Hajj Rituals

BOOK ID

Author(s): Ayatullah Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani

Category: Hajj (Pilgrimage)

Topic Tags: Hajj Islamic Laws

Person Tags: Ayatullah Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani

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Rulings of Hajj according to Grand Ayatollah al-Uzma Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani

Obligation to perform Hajj

It is clear from the Holy Qur'an and the traditions that performance of Hajj (Pilgrimage) is obligatory on every person who has attained puberty and has the means mentioned below.

Hajj is one of the basic principles of Islam; its performance is one of its essentials, and its non-performance is a grave sin. Denial of the obligatory nature of Hajj is blasphemy (kufr). Allah states in the Holy Qur'an,

“.. and pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon men for the sake of Allah, (upon) every one who is able to undertake the journey to it; and whoever disbelieves, surely Allah is Self-sufficient, above any need of the worlds”. (3/97).

Sheikh Kulayni has reported that Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said, “Whoever dies without having performed obligatory pilgrimage when he was not prevented by lack of means, illness, or force, dies a Jew or a Christian”. Indeed, there are many hadiths (traditions) on pilgrimage being obligatory and on its importance, but the brevity of this work does not permit setting them all out.

In religion the performance of pilgrimage is obligatory on a person once only; it is known as ‘Hajjatul Islam’.

Rule 1: Performance of pilgrimage becomes obligatory immediately in the year in when its conditions are realised. If one fails to perform it, deliberately or for an excuse, it

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