The Ḥajj that Allāh ﷻ Appointed

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

This is the month of Dhul-Ḥijjah. As we said, it is the month of the worship of Ḥajj. There are blessed days and nights in its first ten days. Now the ḥajjīs are returning. Most of them have returned.

Ḥajj is an act of worship that Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has given to Muslims. The one who performs that worship by going to ḥajj and returning, all his sins are forgiven. Of course, if there is the servant’s right, that’s different. But even there too, in Muzdalifah, Allāh ﷻ will forgive the servant’s right, in shā’a Llāh.

Therefore, a person who returns from ḥajj returns as on the day his mother bore him, sinless. “حج مبرور وسعي مشكور وذنب مغفور”, “Ḥajj Mabrur, Sa’ī Mashkur, Dhanbun Maghfur.” It means may you return with an accepted ḥajj, a commendable endeavor and forgiven sins. This is the ḥajj that Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has given to people.

Others say, “I went here and became a ḥajjī.” Non-Muslims have neither days [of worship] nor places of worship. They tell each other, according to their own minds, claiming the places they visit are ḥajj. Whereas ḥajj is a worship given by Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. And that is the worship that, as we said, when you return, you return free from all the sins.

Others commit worse sins. The ones we call non-Muslims, non-believers, say according to their own minds, “He became a ḥajjī. He went there, he became a ḥajjī.” By the wisdom of Allāh ﷻ, ḥajj happens in one place, and in that place it happens once a year. Ḥajj cannot be whenever you want. If you go there outside the time of ḥajj, you will have performed Umrah. But ḥajj is different. Its great grace, its great blessing is different. It is special.

Everything has something that is valuable. There are valuable people. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is the most precious among mankind. There are valuable places: Makkah, Madinah, Jerusalem. There are other blessed places, but those places are the places determined by Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Some of them, as we said, go to Jerusalem. Going to Jerusalem is a great blessing from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.

A prayer performed there counts as a thousand prayers performed elsewhere, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, go there. Of course, we can’t go now. If you can’t go, you can make a service there. Send them olive oil to be used in the service there. That is also the advice of our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam for us. Who can do so shall do it.

But the matter of ḥajj, as we said, is different. Therefore, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has made it that if you do it once, you are free of that obligation. You will be both purified from sins, and come back as forgiven. This is one of the beautiful worships in Islām. It is hard but the harder it is, the more its reward is.

May Allāh ﷻ grant it to those who did not go. May Allāh ﷻ accept it for those who went, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ accept the ḥajj of those who went but weren’t able to reach, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

• Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbaniق

17 June 2025/ 21 Dhu l-Hijjah 1446

Fajr Prayer – Akbaba Dergah, Istanbul