Pre-Hajj Questions

Answered by: Sheikh Ahmad Kutty
Profession : A Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Brothers and sisters, the session has already started. You can submit your questions. Please, make your questions short and clear so as to help us answer all your questions.
Yours, Islam Online Fatwa Editing Desk.

Name
Dina -
Profession
Question
Dear Sheikh, I know that Allah the Almighty doesn’t order us to do anything except for a Wisdom- Going to Hajj is not just about gathering in a certain place for a certain period of time. It has another meaning within- what could that be?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. Like other pillars, they are instituted by the all-Wise and all-Knowing to help humans realize their full potential. They are intended primarily to instill in us true consciousness of Allah and make us aware of our real purpose in life. Here are some of the most important benefits of hajj. 1. It deepens our awareness of Oneness of Allah and helps us to be God-centered; 2. It teaches us oneness of human family under the Lordship of One God; 3. It helps us to develop feeling for universal human brotherhood; 4. Finally, it enables us to renew our faith by making us aware of the transient nature of life and our final standing before the Lord on the day of judgement. May Allah help us reflect on the deeper meanings of the acts of worship in order to realize their full benefits-ameen.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Sister -
Profession
Question
Dear scholar my question is. Islam has allowed men to marry maximum four women subject to that he treats all of them wisely. What actually is happening in the Arab world is men marry 4 women then they divorce 2 of them or 1 of them and get another one hence keeping the number to 4.is it allowed and on what grounds?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Taking more than one wife is an exception and not a general rule applicable for all times and places. The Qur'an already states that if you cannot do justice, then marry only one. The fact that this law is abused does not necessarily imply the law is not right. It only shows human fallibility. The solution therefore is to apply the law with proper understanding.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Ahmad -
Profession
Question
As-salamu `alaykum, We own a company that sells travel packages to students and tourists. We take a commission from the travel companies for each package we sell. Some of the tourist packages we sell cover a number of items, like "air ticket, hotel, transport, food, and drinks." The last item (drinks) might include alcoholic drinks. But it is the option of the client to use this right or not. Is it haram for us to sell these packages? Thank you for your kind response.
Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. If you have a choice to exclude the haram items from the packages, then it becomes haram for you to sell them; but if you do not have a choice--as it is part of a total package managed by others--then you may sell them provided you make Muslims aware of the contents so that they exclude these items. If the latter is the case, then you also ought to cleanse your earnings through charities so that your income is totally free of taints of haram. May Allah help us all to stay clear of haram-ameen.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Hasan - Canada
Profession
Question
What is the ruling on praying with Dry cleaned clothes. The other day one of the lectures in the mosque mentioned it's not allowed to pray with dry cleaned clothes. The reason given was that the liquid they use is not changed for few days.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Cleaning in Islam can be achieved as long as the filth is totally removed whether through water or other means. So dry cleaning is ok as long as the liquid used is replaced or is continually flowing. But if it the same drops that have been used for previous cleaning and is rendered filthy, then it cannot be utilized.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Khaled Hatoum -
Profession
Question
Is it true that I can have double intention when going to Hajj, i.e. to perform the duty and look for new avenues for business, for example?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. As long as your primary intention is to do Hajj, there is nothing wrong in having a secondary one. As it has been stated in the Qur'an, "there is no harm for you in seeking the bounty of your Lord (during the course of hajj)...." (Al-Baqarah 2: 198)
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Shady -
Profession
Question
What are the signs of the Hajj Mabrur which is accepted by Allah?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. The signs of a virtuous hajj can be summed up as follow: 1. He/she has returned a changed person; 2. Thus he/she has become more conscious of Allah; 3. Conscious of his/duties towards Allah and fellow humans and fellow creation; 4. Aware of his/her true priorities in life which ought to reflect their awareness of the transient nature of life and standing before Allah for final reckoning.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Ali Amerey -
Profession
Question
If I put on a mask during the hajj, especially in big crowds, will I have to slaughter a sacrifice?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. There is no need to offer a sacrifice if you wear a mask simply to ward off germs and dust for health reasons. So its use should be limited only where such considerations are genuine and applicable.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Shab - India
Profession
sales & Marketing
Question
Dear scholar, As-Salamu `alaykum. I am planning to marry a divorcee. We like each other and want to settle down as soon as possible. The lady in question has two daughters. One of them has reached the puberty and the other is 10 year old. Their father never cared for them …never gave any maintenance money for the daughters. The father has re-married and has one daughter from his second marriage. The lady in question has won the custody case as well as maintenance from the court of law but the father never paid any maintenance towards the daughters. Their father was very abusing towards their mother which ultimately led to divorce. Both the daughters are very close to me and have accepted me and started treating me as their father and they look up to me as someone who is always there for them.

The lady has brought them up on her own without any help from her brother or anyone else in the world. Now since I want to marry this lady, her brother is saying that she needs to put the girls in hostel as they can not live with the step father. Considering the fact that this lady did not marry because she wanted to give her daughters everything and always wanted to marry someone who accepts her daughters. She doesn’t want to put them in hostel considering their age and the changing environment of the world. The daughters are at a very crucial and important stage of their life where they will need their parents at every step of their life. The brother of the lady has never helped her in anyway but now putting this condition saying that according to Shari`ah the daughters have to live in hostel if she wants to marry me. Please advice what should we do? We do not want the daughters to go to hostel and I have accepted them as mine why should they live in hostel and why a brother who never helped her in anyways during their life putting this condition for our marriage? I would like to bring to your notice that the mother will always be with them as a housewife. I have discussed this with one Mufti who said we can marry and stay with the daughters if we have big house and the girls have their privacy and he also told that the brother of the lady is putting a wrong condition. Please advice me according to Shari`ah. How can we keep our daughters with us and not in hostel once we marry? Does Islam say that one needs to separate daughters from the mother if she wants to re-marry? Kindly advice in the best and simple language so that our life does not get affected and all four of us live together as a family. Please advice in the interest of the daughters who does not know what father is? Please advice as we do not want to get separated from the daughters.
Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. The mufti has given you the right advice. Her brother has no right to put such a condition; she does not need to get his permission in this matter. In other words, she has every right to marry you if she so decides and she has also the right to insist that the daughters stay with her; but you must provide for them a house where they have their own privacy. It is to be remembered that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had in his care children of the widows he married. So never mind what your future brother-in-law says, the mother has a right to insist that her daughters stay with her; you will indeed be rewarded abundantly for acting as a father figure at home and treating them most kindly. I pray that Allah reward you and give you strength in fulfilling this responsibility-ameen.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Ali Amerey -
Profession
Question
How come we get to see men and women, at hajj time, praying on the same line, some even physically touching women on some line; how is it acceptable during hajj and not after?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. There are two issues we must always distinguish well: First, Islam does not prescribe complete segregation of genders as is practiced in many Muslim communities today; that is a later innovation, for during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) men and women were active participants in all aspects of life, without being segregated. Secondly, while interacting in society they were observing the Islamic ethics of interaction. So what is happening in Hajj is ok; but having said that, if there is some unavoidable touching of one another in a crowd, we cannot say that is a general rule to be applicable to all circumstances. However, the most important point of men and women praying without a partition or physical barrier in the Haram of Makkah should be the ideal for us to follow. For in that way, we allow for full participation of women in all walks of life. That was indeed the way they interacted during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). By restoring this state of affairs, we would be changing the image of Islam, for a picture is worth more than a thousand words.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
bashir - Ethiopia
Profession
BA of Business Administration
Question
What is the specific principles between Sunni and Shi`ite Muslim?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. The major doctrine that separates Sunnis from Shi`i is the doctrine of imamah: Sunnis consider imamah left to the choice of the community; accordingly, they consider Abu Bakr as the legitimate successor to the Prophet as the leader of the community by the choice of the sahabah or companions; while shi'ah insist that Ali was appointed by the divine order to succeed. The Shi`ah also believe that the imams are the infallible interpreters of the Qur'an. The sunnis however do not ascribe infallibility to anyone beside the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Anyhow, it is important for Muslims to focus on points that unite us and dialogue on issues we do not agree to get to the truth instead of fostering dissension and disunity.
Allah Almighty knows best.

Name
Hind -
Profession
Question
How to prepare oneself for the blessed journey of Hajj? And what would be the case if my period came at Hajj time?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. You have raised a very important question. Let me list a few points: 1. Make your intention as pure as you can and start with a clean slate by seeking repentance, and asking forgiveness of those you may have offended; 2. Acquire sound knowledge of the rites of hajj as well as its spirit and inner meanings from properly qualified scholars; 3. Make sure that you join a group accompanied by a spiritual leader to ensure that you remain focused on your hajj in form and spirit; 4. Make all arrangements to ensure that your family is taken care and advice them to remain steadfast on the path of Islam; 5. Get a good du`aa'/dhikr book and a copy of Qur'an and never fail to use them consistently during all stages of your journey. Now coming to the issue of menstruation, you are allowed to take medication, if there are any that are harmless, as per the advice of your family physician to delay your menses. If you do not feel like doing this, then also you need not worry: You can do everything except tawaf while in a state of menses. If you can wait until such time that you are free from menses for tawaf, you should delay it. If however, you must leave, and you have no choice but to do it in menses, you may do so provided you take a bath and use all the precautions (such as using pad, etc.) and then perform tawaf, if you must leave with the group. In this case, your hajj is perfectly fine as ruled by Imam Ibn Taymiyyah. May Allah make your hajj virtuous, and help you return home safe and sound-ameen.
Allah Almighty knows best.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Brothers and sisters, we are so sorry for not answering all your questions because the time is over. We apologize for any inconvenience. Do keep in touch. Join us in coming sessions.

Yours, Islam Online Fatwa Editing Desk.

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