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19-04-2024
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Books- Allah is the Greatest- Paragraph (08-25): Scale of Priorities
   
 
 
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful  
 

 A knowledgeable person moves about in his life according to a scale of priorities. Thus, if he performs the pilgrimage, which is the obligatory Hajj, and if he is inclined to perform Hajj a second and third time, and if he is financially and physically able and has obtained the approval of the competent authority and does not contribute, by giving a statement that is contrary to fact, to the depriving of a Muslim person of the opportunity of performing the obligatory Hajj, and if he has discharged all his duties towards his parents, children, brother, sisters, friends, and neighbors, he can perform Hajj for the second, third, and fourth time. Hajj is a thornless Jihad and it is the Jihad of the elderly, the woman, and the weak person. A Hadeeth Qudsi says:

"If I have bestowed good health on my servant and provided him with ample sustenance and if after five years he does not come to me, he would be amiss".

 But when a Muslim performs the obligatory Hajj and he happens to have a marriageable son and fears his son's being exposed to deviation, it would be better to spend on having him married instead of performing a voluntary pilgrimage. That is because the prevention of harm takes priority over the acquisition of benefits, and Allah does not accept a voluntary act that leads to the neglect of a duty:

"A person who is endowed with wisdom is endowed with a great good".

[Surat Al Baqarah, 269]

"Oh Allah, I pray for a pilgrimage that is free of pretence or seeking to enhance my reputation"

  In other words, a pilgrim's aspiring to establish a reputation and show off through his Hajj constitutes a deviation from the purpose of Hajj and lack of sincerity in his worship.
 Ibn Katheer mentioned in his book of History the following story: Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak was going on his way to perform hajj. He and his companions saw a dead bird. He asked them to throw it in the garbage. His companions moved on and he was behind them. When he went through the garbage, he saw a young woman taking the dead bird and going quickly to her nearby house. He went to her and asked her about her story. She got shy, then she said: I live here with my mother. We have nothing but this dress, and we have nothing to eat but what people throw in this garbage. My father had a great wealth, but he was killed and his wealth was stolen, so we have nothing to eat.
When he heard this, he wept and asked his companions to get back the luggage. He asked his servant: How much money do we have? He answered: a thousand Dinars. He said: Keep twenty for us for our way back home and give the rest to this woman. I swear that her affliction made me so sad, and this would be better than going to Hajj this year.
 He went back home and thought that this charity would be better than a well-accepted Hajj.
  Good Muslims used to know the truth of worship and the value of dealing with people. The prophet (PBUH) said:

"That I walk with a brother regarding a need is more beloved to me than that I seclude myself in this mosque in Medina for a month."

 

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