Article courtesy of islam-qa.com
Praise be to Allah.
One of the things on which there is scholarly consensus among
all the Muslims, ancient and modern,
past and present, is that Hajj or
pilgrimage to the Sacred House of
Allah is one of the five pillars of
Islam, as proven in al-Saheehayn
from the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (may
Allah be pleased with them both) and
others.
It is well known that Hajj, like other acts of worship,
involves special actions, and each
of these actions must be done in the
prescribed manner, such as entering
ihram from the meeqat, tawaf, sai
between al-Safa and al-Marwah,
standing in arafah, staying
overnight in Muzdalifah, stoning the
Jamarat, slaughtering the sacrifice,
and the other well-known actions of
Hajj. All of these actions should be
done in accordance with the
teachings of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him). There are very many
ahadeeth which describe the Hajj of
the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him); these have been compiled
by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in Zad al-Maad
and by al-Hafiz Ibn Katheer in his
book al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah;
these scholars have also explained
the rulings derived from these
ahadeeth. The Muslim should pay
attention to learning these rulings
and acting upon them.
Then we should remember that the basic purpose of the actions
of Hajj is to establish the
remembrance of Allah, as Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Then when you leave arafat, remember Allah (by glorifying
His Praises, i.e. prayers and
invocations) at the Mashar-il-Haram.
And remember Him (by invoking Allah
for all good) as He has guided you,
and verily, you were, before, of
those who were astray.
Then depart from the place whence all the people depart and
ask Allah for His forgiveness.
Truly, Allah is Oft-Forgiving,
Most-Merciful.
So when you have accomplished your Manasik [rituals of Hajj],
remember Allah as you remember your
forefathers or with a far more
remembrance. But of mankind there
are some who say: ‘Our Lord! Give us
(Your Bounties) in this world!’ and
for such there will be no portion in
the Hereafter…
And remember Allah during the appointed Days. But whosoever
hastens to leave in two days, there
is no sin on him and whosoever stays
on, there is no sin on him, if his
aim is to do good and obey Allah
(fear Him), and know that you will
surely be gathered unto Him”
[al-Baqarah 2:198-203]
So the Muslim venerates the rituals of Hajj because Allah has
commanded him to venerate them, as
Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Thus it is and whosoever honors the Symbols of Allah, then
it is truly, from the piety of the
hearts” [al-Hajj 22:32]
Al-Bukhari narrated that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be
pleased with him) kissed the Black
Stone and said, “Were it not that I
had seen the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) kissing you, I would not
have kissed you.”
By honoring the House and going there, and establishing a
sanctuary (Haram) around it are acts
of veneration. Arriving there
unkempt and disheveled is like a
slave turning to his Lord in
humility and submission, and that is
clear. A person feels at ease
performing rituals that he
understands, and that motivates him
to do them, but to achieve full
submission there are some rituals
that a person may not understand, so
he will not be at ease and will not
comprehend them. In this case the
only motive is to obey the commands
of Allah. This is a greater form of
humility and submission.” See
Mutheer al-azm al-Sakin.
1 – When was Hajj enjoined? When did Hajj begin?
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will
come to you on foot and on every
lean camel, they will come from
every deep and distant (wide)
mountain highway (to perform Hajj)”
[al-Hajj 22:27]
Ibn Katheer says in his commentary
on this verse (3/221):
This means: Proclaim (O Ibraheem) the Hajj to the people,
calling them to come on pilgrimage
to this House which We have
commanded you to build. It was
mentioned that he said, “O Lord, how
can I proclaim it to the people when
my voice does not reach them?” He
said, “Call and We will convey it.”
So he stood in his maqam (station) –
or it was said, on the rock, or on
al-Safa, or on Abu Qubays (a
mountain) – and said: “O people,
your Lord has taken a House, so come
to it on pilgrimage.” And it was
said that the mountains lowered
themselves so that his voice could
reach all parts of the earth and
those who were still in the wombs or
in men’s loins also heard, and
everything that heard him, cities,
nomad encampments and trees, and
everyone whom Allah has decreed
should perform Hajj until the Day of
Resurrection responded, (saying)
Labbayk Allahumma labbayk (Here I
am, O Allah, here I am. This is the
summary of what was narrated from
Ibn abbas, Mujahid, ‘Ikrimah, Saeed
ibn Jubayr and others among the
salaf. And Allah knows best.
Ibn al-Jawzi, in his book Mutheer al-azm al-Sakin
(1/354) narrated something similar,
but more briefly, and he attributed
it to the narrators of Seerah.
This has to do with the history of the enjoining of Hajj
before the sending of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him). With regard to the
enjoining of Hajj in Islam, there is
some scholarly difference of opinion
concerning that. It was said that it
was enjoined in 6 AH, or in 7 AH, or
in 9 AH, or in 10 AH. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim
(may Allah have mercy on him) was
certain that it was enjoined in 9 or
10 AH. He (may Allah have mercy on
him) said in Zad al-Maad:
“There is no dispute that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) did not perform Hajj after
he migrated to Madinah apart from
one Hajj, which was the Farewell
Pilgrimage. And there is no dispute
that that occurred in 10 AH… When
the command to perform Hajj was
revealed, the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) hastened to perform Hajj
with no delay. Because the enjoining
of Hajj came at a later stage, in 9
or 10 AH, one might say, How can you
prove that the command to perform
Hajj was delayed until 9 or 10 AH?
We would say that the first part of
Soorah Al ‘Imran was revealed in the
year of delegations (am al-wufood),
during which the delegation from
Najran came to the Messenger of
Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) and he made a treaty with
them regarding their paying the
jizyah, and the (ruling on) jizyah
was revealed in the year of Tabook,
9 AH, when the first part of Soorat
Al ‘Imran was revealed…”
Al-Qurtubi said in his Tafseer (2/4/92): Hajj was
known to the Arabs. When Islam came,
they were told about something they
already knew and what was enjoined
upon them was something they were
familiar with…” See also Ahkam
al-Quran by Ibn al-arabi, 1/286.
2 – Tawaf around the House
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“and We commanded Ibraheem (Abraham) and Ismaeel (Ishmael)
that they should purify My House
(the Kabah at Makkah) for those who
are circumambulating it, or staying
(I‘tikāf), or bowing or prostrating
themselves (there, in prayer)”
[al-Baqarah 2:125]
This verse indicates that tawaf
around the Kabah was known at the
time of Ibraheem (peace be upon
him).
3 – Raml
Raml means walking quickly with short steps. This is Sunnah
for men but not for women during the
tawaf of arrival (tawaf al-qudoom),
which is the first tawaf performed
when one arrives in Makkah.
Al-Bukhari narrated in his Saheeh (2/469-470, 1602)
and Muslim also narrated (2/991-992,
1262) that Ibn abbas (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: The
Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) came with his companions
and the mushrikoon said, “There have
come to you people who have been
weakened by the fever of Yathrib. So
the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) commanded them to walk
quickly (raml) in the first
three circuits… According to another
report, he said, “Walk quickly so
that the mushrikeen will see that
you are strong.”
4 – The water of Zamzam and sai between al-Safa and al-Marwah.
Al-Bukhari narrated in his Saheeh that Ibn abbas (may
Allah be pleased with him) said:
Ibraheem brought Hajar and her son Ismaeel when she was still
breastfeeding him, to a place near
the Kabah under a tree on the spot
of Zamzam, at the highest place in
the mosque. During those days there
was nobody in Makkah, nor was there
any water. So he left them there and
left with them a leather bag
containing some dates, and a small
water-skin containing some water,
and set out homeward. Ismaeel’s
mother followed him saying, “O
Ibraheem! Where are you going,
leaving us in this valley where
there is no person whose company we
may enjoy, nor is there anything (to
enjoy)?” She repeated that to him
many times, but he did not look at
her. Then she asked him, “Has Allah
commanded you to do this?” He said,
“Yes.” She said, “Then He will not
forsake us,” and went back while
Abraham proceeded onwards. When he
reached al-Thaniyah where they could
not see him, he turned to face the
Kabah, and raising both hands,
invoked Allah saying the following
prayer:
“O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an
uncultivable valley by Your Sacred
House (the Kabah at Makkah) in
order, O our Lord, that they may
perform As‑Salah (Iqamat‑as‑Salah).
So fill some hearts among men with
love towards them, and (O Allah)
provide them with fruits so that
they may give thanks” [Ibraheem
14:37]
Ismaeel’s mother went on
breastfeeding Ismaeel and drinking
from the water (she had). When the
water in the water-skin had all been
used up, she became thirsty and her
child also became thirsty. She
started looking at him (i.e. Ismaeel)
tossing in agony. She left him, for
she could not endure looking at him,
and found that the mountain of al-Safa
was the nearest mountain to her on
that land. She stood on it and
started looking at the valley keenly
so that she might see somebody, but
she could not see anybody. Then she
descended from al-Safa and when she
reached the valley, she tucked up
her robe and ran in the valley like
a person in distress and trouble,
till she crossed the valley and
reached al-Marwa where she stood and
started looking, expecting to see
somebody, but she could not see
anybody. She repeated that (running
between al-Safa and al-Marwa) seven
times.
Ibn abbas said: The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) said, “This is the (origin
of) the people’s sai (walking)
between them between them (i.e. al-Safa
and al-Marwa).” When she reached al-Marwa
(for the last time) she heard a
voice and she said to herself “Shh!”
and listened attentively. She heard
the voice again and said, “O,
(whoever you may be)! You have made
me hear your voice; have you got
something to help me?” Then she saw
an angel at the place of Zamzam,
digging the earth with his heel (or
his wing), until water appeared. She
started to make something like a
basin around it, using her hand in
this way, and started filling her
water-skin with water with her
hands, and the water was flowing out
after she had scooped some of it.
Ibn abbas said: The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) said, “May Allah have
mercy on the mother of Ismaeel! Had
she let Zamzam (flow without trying
to control it) (or had she not
scooped from that water) (to fill
her water-skin), Zamzam would have
been a stream flowing on the surface
of the earth.” And he said: “The
angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid
of being neglected, for this is the
House of Allah which will be built
by this boy and his father, and
Allah never neglects His people’…”
Ibn al-Jawzi said in his book Mutheer al-azm al-Sakin
(2/47): “This hadeeth explains the
reason why it is called Zamzam,
because when the water flowed, Hajar
tried to control it (zammat-ha).
The linguist Ibn Faris said: Zamzam
comes from the words zamamtu al-naqah
(I reined in the camel).
5 – The standing at arafah
Abu Dawood and al-Tirmidhi (883) narrated that Yazeed ibn
Shayban said: We were standing in
arafah in a place far from the
mawqif [where the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) stood]. Ibn Mirba al-Ansari
came to us and said, “I am the
messenger of the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him), who says to you: ‘Stay
where you are (for it is also the
place of standing), for you are
standing in the area where your
father Ibraheem stood.’” Classed as
saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh Abi
Dawood, 1688.
Many of the actions of Hajj stem from the time of Ibraheem
(peace be upon him), but the
mushrikeen introduced some
innovations which were not
prescribed. When the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) was sent, he opposed them
in that and explained what was
prescribed for the actions of Hajj.
And Allah knows best.
Posted at HilalPlaza on June 3, 2006.
Reference www.Islam-qa.com
