Liaison office of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Al Sistani (L.M.H.L) in London, Europe, North and South America.
2044. Hajj (pilgrimage) means visiting the House of Allah (Ka'bah),
and performing all those worshipful acts which have been ordered to be performed
there. It is obligatory on a person once in his lifetime, provided that he
fulfils the following conditions:
He should be baligh.
He should be sane and free, that is, he should not be insane and should
not be a slave.
Because of proceeding to Makkah for Hajj, he should not be obliged to
commit a haraam act, avoidance of which is more important than Hajj, nor
should he be compelled to forsake an obligatory work which is more
important than Hajj.
He should be capable of performing Hajj, and this depends upon number of
factors:
He should possess provisions and means for transportation, if need be,
or heshould have enough money to buy them.
He should be healthy and strong enough to go to Makkah and per form
Hajj, without suffering extreme difficulties.
There should be no obstacle on the way. If the way is closed, or if a
person fears that he will lose his life, or honour, while on his way to
Makkah, or he will berobbed of his property, it is not obligatory on
him to perform Hajj. But if he can reach Makkah by another route, he
should go to perform Hajj, even if the other route is a longer one.
But that route should not be unusually longer.
He should have enough time to reach Makkah, and to perform all the acts
of worship in Hajj.
He should possess sufficient money to meet the expenses of his
dependents whose maintenance is obligatory on him, like, his wife and
children, as well as the expenses of those who have to be paid, like,
servants, maids, etc.
On return from Hajj, he should have some means of livelihood, like,
income from the property, farming, business, employment etc. so that
he may not lead a life of hardship.
2045. When a person is in need of owning a house, performance of Hajj
will be obligatory on him if he also possesses money for the house.
2046. If a wife can go to Makkah but does not have any means of
support on her return, and if her husband is also poor, and cannot provide her
subsistence, subjecting her to hard life, Hajj will not be obligatory on her.
2047. If a person does not possess necessary provision for the
journey, nor any means of transport, and another person asks him to go for
Hajj undertaking to meet his expenses as well as of his family during his
Hajj, and he (i.e. the person who is asked to go for Hajj) is satisfied with
what the other man offers, Hajj becomes obligatory on him.
2048. If a person is offered the expenses of his return journey to
Makkah, as well as the expenses of his family during the period of Hajj, Hajj
becomes obligatory on him, even if he is indebted, and does not possess means
of support with which to lead his life after his return.
But if the days
of Hajj and the days of his work coincide, meaning that if he abandons his
work and goes for Hajj, he will not be able to pay his debts in time, nor
support himself for the rest of the year, Hajj will not be Wajib on him.
2049. If a person is given expenses of going to and returning from
Makkah, and the expenses of his family during that period, and is asked to go
to Hajj without mentioning that the help given is his property, performance of
Hajj becomes obligatory on him, if he is satisfied that it will not be taken
back from him.
2050. If a person is given an amount to cover expenses just sufficient
for Hajj, with a condition that on his way to Makkah he will serve the person
who gave the expenses, Hajj does not become obligatory on him.
2051. If a person is given monetary help to enable him to perform
obligatory Hajj, and he does perform Hajj, another Hajj will not become
obligatory on him if he himself becomes wealthy.
2052. If a person goes, for example, to Jeddah in connection with
trade, and acquires sufficient money to go to Makkah, he should perform Hajj.
And if he performs Hajj, performance of another Hajj will not be obligatory on
him, if he later acquires enough wealth to enable to go to Makkah from his
hometown.
2053. If a person is hired to perform Hajj on behalf of another
person, but he cannot go for Hajj himself, and wishes to send someone else, he
should seek permission from the person who hired him.
2054. If a person could afford to perform Hajj but did not perform it,
and then became poor, he should perform Hajj facing all odds. And if he is not
at all able to go for Hajj, and if another person hires him for Hajj, he
should go to Makkah and perform Hajj on behalf of the person who has hired
him. He should then remain in Makkah for a year if possible, and perform his
own Hajj.
But, if it is possible that he is hired and given his wages in
cash, and the person who hires him agrees that he may perform Hajj on his
behalf next year, he should perform his own Hajj in the first year, and that
on behalf of the person who has hired him, in the second year, if he feels
that he might not be able to perform his own Hajj in the following year.
2055. If a person goes to Makkah in the year in which he can afford
to perform Hajj, but cannot reach Arafat and Mash'arul Haram at the prescribed
time, and cannot afford to go for Hajj during the succeeding years, Hajj is
not obligatory on him. But, if he could afford to go for Hajj in the earlier
years, and did not go, he should perform Hajj in spite of all difficulties.
2056. If a person did not perform Hajj in the year in which he could
afford to go for Hajj, and cannot perform Hajj now owing to old age, or ailment,
or weakness, and does not hope that in the future, he will be able to perform
Hajj in person, he should send someone else to perform Hajj on his behalf.
In fact, even if he does not lose hope, the obligatory precaution is that he
should hire a person. And when he becomes capable afterwards, he should perform
Hajj himself also. And the same applies if a person becoming capable of going
to Hajj for the first time, is prevented to perform Hajj because of old age,
ailment or weakness, and loses hope of gaining strength. In all these cases,
however, he should, as a recommended precaution, hire a male person, and the
one who is going to Hajj for the first time.
2057. A person who has been hired by another person to perform Hajj
should perform Tawafun Nisa also on his behalf, failing which his own wife (i.e.
the wife of the hired person) becomes haraam for him.
2058. If a person does not perform Tawafun Nisa correctly, or forgets
to perform it, and if he remembers it after a few days and returns to perform
it, his action is in order. And if his returning is difficult for him, he can
depute another person to perform the Tawaf on his behalf.