What is the definition of hajj? What is the nature of hajj? Why do Muslims go hajj? What is the hajj? What is forbidden during hajj?
Hajj literally means, “to mean, to turn”. It is defined in Islamic legal terminology as follows, “It is a financial and physical act of worship that constitutes one of the pillars of Islam and which consists of visiting the Kaʿba in the city of Mecca and the certain places considered sacred around it. It is carried out by entering the state of iḥrām with the intention of pilgrimage beforehand, at a certain time of the year, according to a proper way, that is, by performing ritual standing at Arafat and circumambulation around the Kaʿba.”
Places to be visited are the Kaʿba, the plain of Arafat, and its surroundings. Its time is the months of Shawwal, Dhu’l-Qaʿdah, and Dhu’l-Hijja, which are called the months of pilgrimage. There are special times for each ritual in Hajj. The obligatory circumambulation around the Kaʿba is performed from the morning of Eid al-Aḍḥā to the end of the person’s life; just as the ritual standing can be performed in the plain of Arafat from the zenith of the day before the day of Eid until the dawn on the morning of Eid al-Aḍḥā. Moreover, it is also necessary to perform this great visit with the intention of pilgrimage and in the state of iḥrām. These acts and visits performed during the pilgrimage are called “manāsik al-hajj”, which means the rites of pilgrimage.
A certain area around Mecca and Medina is called “Ḥaramayn (two ḥaram areas)”. The ḥaram of Mecca or ḥaram area encompasses the region encircled by an area about 5.5 km to Mecca from the direction of Medina; 13 km from the direction of Yemen; 13 km from the direction of Namira valley located on the road between Taif and Arafat; 16.6 km from the direction of Ji’rana; 18.5 km from the direction Jeddah. It is reported that Gabriel Jibril (as) showed Ibrahim the boundaries of the Meccan ḥaram and The Messenger of Allah (saw) renewed the same borders. Umar, Uthman, and Muawiya played a role in reaching these landmarks to the present day. Accordingly, the ḥaram of Mecca dates back to ancient times. In fact, the Prophet (saw) said when Mecca was conquered, “This is a land that Allah made honorable (forbidden) on the day He created the heavens and the earth. This is a place that will continue to be respected until the Day of Judgment if Allah makes it respectable.”[1]
The Kaʿba and Masjid al-Ḥaram in Mecca form the center of the ḥaram area. The first place of worship on earth built for people to worship is the Kaʿba. It is also called Bayt al-Ḥaram or Baytullāh (house of Allah).
A Muslim who wants to come to Mecca for a purpose such as performing hajj or ʿumra must enter the state of iḥrām in a place called mīqāt. After that, the prohibitions of the state of iḥrām begin. For example, a man cannot have sexual intercourse with his wife, cannot shave, cannot hunt, and cannot pluck the green grass and plants in the ḥaram region.
The area between the outer perimeter of the Ḥaram region and the Mīqāts, which are the places to enter the state of iḥrām, is called the “Ḥill region”.
There is also a ḥaram area around the city of Medina. This region encompasses the area between Mount Ayr and Mount Thawr in the south and north of the city and the black rocky area in the east and west. The hadith of the Prophet, “Madinah is a ḥaram from Ayr to Thawr” and the following hadith, “The Messenger of Allah (saw) made the areas between the black stones in the east and west of Madinah Ḥaram (sacred)”[2] are proofs of this geographical setting. This ḥaram area around Medina determined by the Prophet (saw) is about 22 km and Masjid an-Nabawi is the center of this region.
Since the ḥaram area around Medina is also considered a sacred area, the acts of worship performed in this region are more virtuous than those performed elsewhere except in Mecca.
Since the pilgrimage is an act of worship performed with great expense and difficulties, its virtue is also great.
The following verses are stated in the Qur’an:
“The first House (of worship) appointed for men was that at Bakka: Full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings: In it are Signs Manifest; (for example), the Station of Ibrahim; whoever enters it attains security; Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah,- those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures.”[3], “And remember Ibrahim said: ‘My Lord, make this a City of Peace.’”[4], “Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety.”[5], “Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary, to which are brought as tribute fruits of all kinds,- a provision from Ourselves?”[6], and “Do they not then see that We have made a sanctuary secure, and that men are being snatched away from all around them?”[7]
The following is noted in the hadiths:
“Learn your rites of hajj (by seeing me performing them).”[8]
When the Messenger of Allah (saw) was asked which deed was more virtuous, he replied, Belief in Allah and His Messenger, then jihad in the way of Allah, and then the obligatory pilgrimage.”[9]
“(The performance of) ʿumra is an expiation for the sins committed (between it and the previous one). And the reward of Hajj Mabrūr (the one accepted by Allah) is nothing except Paradise.”[10]
Hajj Mabrūr here means a pilgrimage that does not involve any sin, is performed completely and is accepted by Allah Almighty.
In another hadith, the virtues of Hajj and ʿumra are stated as follows:
“The pilgrims performing Hajj and ʿumra are a delegation to Allah. If they call upon Him, He will answer them; and if they ask for His forgiveness, He will forgive them.”[11]
Al-Shawkani (d. 1255/1839) evaluates the different hadiths about the virtues of deeds as answers given according to the situation of the addressee who asked the Prophet a question.[12] According to Imam Malik (d. 179/795), obligatory or even supererogatory pilgrimage is more virtuous than fighting the enemy. However, if there is fear of the enemy, fighting takes precedence over supererogatory pilgrimage.[13]
Hajj purifies a person from his sins. The following is stated in the hadith, “He who came to this House (Kaʿba) (intending to perform Pilgrimage), and neither spoke indecently nor did he act wickedly would return (free from sin) as on the (very first day) his mother bore him.”[14] Qādī Iyaḍ (d. 544/1149) said that the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah are in agreement that hajj can be the expiation for major sins only if one repents for his sins. Actually, no scholar says that a debt that belongs to Allah, such as performing prayer and paying zakāt, or that which is owed to a person, such as cash, will be relinquished. The rights of human beings continue as debts in the person’s liability. Allah will gather the owners of such rights on the Day of Judgment to get their rights. However, it is also possible for Allah Almighty to please such owners of rights with some blessings He will bestow on them and to show tolerance to the debtors as an indulgence.[15]
Hajj brings together millions of Muslims from various parts of the world, regardless of their race, color, language, or country. It allows them to meet and have conversations. It prepares the ground for the exchange of ideas and cooperation on trade, economy, culture, and how to act toward the common enemies.
The pilgrimage is a kind of show of strength of the believers. It strengthens the bonds of brotherhood among the believers living in various parts of the world. People demonstrate that they are truly equal by living together. The belief that Arabs and non-Arabs, white and black, have no superiority other than their level of piety sinks into their consciences.
[1] See al-Bukhari, ʿIlm, 37, Janā’iz, 76; Ḥajj, 43, Ṣayd, 8-10, Jizya, 22, Maghāzī, 51, 53; al-Tirmidhī, Ḥajj, 1.[2] Al-Bukhari, Jihād, 71, 74, Madina, 1, Buyū’, 53, Anbiya, 10; Muslim, Ḥajj, 445, 446, 455; al-Tirmidhī, Manaqib, 67.[3] Āl ʿImrān, 3: 96-97.[4] Al-Baqara, 2: 126.[5] Al-Baqara, 2: 125.[6] Al-Qaṣaṣ, 28: 57[7] Al-Ankabūt, 29: 67.[8] Muslim, Ḥajj, 310.[9] Al-Bukhari, Jihād, 1, Ḥajj, 4, 34, 102, Umrah, 1; Muslim, Imān, 135, 140; al-Tirmidhī, Mawāqīṭ, 13, Ḥajj, 6, 14, 88.[10] Al-Bukhari, Umrah, 1; al-Nasā’ī, Ḥajj, 3, Zakāt, 6; Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, I, 387, III, 114.[11] Ibn Maja, Manāsik, 5.[12] Al-Shawkanī, Nayl al-Awṭār, Egypt, (n.d.), IV, 282 ff.[13] Al-Zuhaylī, al-Fiqh al-Islamī wa Adillatuh, III, 11.[14] Al-Bukhari, Ḥajj, 4, Muḥṣar, 9, 10; Muslim, Ḥajj, 438; al-Nasā’ī, Ḥajj, 4; Ibn Maja, Manāsik, 3; al-Darimī, Manāsik, 7; Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, II, 229 , 410, 484.[15] Al-Zuhaylī, ibid, III, 12.
Source: Basic Islamic Principles (ilmiḥal) According to the Four Sunni Schools With Evidence From The Sources of Islamic Law, Prof. Hamdi Döndüren, Erkam Publications