Hajj Begins with Taqwaa and Ikhlaas

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Shaykh ‘Abdul-Kareem bin ‘Abdullah al-Khudayr [May Allaah Preserve him]
Member of Permenant Committee of Senior Scholars and Member of Council of Senior Scholars
Jaami’ Shaykh ‘Abdur-Rahmaan ar-Raajihi, Shibrah, ar-Riyadh
17/11/1433 – 3/10/2012

All Praise be to Allaah and may the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon His Messenger, His Family and all those who follow them in goodness until the Last Day.

To begin:

Surah al-Hajj begins with the order for us to have at-Taqwa, Allaah, the Most High, says:

O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) is a terrible thing. [Hajj 22:1]

Taqwa is to make a shield between you and the punishment of Allaah, to stay away from what Allaah has prohibited you from and to act upon all the various forms of good deeds, this is Taqwaa. And by having Taqwa one obtains goodness and assistance, so, for example, if someone wants knowledge then he needs to have Taqwa.

Fear Allah; and Allah teaches you [Baqarah 2:282]

If someone wants provision;

And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. [Talaaq 65:2-3]

So all acts of worship are made specific with at-Taqwa, so Taqwa means to do what you are commanded and stay away from prohibitions.

Verily, As-Salat (the prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha' (i.e. great sins of every kind, unlawful sexual intercourse, etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil wicked deed, etc.) [Al-Ankaboot 29:45]

And, Allaah, the Most High, says about fasting;

Observing As-Saum (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun [Baqarah 2:183]

And, Allaah, the Most High, says;

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)…. [Baqarah 2:203]

So attaining Taqwa is the goal and it is the advice of Allah, the Most High, for those nations that were sent in the before and the latter ones. So if someone prays and he doesn’t have Taqwa in his heart but he only does the actions and doesn’t have humility in his body, then he misses out on the purpose and sweetness of that action. So he may give in Zakaat as a ritual, but in his heart he hasn’t paid it any attention, he doesn’t intend by it to purify himself and his wealth, he doesn’t intend to help others then it is like he just given away his money.

If one intends to fast and doesn’t have a firm sense of Taqwa within himself, meaning he doesn’t stay away from what is Haram or to do what is Waajib, then he has gained nothing except starvation and thirst.

Likewise, when most people pray, they stand in front of Allaah, despite the status of as-Salaah being so high, they return home just like they left it. They leave their houses intending to a Waajib action and they return to their homes eating haram. It’s like that they haven’t benefitted from their Salaah at all. And in origin, as-Salah prevents us from this:

Verily, As-Salat (the prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha' (i.e. great sins of every kind, unlawful sexual intercourse, etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil wicked deed, etc.) [Al-Ankaboot 29:45]

This is divine information, a piece of information that cannot be incorrect or have a lie within it,

And who is truer in statement than Allah? [Nisaa 4:87]

So the person himself is to blame. He prays but doesn’t pray the way the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] prayed, as he said “Pray as you have seen me pray.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaaree (6705)]

Likewise we see people during Ramadan, they eat, the pray Fajr, sometimes they don’t even do that, then they sleep the length of the day until Maghrib. Is this the fasting that is prescribed?

…that you may become Al-Muttaqun… [Baqarah 2:183]

They miss praying their obligatory Salawaat during the day and they think this is what is required from them.

Likewise we some people stay in the masjid in I’tikaaf, instead of benefitting from this time to get close to Allaah, to abandon the Dunya. However, we’ve seen some people enter the masjid with newspapers to help keep themselves occupied! What does he gain from I’tikaaf? Has he got closer to Allaah, the Almighty? And as soon as ash-Shawwal has been announced, he’s gone. By Maghrib he’s praying in his home!?

So what’s the cure to all of this? Ibn al-Qayyim [May Allaah have Mercy on him] has given over twenty ways and causes. He states that the sickness of the heart is like the sickness of a dead person. So what is incumbent upon this person is to seek to bring his heart alive in his Salaah, in his Dua’a, in the time he recites Qur’aan, in his Dhikr and if he misses out on all of this then it is as if his heart is closed, locked away from goodness.

How many recite the Quraan and they don’t know what they are reciting and when they stop, they don’t know where they have stopped in the Qur’aan? How many people whiz through the pages and have not contemplated even on one Aayah. How many people recite from Yoonus (Surah 10) to Yoosuf (Surah 12) and their hearts have not trembled, despite the Prophet saying, “Hood (Surah 11) and it’s sisters have made my hair turn grey” [al-Silsilat al-Saheehah (2/679)].

So this affair is not something to be taken lightly and it requires a great deal of attention. People are wasteful in their times, in this bodies, in their manners, in their food and in their sleep. If food is placed in front of some people, he eats as if he is about to die. It’s his last meal.

I don’t say people should be like Imaam an-Nawawee [May Allaah have Mercy on him], he never used to sleep on his bed except rarely, most often than not he would fall asleep doing some act of worship and when he wakes, he would continue, such as reacting the Quraan, or Dhikr or on his desk whilst writing.

The religion of Allaah is easy, we are neither extreme nor negligent, but how many people do you see wasting their time? Two, three hours during the night going in their social lives, he spends time with others in Istiraahah talking about the whole world, not benefitting from what people have talked about. You don’t hear any form of Dhikr from them and this even occurs in the sittings of the students of knowledge. To Allaah I complain.

About hajj, the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him said], “Whoever does Hajj for the sake of Allaah and does not have sexual relations (with his wife), commit sin, or dispute unjustly during the Hajj, will come back like the day his mother gave birth to him. [Narrated by al-Bukhaaree (1449) and Muslim 91350)]. 

Four or five days for this return in reward, everyone is able to do this! No one can say that they can’t stop sinning or bettering themselves for four or five days especially if this is the reward, all the days in his life are going to be wiped out from its sins, in return for four or five days of rituals. But are you able to do this? Some don’t program themselves so they aren’t able.

You are going to the best of places on earth, in the best of times during the month of hajj, being the guest of the best of hosts, Allaah the Most High, combining the best of places with this best of times, yet you will find some people are lost. This is because of the Hadeeth of truth;

“Know Allaah in times of ease, He will Know you in times of adversity.” [at-Tirmidhi (2516)]

Program yourself to make yourself of those who get a response in times of need. Despite the reward of these days most people can’t do it, they can’t program themselves during these days because they don’t have experience in how to. They don’t have a history of having Ikhlaas with Allaah, or being close to him by doing good deeds and at-Tawbah. So when someone comes back, he should be staring a new life….

“…like the day his mother gave birth to him.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaaree (1449) and Muslim 91350)].

And, and Allaah, the Most High, says;

…if his aim is to do good and obey Allah (fear Him)…. [Baqarah 2:203]

For those who have at-Taqwa, not everyone who does Hajj will have this result. Not everyone who does Hajj will have Taqwaa and it is upon you to fulfil this condition, because having Taqwa is the condition for you to be forgiven of your sins and returning with a new life with no sin.

So your Hajj is in your heart, if your heart is not in it then there is no Hajj for you.

It is narrated in Tareekh al-Baghdad that a man performed hajj three times, by foot. He walked all the way from Baghdad to Makkah, three times. When he got home after completing the third hajj, he entered his home quietly not to disturb his mother, he had no other family. Then he saw her sleeping, so he moved towards her quietly and lay down next to her, being careful not to wake her up. His mother partly woke up from her sleep and asked this man for some water, the bowl was around three arm-spans away. He didn’t respond. She asked again and he didn’t respond. She asked a third time and he didn’t respond so his mother cursed him.

Thousands of miles this man has walked for the sake of Allaah in hajj, but the pleasure of his mother was three arm-spans away. He did Hajj which was optional but the obligation of obeying his mother was in the same house. So there is a doubt in this man’s intention and sincerity.

Usually people ask on how to do Hajj and its pillars and obligations and Sunnan etc. but they lack in actualising and realising that the first pillar of Hajj is their intention and sincerity to Allaah.

This can even be applied to today, there are many students of knowledge who seek knowledge and attend the Duroos on a regular basis but if their mother asks from them something, they turn away or they say they are busy. Running around from Masjid to Masjid to seek knowledge but the pleasure of Allah is in their homes. Purify your intention! Some students even spend more time with their friends and other students than their mothers and family. So if their mother asks he quickly fulfils but if his friends want to take him Dammam, he will go for a few days.

Some have their family members living next door, in the same neighbourhood, the pleasure of Allaah is a few footsteps away, but they neglect this obligation. To Allaah I complain.

May the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon His Final Messenger and all those who follow him until the Last Day.