102 Hajj and Unity

Hajj and Unity - Mufti Menk

Opening Greeting and Bismillah

"[Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings]"

"[In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful]"

Opening Khutbah

"[All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and all his companions.]"

We commence with the name of Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the creator of entire creation. We send blessings and salutations upon the greatest of all creation, Muhammad ibn Abdullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) the greatest and the highest in status, not only from all of mankind but even the messengers that Allah sent, Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was granted the highest status. And we are fortunate to be from his ummah, to be from those who follow his instruction completely.

May Allah make us steadfast and may He make it easy for us to follow the footsteps of this greatest creation of Allah, ameen.

The Fifth Pillar of Islam

My brothers, my sisters, we are in the months of hajj. And hajj as you know is the fifth pillar of Islam.

And hajj as you know is not compulsory except upon those who can afford the trip, who manage to go, who have the permission to go, etc. Certain conditions need to be met and then it becomes compulsory. If those conditions are not met, then it's not compulsory.

For example, a person cannot afford it, then it would not be compulsory. A person is unable to travel for some reason, it's not compulsory. A person is not given permission to go in terms of perhaps visa and in terms of authority, not allowing that travel, for some reason it becomes not compulsory.

And that is from the Quranic verse:

"[And [due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House - for whoever is able to find thereto a way.]"

Reference: Quran 3:97

Indeed, Allah has made it incumbent upon us that we fulfill hajj. Meaning it has been made compulsory for the one who can manage. Istita'ah actually means ability.

So, the affording of it from a financial perspective is only one aspect of it. Then from a health perspective, then from the authorities, etc. However, what we need to realize is, why did Allah make hajj at one time? Everyone has to go in the month of Dhul Hijjah to Mina, and then to Arafah, and then to Muzdalifah, and then back to Mina, and Pelt.

All the people have to do it at one time. Why didn't He say, you can go at any time that is convenient to you? Yes, Umrah you could. Umrah is the minor or the lesser pilgrimage.

We call it the lesser pilgrimage because there is no English word that describes the word Umrah of Arabic. So, Allah says when it comes to hajj, there is a specific time that all of you will do hajj. Anyone who goes on another day or another month, it's not accepted, it's not considered hajj.

The Wisdom of Specific Times

The same applies to Ramadan. It's one month of the year. Allah didn't say, okay, you've got to fast 29 or 30 fasts. Each one of you can do it when it's convenient for you. No, Allah says, this is the month. You see the moon, you fast. You see the moon, you have Eid.

I want to take it further. This act of worship we have right now, Jumu'ah. There is a specific time within which it must be fulfilled on a specific day of the week. Why did Allah decide that it has to be at a certain time, a certain day when it comes to Jumu'ah, when it comes to Ramadan, certain time frame. When it comes to hajj, certain place, certain time.

Have you ever thought of it? Because He wants us to be together as an ummah. He wants us to be together as an ummah. He wants us to recognize each other, to realize that you are but a number.

To realize that the arrogance, the haughtiness, the pride, the wealth, the authority, the looks, everything becomes irrelevant. You're in the saf, in salah, you are standing with whoever is next to you. You do not choose.

You don't book a seat in a masjid. You don't. The only time that you have a place that may be reserved for those of knowledge or those who have memorized the Quran is right behind the imam because the Prophet says that behind me should be those with intellect, those with knowledge.

So that's why sometimes you find the month of Ramadan or on a Friday, some of the days they have a few spaces that they might say, please don't sit here. This is for the imams and various other knowledgeable people, etc. Because the Prophet has instructed that.

And in case the imam makes a mistake, someone needs to correct him. In case the imam breaks his wudu and walks away, someone who knows what to do thereafter and how to continue should be right behind. So they can carry on, subhanAllah.

It's amazing. But otherwise no booking of space. Why? Because you are just like everyone else.

The Equality of Hajj

What happens in hajj? Everyone has to wear the same clothing. Everyone, especially the men. The women have restrictions but they are much broader, mashaAllah.

Broader restrictions which means certain things like gloves, etc. You may be told you're not allowed to do this and that, and you're not allowed to apply this or do whatever else. But when it comes to men, even

the cloth that you wear, there is a restriction governing that particular cloth, clothing.

So no one can say, hey, my ihram is Levi's. Have you heard that one? Levi's, ihram, wow. Think of another brand, Gucci ihram. Have you seen a Gucci ihram? I won't be surprised if people do have their little tags. But it's bogus, you know that, isn't it? It's a fake. It must be simple, straightforward.

My brothers and sisters, sometimes when we think of hajj, we just think, oh wow, it's a pilgrimage, we'll do it once in our lifetimes. Some people save for it, some don't even save for it. When you begin to save and put away money for hajj, it's a sign that your level of connection with Allah is getting somewhere meaningful.

How many of you, young, when you start earning, you put aside 100 rands a month towards your hajj. What will happen? In a year you got a thousand, 10 years, 10,000. I hope the travel agents here won't rip you off by that time, subhanallah.

At the moment it's still okay, inshallah. It's affordable. Because I was speaking to one of them, and I said, but brother, why does it keep going up? He says, well, it goes up there, it has to go up here as well.

Because the more we save, the more it's just going, it's like you're reaching out to something. You know when there's a little child and you're trying to reach out and you want to get them somewhere, you keep pulling it, pulling it back until you get them to where they want. We save 10,000, it became 12,000. We save 12,000, it became 15,000. When is it going to stop? Subhanallah. I pray that Allah make it easy for us.

So this agent was very intelligent. You know what he told me? He says, well, it's not farad if you can't afford it. So if it keeps going up, it's just not farad on you. You have to be wealthy to be able to go. But my brothers and sisters, you have to try to save up for that hajj, inshallah. Yes, there are necessities, your food, your accommodation, etc., etc.

But you have your savings, you need to make sure that you want to fulfill one of these pillars of Islam. One of these pillars of Islam. And when you go, there is something unique.

The Benefits of Unity in Hajj

You will meet people from all over the world. That's one of the benefits of having it at the same time. So as much as we think, oh, we are religious people, we're reading salah, you are going to meet people who are really religious.

As much as you think you fulfilled the rights of your parents, you will see an old man carrying an even older woman. And he says, that's my mother. How old are you? He says, I'm about 70. And how old is your mother? She's 95. 70-year-old man carrying his mother. What happened? You were reminded that no matter how much you are doing for your parents, there are others who do more.

That's the benefit of going together. You see people, how they get along, how they talk. And people watch you as well. Sometimes they thank Allah, they're not as bad as you and I. Because we have bad behavior sometimes. We get upset. Why? The chips that they fried is not crispy.

Allahu Akbar, hajj, come on. Come on, you're talking of hajj. And the people look at you and they start laughing. Hey, you're talking of chips, man. Subhanallah, we're in hajj. So people learn others.

We get to see what's the priority of a person. That's why I always tell those going in hajj, that there is a great chance that what you have been spoiled regarding in your life, Allah is going to take that away during your blessed journey to show you, you're going to do this without that. So if you're spoiled regarding space and you have a home where you have one bed and space for 10 other beds that you actually just sit and lounge around, you have lovely spacious homes.

When you get there, you might just have such a small room. That's Allah. He's watching. We took away one thing you were accustomed to. Now we get angry, roll our sleeves up, go to the people downstairs or go to the agents or whoever else it was. And we start screaming and yelling and shouting and swearing.

Whereas the hadith says and the Quran speaks about those who go for hajj, the characteristics need to be of a very high level. You're not supposed to swear or be abusive or commit immorality. That's when you will come back a clean person.

But when you went, we tested you with just... It was a bed, but it was just a little bit of less space. You couldn't perhaps put your bags the way you would at home. Yes, if you were ripped off, my brothers and sisters, you have every right to take it up.

But respectfully, brother, you cheated me. I need a better room. Subhanallah. You might not even want to say you cheated me. Say, look, my brother, if you go back to the record, I paid for this room, but you didn't give me this room, you gave me another room. Perhaps you'd like to rectify the error.

And maybe if you cannot, perhaps you might consider refunding. I remember once there was a haji saying, you know what, my agent is giving me a whole refund. I said, you might have to make your hajj again.

Actually, he doesn't have to. From a ruling perspective, he doesn't have to. But I was just trying to joke with him, to make him think, oh no, so should I just give him the money back? Subhanallah.

Imagine if you were to get a refund for the hajj. It's a question that would come to your mind, do I now need to go back? The answer is no, you did the hajj. If someone gave you a refund when you did hajj and there was a mess.

One of the owners, well, one of the managers of one of the hotels told me, and I'm going to say it because it did happen. He says, you come from South Africa. You know, some people don't know the difference, Zimbabwe, South Africa, it's all in Southern Africa.

So I look at him and say, yeah, okay. He says, you know, you guys, you bring cockroaches in lunchtons. I said, why? He says, I've had so many cases of people who come and they say, cockroaches, they're all South Africans.

He says, they open the lunchton and they release the cockroaches into the room and then they get a full refund of whatever's happening. I said, hey, I hope that's not the case. I'm a Zimbabwean, by the way.

But if that's the case, I hope it's not true. I actually spoke to him. I told him, I don't think so. Perhaps there are cockroaches in your hotel, you know. He says, we fumigated the thing. I said, look, you better get it checked because nowadays, you know, as man advances, these mosquitoes and cockroaches, they also advance, you know.

Flies could never fly backward. They could always fly forward. Nowadays, they're flying backward. I mean, there's some advancement. I wonder how, but some form of advancement. The same applies to the mosquitoes. Subhanallah. They're becoming resilient. And they're becoming, you know, different breed altogether.

But the same applies to us. Man, when we develop, think of it, are you developing solely for your survival on earth or are you also developing because you'd like to build your hereafter? Ask yourself. The difference between a believer and a non-believer is that a believer is focused upon the hereafter more than upon this life.

Notice I said more than, which means you are allowed, you have to. You have to have some form of actions, deeds, work, etc. to make you or to allow you to survive on earth, to live comfortably to a degree where you don't compromise halal and haram.

But your main priority is the hereafter. It's the focus on the hereafter. Now we met in hajj, mashallah, altogether.

Unity Despite Differences

So I met people from Africa, I meet people from Australia, from Europe, I meet people from India and Pakistan, Indonesia, South America, North America, you name it, they are there. The ummah. As weak as we have become because of our disunity, Allah is showing us, if you are united, look at the strength.

Look at the strength. Have you noticed something? When you go for hajj, you're in a haram, everyone is focused on something, no one starts asking you, tell me something, what sect do you belong to? Tell me something, which madhab do you follow? Tell me something. How do you read your salah, this way, that way? Because if you read it that way, I'm not going to give you the water.

No one does that. It becomes irrelevant because we're all in hajj, which means I'm a Muslim for me to have been there in the first place. May Allah grant us an understanding.

We will have differences, and I have said this so many times, we will because we are human. What you are convinced by, I may be totally convinced by something else, but Allah is going to ask me, and ask you separately. And He's going to judge us separately.

Allah is not going to judge you based on what I thought of you. Nor will He judge me based on what you thought of me. But Allah will judge me based on what He knows about me.