Don’t Reject Hajj

This post has 1,121 views.

For some time now, doubtful resources have been whispering in Muslim ears to reject Hajj, i.e. Pilgrimage, putting it this way: why make Hajj seeing the presence of disbelievers near its sites! Not only this but one flyer claimed that Hajj is made obligatory in the Sunnah only, which should not be accepted as an Islamic source because, it is claimed, that it was only compiled three hundred years after the death of the Prophet [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam]! There is no clear-cut command in the Quran to perform Hajj!! To address these and other related issues, the Muslim World League office in Canada has prepared the following:

This is an honest answer to a flyer rejecting Hajj, i.e. Pilgrimage. The sender is either an ignorant person and does not understand the position of Hajj in Islam, or he is one of those enemies who claim to be Muslim and try to undermine Islam from within. I have no answer if he is one of this latter category. Thousands of hypocrites tried to undermine Islam over the years. The result was and will be the same by the will of Allah. They perished while Islam continues until the end of time.

Should the writer of the flyer be one of those who are misguided, let me explain to him what Hajj means. What is the status of the Quran and the Sunnah in Islam? First of all it is good, to start with, that he does not reject the Qur’aan as the Book of Allah. If he accepts it as the Final Divine Scripture then he has to comply with all its verses and chapters. In one verse the Quran says: “So take what the Apostle assigns to you and deny yourselves what he with-holds you.” (Chapter 59, Verse 7).

There are many verses in the Quran that command us to obey the Messenger of Allah and to follow him if we want to be Muslims. So if you accept the Quran you have to obey the Sunnah which is the collections of his deeds, sayings, and approvals.

Suffice it to refute all false claims put from time to time that we obey the Quran and do not have to obey the Messenger, let me mention here how the Quran itself commands Muslims in more than twenty places in different Chapters to obey Allah and His Apostle. Not only this but it is clearly stated in one verse that: “He who obeys the Apostle has in fact obeyed Allah.” (Chapter 4, Verse 80).

Those who ignore the Sunnah and claim that they only follow the Quran are not Muslims. Do you want to be another Rashad Khalifa who received funds from the enemies of Islam to do this? Who said that the Sunnah has been collected 300 years after the Prophet?

This is a big distortion. Numerous Companions recorded the Sunnah during the lifetime of the Prophet (PBUH) like Abdullah Ibn Omar, Abu Huraira, Abdullah Ibn Abbas to name only a few. Before you distribute flyers read and read much. Or else you will be doomed to be led astray and others will be led astray by you.

The Quran can only be understood through the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). He was a Quran in motion. Those around him learned everything he said or did or approved and conveyed it to posterity. The Prophet told us in many traditions that Haij is one of the five pillars of Islam. He who rejects any of them rejects Islam in toto.

Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) was asked: Which is the best of deeds? He said: “Belief in Allah and His Messenger.” He was asked: Then which? He said: “The fighting in the way of Allah.” He was then asked: Then what? He said: “A sinless pilgrimage.”

A man once came to the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and said: I am coward, I am weak. The Prophet said: “Come to a fight that has no thorns in it, Pilgrimage.” In Bukhari and Muslim, we read that Abu Huraira said the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) said: “Umrah to Umrah eradicate sins between them and a sinless Pilgrimage has no other reward but Paradise.”

Jabir may Allah be pleased with him said: The Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) said: “This house (in Makkah) is the foundation of Islam. Whoever emerges towards it as a Pilgrimage or making Umrah Allah guarantees Paradise for him if he dies and to reward him abundantly if he returns.”

As for the claim that Pilgrimage is not made obligatory by the Quran there are two verses that foil this claim. In Chapter 33, Verse 97 Allah says: “Pilgrimage 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.” Here it is clearly stated that those who can afford the journey and do not do it are disbelievers.

In Chapter 2, Verse 196 Allah says: “And establish Pilgrimage and Umrah for the sake of Allah.” So how can we claim that Pilgrimage is not made obligatory in the Quran?

Neither the generation of the Companions nor any other Islamic generation denied Haj. To come to the Black Stone. Are you repeating what the enemies of Islam say that it is a remnant of paganism in Islam.

Remember that Islam is the only religion that is free of paganism. Look how Omar Ibn Al-Khattab reacted towards kissing the Black Stone. He said: “By Allah, I know for sure that you are a useless stone; and had I not seen the Prophet kiss you, I would not kiss you.

So to be a Muslim one has to submit and accept all that has been conveyed to us. Remember that the Quran itself has been revealed to the Prophet. How can you accept the Quran and reject the Sunnah? If you are sincere you must repent and seek forgiveness of Allah before you die a disbeliever by rejecting Hajj or the Sunnah, for that matter.

Dr. Arafat El Ashi,
Director Muslim World League, Canada