is OK, but he has to perform the Hajj again in future if and when he attains the required capability.

It is not obligatory on a person to try to achieve the required capability in order to perform Hajj.

This is not the case for other acts of worship such as wudu for obligatory salat, for which it is necessary to try to get the water for performing wudu.

The obligatory Hajj is of two types depending upon how it becomes obligatory:

(1) The First Hajj is obligatory when attaining the required capability automatically.

(2) The Second Hajj is obligatory when someone gifts sufficient money to someone for Hajj.

When someone gives you sufficient money as a gift for performing the Hajj, then it is obligatory for you to accept the gift and go for Hajj.

For example, if husband is willing to pay for his wife or for his baligh (mature) child for Hajj, then it is obligatory for the wife or that child to go for Hajj.

If they go to Hajj with this gifted money, then they have performed their obligatory Hajj and need not go again even if they get their own sufficient money in future.

If someone is giving sufficient money as a gift to someone without putting a condition to go for Hajj, then it is not obligatory for the receiver to accept the money.

But if he accepts and the money is sufficient and other conditions of capability exist, then he has to go for Hajj.

If a person, on whom Hajj is not obligatory (e.g. na-baligh person (immature), or when the passage is not safe), performs the Hajj somehow, then he will get the hasanats of that Hajj, but he will have to go to do his obligatory Hajj in future when Hajj becomes obligatory on him.

Imam Ali (as) said, "Hajj is Jihad (Holy War) for every weak person."

General Advice for Pilgrims  

1. Try as much as you can to learn the rules of Hajj in order that your pilgrimage does not become invalid or be incomplete, or that you don't get the complete reward without you knowing.

Do not be shy to ask, and especially ask people of knowledge, as you should not rely on what any person says without knowing if they are knowledgeable and pious.

2. Never forget that everything you do there in the rites of Hajj must be done with the intention of qurbah for Allah Almighty.

3. Complete sincerity in actions is the constant custom of the righteous, so be so in order for your deeds to elevate and Allah will accept it from you with the best of acceptance.

4. Try to adhere to the tradition of the Holy Prophet (saw) as much as you can and are able to.

5. You must pay attention to the importance of following the most learnt marja' in taqlid (religious reference) in order for your actions to be accepted and legitimately performed.

6. Make sure your reading of Surah al-Fatiha is correct in order for your Tawaf prayer to be correct, because your Hajj will become invalid if you do not do so.

If you are not sure the try to recite the Surah in front of someone who is capable of distinguishing its correctness.

7. You should refrain from laziness on the day of Arafah or losing time by speaking about worldly affairs and try to occupy yourself with remembrance of Allah Almighty and engage in reading supplications and invocations.

8. Try to stay away from observing others, and concentrate on your deeds and method of worshipping, because you might see things that are unusual or confuse you because of their ignorance.

You should be patient and tolerant, for this is the loftiest of morals.

9. Refrain from committing sins and stay away from disputes and arguments.

10. Take care of the health of those around you, especially the elders and sick.

11. Refrain from harming others and hassling them in the Tawaf and the prayer of Tawaf, and in Sa'i, touching the black stone, and any other of the rituals.

12. Do not ask yourself or others about the reason for some of the rites you do, and try to submit yourself to Allah Almighty, for He examines your servitude by your total submission to His orders and prohibitions.

13. Be as lovable and compassionate as possible with the people in charge of you and those who are travelling with you.

All of you are the guests of Allah (swt) the Merciful.