Fellow Muslims,
إن شاء الله soon people will be travelling to الحجاز to perform one of the great obligations in al-Islam, that is الحج.
It is a personal obligation upon every Muslim to perform الحج if one is free, pubescent, sane, and able to do so. And for one’s حج to be accepted and rewarded one must perform it the way Allah ordered by fulfilling the integrals and conditions and avoiding its invalidators. So one must learn these things before performing الحج so that one does not fall in what is unlawful and miss out on the reward.
And the way to learn these matters is by learning them from the trustworthy scholars, not by reading in a book which may contain mistakes and errors, as it was witnessed in the past that a man was circulating around الكعبة carrying with him a knife and a mouse سكّينة وفأر. When asked about it, he said he read it in a book, then it turned out that what was written in the book was بسكينة ووقار which means to circulate around الكعبة with tranquility.
And know fellow Muslims that there are six integrals in which one must perform otherwise the حج will not be valid. The first of these integrals is الإحرام that is for one to say in his heart for example I intend to perform حج and I make إحرام for the sake of Allah. This intention is not valid unless it was during the months of حج as Allah said
(الحجُّ أشهرٌ معلومات)
These months are Shawwal, Dhul-Qa^dah, and the first ten nights of Dhil-Hijjah.
The second integral is for one to be in the area of عرفة for at least a moment between ظهر time of the ninth of Dhil-Hijjah and the dawn time of the tenth of Dhil-Hijjah.
The third integral is to make طواف that is to circulate aroundالكعبة seven times starting from the black stone with the left shoulder towards الكعبة while having purification and covering the unlawful nakedness.
The fourth integral is to make سعي between الصفا and المروة seven times starting with الصفا. This سعي has to be after one has performed a طواف, and it has to be in the path that was specified by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . By consensus it is not valid for one to make السعي in the new addition which is outside the original specified pathway. So for السعي to be valid it needs to be in the old pathway whether in the upper floors or the lower ones.
The fifth integral is to shave the head or cut the hair. Shaving the head is better for men, however women are not allowed to shave the head rather they cut their hair. This shaving or cutting is not allowed before the second half of the night preceding the day of العيد.
And the sixth integral is to maintain order in most of the integrals because the intention إحرام has to be done first, and the طواف as well as the cutting or shaving has to be after being at عرفة.
There are also obligations that one must do such as staying at Muzdalifah even for a short time and staying at Mina most of the night. Among the obligations also are throwing the pebbles at جمرة العقبة then throwing the pebbles at the three stations for the three days of التشريق.
And know fellow Muslims that there are prohibitions that one must stay away from while in the state of إحرام such as having sexual intercourse, putting perfume and the like on, covering the head for the man, and covering the face for the woman.
There are other issues pertaining to حج andعمرة that a person must comply with, so our advice is for one to learn these matters before going to حج and not to rely on imitating others.
We ask Allah to grant us performingحج and visiting the grave of the honorable Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and to make us among those whoseحج would be accepted and their sins would be forgiven, as the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام said:
“من حجَّ فلم يَرفُث-أي لم يجامع- ولم يفسُقْ خرج من ذنوبه كيوم ولدته أمه”
May Allah facilitate for me you and you obeying Him, and may Allah end our lives on Islam.