How fortunate are these souls who are blessed with the following words from Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam :
"Whoever performs Hajj for the Pleasure of Allah and therein utters no word of evil, nor commits any evil deed, shall return from it (free from sin) as the day on which his mother gave birth to him." ( Bukhaari, Muslim)
It is hoped that all the pilgrims were sincere in their intentions and had traveled thousands of miles only to secure the Pleasure of Allah by fulfilling the obligation laid down upon them. May Allah the Almighty grant all the pilgrim’s acceptance and grant them opportunity again and again to visit the Sacred bud. Aameen.
Nevertheless, we wish to draw the attention of the pilgrims towards certain points which are necessary and of utmost importance to observe and for which many pilgrims are seen neglectful of their significance.
Firstly the sincerity of intention should remain
even after the performance of Hajj. There should be no pomp or show. One should not
wish to be called or recognized as a Haajee.
Many people adopt the habit of
talking frequently about their journey in order that people may come to know of their Hajj. They talk about the expenses incurred
in the way of Allah, their charity amongst the poor and needy, their devotion
and worship, their assisting the weak and old, etc.; and all is mentioned only with the
intention of gaining fame. This is a deceit from Shaytaan who ruins the ibaadat without the person
even knowing. It is therefore of great importance that the pilgrim does not talk about his Hajj without necessity
as it may lead to 'Riyaa' (show, insincerity). However, if necessity arises and one must
talk about his Hajj then he is at liberty to do so. But, he must
not indulge in this type of conversation
unnecessarily.
Secondly it is noted through experience, that many pilgrims return with only the bad side of the journey and make it a habit of talking about nothing except the hardships they have encountered during Hajj. The pilgrims should strictly refrain from this. On the contrary they should talk about the greatness of the sacred places, the spiritual gains, the enjoyment in devotions of Haramayn - Umrah, Tawaaf, Salaam on the Sacred Grave, Salaat in Masjid-ul-Haraam and Masjid-un-Nabawi etc. If one looks at his journey of Hajj carefully he will find that the good things far outweighs the bad. Every second spent in these sacred places is incomparable with anything in the world.
The journey of
Hajj is a long journey; one has to travel
by air, pass the immigrations, go through the customs, encounter people who speak foreign
languages, etc. In these circumstances, difficulties are certain to arise.
when we travel in our
country do we always travel with comfort and ease? Do we never encounter difficulty? Do we not find
ourselves held up in traffic for hours on a Motorway? Considering the fact that 2 - 3 million
pilgrims perform the rituals of Hajj at one time, in one place and that they all come from different countries and backgrounds and that
many of them have never before used or seen the facilities available to them.
We think the difficulties encountered are insignificant. Moreover, the pilgrims are rewarded
abundantly by Allah Ta'aala upon every difficulty encountered in their journey whereas
tile same is not tile case whilst we are on another journey.
Those people who engage
in these types of conversation become the cause of discouragement to others who have not
yet had the opportunity to perform Hajj. These unfortunate pilgrims fall into the
category ... and
who stop (men) from the way of Allah, and from the Sacred Masjid, ... mentioned in Surah Hajj in the Qur'aan. They should take heed that if people are discouraged by
their conversation and postpone their Hajj then those who have discouraged them will
be equally responsible.
Thirdly
the sign of a 'Mabroor
Hajj' or an 'accepted Hajj'
is that upon one's return, his
life changes from worst to good. He becomes totally punctual in fulfilling the commands
of Allah
Ta'aala. His love and inclination towards the Hereafter increases and love for the
worldly pleasures decline. Therefore, it is essential that the pilgrim is watchful
over his actions and should try
his utmost to instill in himself good characters and refrain from all types of evil. He should try his best to fulfill the
obligations laid down by Allah and avoid all the things forbidden by Him.