Our Dialogue

Q. When Allah says every one is responsible for his own deeds, no one else will be questioned for other’s deeds, how do you justify substitute pilgrimage, or Haj-e-Badal? If an old man gives money to his son for Haj on his behalf and dies, he will get reward just for the money that he gave, if any, but God will reward the son for performing the Haj, may be a little less because his intention was for his father. If his father’s intention was that all his corrupt actions will be washed away by the Haj performed by his son (in the way the Hindus believe that a person’s sins are washed away in bathing in the Waters of Ganges River), he may even be punished for harboring an idolator’s concept. The whole exercise goes down the drain, the only gainers are the government of Saudi Arabia and the Airline Company.


A. We do not justify anything, because nothing in our faith needs justification. We certainly explain things, because everything in Islam is logical and straightforward. The point is that when you say, “I bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is God’s Messenger”, which is the second part of the declaration that you must make in order to be a Muslim, you must mean that you receive all teachings concerning faith, religion and its rules and teachings from Muhammad, and no one else. If the Prophet (peace be upon him) states something, or approves of an action, then that is acceptable. If it is a religious action, then it is part of our faith. When a woman asked the Prophet if she could perform the pilgrimage on behalf of her father who was too old and weak that he could not sit up on his camel, the Prophet said to her that she should do so. In another case, he asked the person whether he would have repaid a debt his deceased father left unpaid. When the man said he would, the Prophet said to him: “A debt owed to God has more claim to be paid.” Moreover, when the Prophet, on his pilgrimage journey, heard someone declaring that his pilgrimage is offered on behalf of Shibrimah, the Prophet asked him who Shibrimah was. The man said: ‘He is a brother of mine.’ The Prophet asked him whether he had already performed the pilgrimage himself. When the man answered in the negative, the Prophet told him to offer the pilgrimage for himself first, then he could offer it on behalf of Shibrimah.


This makes the case very clear. The evidence is overwhelming. Hence, there is no disagreement among scholars on the validity of substitute pilgrimage. The person on whose behalf the pilgrimage is offered receives all the reward for that pilgrimage, and the one doing it is rewarded for his action. If he is volunteering, then he gets very rich reward from God, particularly if he offers the pilgrimage on behalf of his parents. If he is paid for the trip, he receives reward as God pleases. The person on whose behalf a pilgrimage is offered, because he cannot make the journey in his physical condition, receives the full reward, which is forgiveness of all past sins. This is not a borrowed concept from any other religion. This is an Islamic concept.


Having said that, I want to take you up on your suggestion of what may happen to that person. You seem to try to sit in judgment and assign the son’s reward, and the old man’s reward or punishment. How can you do that, when you do not know the intentions of the people? It is not for us to decide how God will deal with people. We leave that to Him alone, and pray for ourselves and our fellow Muslims. We indeed pray for all mankind so that they may be guided to what pleases God and saves them from error, falsehood and wrong beliefs and actions. Furthermore, the suggestion that the Saudi government and the airlines are the only beneficiaries is made in bad taste, and this is wrong of a Muslim to do.

Q. I know some people who go on pilgrimage every year, but they do not attend regularly to their obligatory prayers. They say that pilgrimage will compensate for lost prayers and increase their spirituality. Please comment.


A. This is perverted logic. Every single one of the five daily prayers is a separate obligation which must be fulfilled by every Muslim. It is not lawful for any Muslim to miss a single prayer on any day, for any reason. There are situations when two obligatory prayers may be joined together and offered consecutively at the same time. But to miss a single prayer altogether is to commit a sin.


Pilgrimage is a duty only once in one’s lifetime. It is true that a Muslim may offer the pilgrimage as many times as he wishes, but every subsequent time it is a voluntary act of worship. It is simply recommended, not obligatory. Therefore, what these people say is that a voluntary act of worship may compensate for an obligatory one. This is why their argument can be described as nothing, but perverted logic.


It is true that pilgrimage offered in total devotion to Allah ensures the forgiveness of one’s past sins. In order for pilgrimage to be offered in total devotion, it must be accompanied by a resolve to abide by all Islamic instructions and fulfill all Islamic duties. A person who goes on pilgrimage, intending that when he comes back he will continue to do the sins he has been habitually doing puts a very serious question mark on his devotion. How can he declare to Allah that he has repented for committing sins unless his declaration is coupled with a resolve not to go back to them? Such a resolve means that he will have to attend to his daily prayers at the appropriate time of each single one. To take an attitude such as that you have described is to be careless about the most serious of Islamic obligations. That is enough reason for Allah to withhold forgiveness of their past sins. Anyone who is blessed and privileged to do the pilgrimage, time after time, should show his gratitude to Allah by being diligent in observing all his Islamic duties, most importantly prayers.

Q1. I have read a Hadith which states that prayer in the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah is equal to one thousand prayers elsewhere, with the exception of the Haram in Makkah. It is also said that prayer in the Haram in Makkah in equal to one hundred prayers in the Prophet’s Mosque. That makes it equivalent to a hundred thousand prayers anywhere else. Does this apply to the whole Haram area of Makkah? Are sins also punished at one hundred thousand times their punishment elsewhere?


Q. 2. What is the proper course to follow when one loses one’s slippers in the Grand Mosque in Makkah. As you realise, the market is a fair distance away and walking barefoot is very painful.


A1. The Hadith you have mentioned is authentic. It is true that the reward we receive for a single prayer in the Prophet’s Mosque is equivalent to the reward of one thousand prayers elsewhere. Similarly, a prayer in the Haram in Makkah earns a reward equivalent to one hundred thousand prayers elsewhere. That is one aspect of Allah’s grace and limitless bounty with which He favours His servants. Some scholars say that this high reward is applicable throughout the Haram area, but perhaps it is more correct to say that it applies to the Grand Mosque itself, i.e. the Haram. Because the Hadith mentions “Al-Masjid al-Haraam” which refers to the mosque itself.


Perhaps it is important to add that this generous reward does not exempt the worshipper from offering his obligatory prayers at their times every single day of his life. Suppose a person stays in Makkah for a month and offers all his five daily prayers throughout the month in the Haram Mosque before returning home. He has earned the reward of prayers in one hundred thousand months. It may occur to him that as he will not live for 8,000 years, he need not offer any more prayers. This is a totally mistaken notion. If he deliberately omits to offer one obligatory prayer, he commits a sin.


Punishment for sins commit-ted in the Haram area are not multiplied by the same figure. Allah states in the Quran that whoever is guilty of a bad deed will not incur any punishment more than that which is equal to his bad deed. It is indeed a manifestation of the grace of Allah that we are rewarded generously for the good we do, but we earn no more punishment except what is equal to our misdeeds. Moreover, even these are forgiven when we repent having committed them.


A2. Many people lose their slippers in the Grand Mosque in Makkah. This happens mostly due to confusion, forgetfulness of the exact spot where they were left and similarity of slippers. You notice that there are plenty of slippers near the main doors of the Grand Mosque. These are mostly lost by people or odd slippers left because the other one is damaged. Some people just pick any pair of slippers when they lose theirs and go away. This is something which is unacceptable. In the Haram area, one should not pick up anything left or lost by another person, not even money. However, it may be an ordeal for a person who has lost his slippers to walk barefoot in the street until he reaches a shoe shop. Probably, the best thing to do is to hold your slippers when you are doing the tawaf. If you feel you cannot do that because of the great crowd during pilgrimage or because you have your children with you and want to hold their hands, then try to mark the spot clearly where you leave them.

Q. Starting from Madinah on a journey for Umrah, we could not determine where the meeqat was. We continued to travel until we arrived in Makkah without finding the point of meeqat. We put on our ihram garments in Makkah and continued with our Umrah. Are we required to compensate for that?


A. The meeqat from Madinah is at Abiar Ali, which is only about 10 kilometers from Madinah on the road to Makkah. You most probably have missed it because you did not expect it to be so close to Madinah. However, since you went beyond the point of meeqat without changing into your ihram garments, you are required to slaughter a sheep each by way of compensation for violating the rules of ihram. This you can do now, but the sheep must be slaughtered within the Haram area, i.e. in Makkah or Mina. You may not partake of the meat of that sheep because it is slaughtered in compensation. You have to distribute it to the poor people in the Haram area.

Q. With the new restrictions in some airports and airlines concerning the way we travel and what hand luggage is allowed to be carried on the plane, it has become very difficult to start one’s consecration, or ihraam, during flight. People used to begin their ihraam about 30-45 minutes before the plane is due to land in Jeddah. Now this is extremely difficult, as one cannot wear the ihraam garments before boarding, and cannot take them on the plane. What is the solution?


A. The simple solution is to wear the ihraam garments on arrival in Jeddah. However, many scholars continue to consider Jeddah to be within the area of meeqat, and as such one should wear the ihraam before landing in Jeddah. Even if we apply this view, the solution is as I have mentioned, because of the difficulty you have explained. It is beyond any person’s control to ensure that one starts the ihraam on the plane. Therefore, one does it at the first opportunity it can be done. There is no compensation required in this case, as the delay is due to circumstances over which one has no say. The Prophet (Pbuh) says: “My followers have been exempted from having to account for what they do by a genuine mistake, through forgetfulness, or what they are compelled to do.” Here is a case of compulsion brought about by the authorities for what they say to be security reasons.


Having said that, I should add that an increasing number of scholars, though still a minority, maintain that it is appropriate for all pilgrims and people travelling for Umrah to start their ihraam on arrival in Jeddah. They give different reasons in support of their view. One is that travelling by air does not mean that the traveller crosses the point of meeqat, because planes normally come to Jeddah over the sea. However, I feel that the most valid reason in support of this view is that Jeddah is outside the meeqat area, which is formed by an imaginary line connecting the points of meeqat defined by the Prophet. If we were to draw a line from Al-Juhfah or Rabigh to Yalamlam, we find that Jeddah falls outside it.


Whether we take this view or the one that this is caused by unavoidable conditions, the result is the same. One can start the ihraam in Jeddah, without incurring any contravention of the rules, and as such, no compensation is required.

When Prophet Abraham completed the building of the Kabah, God instructed him to call on people to do the pilgrimage. This is mentioned in the Qur’an: “Proclaim to all people the duty of pilgrimage. They will come to you on foot and on every kind of fast mount. They will come from every far-away quarter, so that they might experience much that shall be of benefit to them, and that they might extol the name of God on the days appointed (for sacrifice), over whatever heads of cattle He may have provided for them. Eat, then, of such (sacrificed cattle) and feed the unfortunate poor.” (22: 27-28)