Hajj Guide By

Hajj Guide By Dr. Yasir Qadhi

Opening

Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wa as-salatu wa as-salamu ala rasoolillahi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man walah. Amma ba'd.

Alhamdulillah, we've gathered here today as you all know to do a brief hajj class. And this is obviously not the time or the place to give a detailed discussion because that's something that will require many many days of lecturing. And so what I'm gonna do is just give a very brief overview and summary and then open the floor for questions.

Because I'm sure for those of you who are going for hajj, you have done the research that you need to. And it's not the time to do an actual fiqh class of hajj. It will take us many weeks. And also hajj is a very complicated ritual. It's not an easy ritual. And theory is one thing and practice is another. Theory is one thing and reality is another.

So I can give you a nutshell, the theory. But what's gonna happen in your particular hajj - there's a million and one scenarios, right? Your bus was late, you missed this, you had to do that. You weren't able to walk here. The rami was done at a different time. We cannot possibly cover all of the hypothetical scenarios that is gonna happen.

Practical Advice

And therefore the first piece of practical advice I'm gonna give some practical advice. The first piece of practical advice: Choose your religious authority from now. Who do you trust to ask for fatwa? Who are you gonna ask when something goes wrong? Make sure you are confident in that person because your hajj is gonna really depend on who you're gonna ask for confusion.

If you don't know what you're doing, you need to call up and you need to ask some fatwa. Have some authority that you trust. Some hajj groups have a muallim. Most of them have some type of spiritual guide. Fact of the matter is many of them are not - you know, I mean, as you know the state of the ummah. Our religious clergy is sometimes not qualified to do what they're doing.

So you need to make up your mind who is the authority that you trust and then stick with that authority. If you're happy with the guide that's with your package, Alhamdulillah. If not, then find out somebody that you can contact. I'm not unfortunately going for hajj so I'm not the best person. I wish I could be your muallim, but I'm, you know, 2000 miles away in Memphis. You might need something instantaneously answered.

So find out. And believe me, there's plenty of people there. Generally speaking, it's not a problem. I would encourage you to also avail yourself to the fatwa booths. There are fatwa booths set up everywhere. Says questions, fatwas. And there are scholars there that are appointed by the government with translators in every language - Arabic, English, Urdu. Of course they speak Arabic as another language.

These are the people that are going to - they're experienced, they know what they're talking about. And I would encourage you, if you cannot find anybody, to encourage yourself, avail yourself to that opportunity.

So, inshallah, in a nutshell, we'll cover hajj and then we'll open the floor for questions, comments and concerns.

Hajj: The Fifth Pillar

Hajj as we all know is the fifth pillar of Islam. And it is an obligation. And that's something that alhamdulillah all of you are familiar with. And it is the last obligation that Allah revealed of the arkan. It is the last of the five arkan - not just in order, but in chronological wujub.

Allah revealed firstly the fast, the prayer. And then He revealed the fasting. And then He revealed the zakat. And then the final obligation that revealed is the revelation of hajj.

And hajj is obligatory with two conditions:

Physical Capability and Financial Surplus

1. Physical capability - You need to be physically capable. If you're incapacitated, if you don't have a mahram, you're not physically capable of doing hajj. You need to be physically capable.
2. Financial surplus - Number one, number two, you need to have the finances. And finances, again it's a question of fiqh. How much finances do you need? The response is enough for you to do a hajj that is comfortable for your socio-economic level.

If you're middle class, then you expect to go on a middle class hajj, right? And therefore you need to have in our times at least - what is the average? 4 or 5 thousand dollars or even more these days? You know, 4 or 5, 6 thousand, I mean this is what it used to be. Even 10 years ago it used to be 2 thousand. But prices are going up.

So Allah does not require that you go like a beggar. If you live a middle class life in America, it's understood that as a middle class person you will go on a middle class package. So you need to save up for what is the equivalent of 5, 6 thousand dollars. If by that time you save up, the prices go up, you don't have to sacrifice and go on the bare bottom package because this is you're going at your level, right?

Now if you're saving up for the luxury package and you're not capable or worthy of that, this is israf. This is israf. You know your level. You know what is reasonable for you. And you look at the package. It's a 3 star hotel which is a middle class what we would expect. Then this is the package you go for.

If you are mashallah earning a lot of money and you expect to go on that package, then that's a different story, the 5 star package. Otherwise for most Muslims we go for the average hajj route which is around 5, 6 thousand dollars in our times.

Types of Hajj

Now hajj, there are 3 types of hajj. And I'm only going to concentrate on the one that's the most common. The 3 types of hajj are:

1. Tamattu
2. Qiran
3. Ifrad

Once again, tamattu, qiran and ifrad.

What are these 3 types?

It's how you combine umrah with hajj. This is how the relationship comes. There are 3 logical possibilities:

1. Ifrad - You don't do umrah at all. And that's ifrad, ifrad from farid, singular. There's no umrah, you just go for the hajj.
2. Qiran - You do umrah and hajj in one ihram. You don't get out of ihram. And this is qiran, you have joined the 2. Qiran, you have qiran, you have joined the 2.
3. Tamattu - And this is the most common for foreigners who don't live in Saudi Arabia. And also it is the most rewarding. It is that you do a full hajj and a full umrah with 2 ihrams. So you do the full hajj and umrah. You get out of ihram in the middle. And this is the best because it is 2 acts in 1. You do the umrah and then you do the hajj.

And this is what most people do because they're going only one time in their life. So they wanna do the hajj, they wanna do the umrah, right?

So once again, if you only do the hajj, this is ifrad. And that's the quickest, shortest, easiest. It's also the cheapest because you don't have to pay the qurbani, right?

Another type of hajj is qiran which you combine the 2 together. And in qiran, as we said, you do hajj and umrah in 1 ihram. You don't get out of ihram.

And the most common type, and that's the type I'm gonna be talking about, that's the type that the bulk of the world that goes out from abroad and comes from abroad does is tamattu.

Tamattu Explained

And tamattu is also the most rewarding. And tamattu is also the most actions in it. And that's why it's the most rewarding. And tamattu is the full umrah. Then you get out of umrah. And then you wait for the days of hajj. And then you do the full hajj.

So tamattu means enjoyment. It is called enjoyment because you enjoy getting out of ihram. There's a period of enjoyment because in ihram, you cannot cut your nails, shave your hair, enjoy your wife, etc. Out of ihram, all of this is permissible.

So tamattu means you did the umrah. Then you got out of ihram. You finished, khalas, now you're done. Now you have 5 days, 1 week, 10 days - however many days. For some people, that can even be 1 month, 2 months. They're in the state of enjoyment. If they come in shawwal and they come after Ramadan, they're gonna wait all the way till Dhul-Qa'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, until they do it.

So of course for us in America, we cannot have that luxury. It's only 5 days, 2 days, 1 day. But tamattu means you enjoy in the middle. And that's why it's called tamattu.

So we're gonna talk about tamattu. We're not gonna do the other two. If you're doing the other two, then come to me later or speak to me afterwards. But we're gonna talk about tamattu because that's what 90% of the world does. And that is what they should do if it's the first hajj they're going for.

Requirements for Hajj

Place, Time and State

The first thing that we need to understand is that hajj must occur at a particular place, in a particular time, and a particular state of ihram. Place, time and spiritual state are all important.

• Not like salah, you can pray anywhere
• Not like dua, you can do it in any state

Hajj has a particular place. It has to be in Mecca, Mina, Muzdalifah, Arafat. Understood.

Has to be at a particular time, right? And for the hajj acts, it must be on the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th of Dhul Hijjah. You cannot do it on any other day.

And it must be in a particular state. And that state is called ihram, right? So hajj is a very specific act - particular place, time and state.

What is Ihram?

So what is the ihram? The ihram is a state in which you declare certain things that are halal - you declare them haram. And that's why it's called ihram. You have made certain things that are otherwise halal, you have made them haram upon yourself.

And so the ihram is a sacred state that you enter and you declare in front of Allah: "I am doing hajj." So I'm entering the state of ihram.

Where is Ihram Entered?

Now where is the ihram entered into? It is entered into in the mawaqit or the miqat. The miqat, geographic locations. The Prophet (peace be upon him) specified 5 locations. He specified 5 locations. Our scholars have taken those 5 and drawn lines between them, right? And so the ihram has become a boundary because of these 5 locations.

These are specifically mentioned in the hadith. And then our modern scholars - in fact even in the old, they drew boundaries. You don't have to go to one of these 5, but these are the boundaries that are made by the 5, right?

And so when you cross the boundary, you must at that point or before it - it's permissible to go before it declare ihram. You cannot pass the miqat without declaring ihram, or else you have to pay a penalty, right?

So you have to declare the ihram at or before the miqat. Why do I say before? Because when you're going on a plane, you don't have to wait exactly at the minute because you're not gonna know. It is safer to declare your ihram 10 minutes, 5 minutes before you think you're gonna enter it. And you are safe. Okay? Because you can enter ihram before the miqat. If you pass the miqat, this is a penalty. You have to give a fidya which we'll talk about later on.

Practical Miqat Information

So we don't have to worry about telling you what the miqat are. Any plane you take, your miqat - you're gonna land in Jeddah, right? I don't think anybody's landing in Riyadh. Every day almost 99% land in Jeddah. So realize that the miqat is 5 minutes before you land. 5 minutes before you land is the miqat. That's all you need to know.

Therefore, it is safest to enter into ihram 10 minutes before you land. Not a problem if it's 15 minutes because it doesn't matter. You can enter in miqat even from America, but you're making life difficult, right?

So you enter into ihram 10 minutes before you land. You're on the safe side, right? In fact, the miqat is literally right outside of Jeddah. If somebody were to say 2 minutes before you land, 3 minutes before you land, this would also have an element of truth because the miqat is literally outside of Jeddah.

What you cannot do is land in Jeddah and then say (لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ حَبًّا - labbayka allahumma habban) No. Now you're in trouble and you have to pay a penalty. You cannot wait for the plane to land. You have to enter the miqat and declare the talbiyah before you land in Jeddah.

Entering Ihram

Now, entering the ihram is simply a verbal act. It is a verbal act. You say (لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ حَبًّا - labbayka allahumma habban). This is your ihram. Whether you're wearing the ihram or not is a separate point.

So if it so happens some people are not wearing the ihram - the big mistake - but when they enter into it, they have to say (لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ حَبًّا - labbayka allahumma habban) even if they're wearing pant and shirt. Then they pay the penalty for the pant and shirt, but they're safe that they've entered ihram, right?

Please don't get confused. Ihram is not the garment you're wearing. Ihram is the declaration : (لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ حَبًّا - labbayka allahumma habban) or (لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ - labbayka allahumma labbayk). Whatever, you're saying (لَبَّيْكَ - labbayk). Or you can even say in English: "My niyyah is for hajj." But you need to say something to enter into ihram. And that is said before the miqat.

So far so clear? We're all on the same page?

Now, of course, you know you're gonna enter into ihram before landing in Jeddah. Therefore, it's common sense that you wear the garments for the men. You wear the garments before you land in Jeddah. If you're stopping over in Dubai or in Frankfurt, believe me, it's not gonna be embarrassing because half the world is going for hajj at that time. So, everybody in the plane is gonna be wearing ihram. You don't have to worry about that.

Question About Ihram Garments

Question: If you make the ihram and you're not wearing the ihram, what's the difference?

Answer: So, if you make the ihram while you're not wearing ihram, the fidya is the same as cutting your hair off or wearing clothes. And that is to fast three days or to feed six people or to give a sacrifice. And we'll talk about that in a while, right? So, the fidya is relatively trivial.

Whereas if you were to not enter ihram, now, you're in big trouble. And you have to go back. That's the best thing to do. Or you have to give a badana or a camel or something or a sacrifice.

Question: Do we have to specifically say that I am coming upon the Prophet of Allah? I did the hajj for much?

Answer: No, you don't have to mention what type of hajj. And you're allowed to change your mind within the hajj. Ali ibn Abi Talib shows his intelligence. When he did the labbayk, he didn't know how the Prophet of Allah was doing hajj. So, he said what type of hajj he didn't know. So, he said: "Labbayk Allahumma upon the hajj of the Prophet of Allah Islam, whatever that is." Very smart. However the

Prophet was doing, that's my hajj. Because he was coming from Yemen and the Prophet of Allah was coming from Medina.

And so, it doesn't matter. Even if you change your mind from ifrad to tamattu, you change your mind before you begin - not a problem. Because once you've entered, it's just like nafl prayer, not fard. Nafl prayer - if you wanted to pray two rakat for one reason and then you change your mind in the middle, for nafl it's allowed. Not for fard. It's not allowed.

So, for hajj, whatever you do, it's permissible within that framework.

Verbalizing the Niyyah

Question: Do you have to verbalize the niyyah?

Answer: Yes. You have to verbalize the niyyah. And verbalizing is done by any way. The only place in the shariah where the niyyah is verbal is hajj. Not in salah. Not in anything else. The only place where the niyyah must be verbal is the hajj.

Now, what is the verbalization? It is any expression that signifies hajj. You can say in English: "Oh Allah, I'm doing the hajj." This is your niyyah. You can say: "Labbayk Allahumma labbayk." This is your niyyah. You can say: "Labbayk Allahumma hajj. Labbayk Allahumma tamattu." Anything. But you have to say it.

Now, I wouldn't worry too much because the whole plane is gonna be eagerly looking at their watch and this and that. So, you're with a group. So, I wouldn't worry too much about you forgetting. The entire plane is a hajj plane. And everybody is waiting. And people are gonna be doing it from the beginning all the way to Jeddah. Don't worry about that InshaAllah ta'ala.

Plus you have a time frame. Like I said, I would personally I would do it 15 minutes before the plane lands. Even if you did it 3 minutes before the plane lands. And the pilot will make an announcement. Almost all airplanes, they will make an announcement that: "We are going to pass the Miqat in 2 minutes" or something like this.

So, when they make this announcement - and even if they don't, 10 minutes before they land - you should say something. If you don't verbalize, you haven't made the niyyah. And therefore there's the penalty if you land in Jeddah. Okay?

Now, so, if you're landing in Medina, then you're safe because Medina is outside of Ihram. But in America I don't know if planes don't go - there are? There are a few? Okay, it's rare. From what I remember, American groups, almost all of them, they go to Jeddah first. Some groups from Egypt and from Jordan, there's direct flights to Medina. Aha, Jordan. Exactly. Yeah, so if it's Jordan and then they're going to Medina, then you're not entering Ihram anyway because Medina is outside of the Miqat, right?

So, if you're not entering the Ihram, then you don't have to worry about this. Then you're going to enter Ihram from Medina when the bus leaves. They're going to stop at the place of Ihram. And then you're going to enter the Ihram there.

What is Prohibited in Ihram?

Now what is prohibited in Ihram? 9 things. 9 things are prohibited in Ihram. We'll go over them one by one.

1. Cutting or Shaving the Hair

Number 1: Cutting or shaving the hair. Cutting or shaving the hair. I have to point out here that a lot of people make Islam more difficult than it is. And so, if you're going to trust me, trust me in what I say. If you're not, then go trust the person that you're going to trust for Islamic fatwas. But if you're coming here to this class, I'm assuming you're going to trust me.

Please understand that a lot of the books and a lot of the people out there, they make our religion more difficult. And it's not that difficult. I mean, I don't know how to say. I have done hajj alhamdulillah more than 10 times. I have studied these rulings inside out. And what I'm teaching you is basically the fatawa you're going to hear from those fatwa boxes and boots. This is the mainstream fatwa of those who are doing hajj every year. And they're more familiar with it.

You know when you're far away and you've never done hajj, it's easier to make things more difficult. Even as a scholar. And this is what we found many of the scholars did that they've never done hajj. And because they don't understand, they don't visualize, they might make things more difficult. Those who do hajj regularly and they understand the evidences make it a little bit easier.

So, what do I mean by all of this? What is prohibited is to intentionally pluck your hair or to trim it or to shave it. If your hair accidentally falls off, you didn't do it. Don't worry about it, right?

Also, it is not haram to comb your hair. It is not. There is no prohibition against combing. The prohibition is against shaving, plucking, trimming.

So, it is understood, especially when you're older and you're years such as myself these days, when you comb your hair, something's gonna fall. That didn't happen ten years ago with me. Now it is happening. This does not constitute plucking the hair because your intention was to comb. And it is permitted for men and for women to comb. I said it is permitted. It's not encouraged, but it is allowed. There's no penalty.

If when you comb your hair some hair falls off, similarly, there's no penalty if you wake up and your pillow has some hair falling off. You didn't do it. It's nothing at all. If you intentionally did it, this is where you need to pay the fidya.

So, we'll get to the fidya. Number one we said: Shaving, trimming, cutting the hair.

2. Cutting the Nails

Number two: Cutting the nails. Once again, intentionally cutting the nails. If - and this happens to me all the time - your nail scrapes against something and it bends, right? Because you're in the state of ihram for a week. Your nails are gonna grow. If they're gonna grow, it's gonna chip away.

Again, if you have - if it's even if it's chipped away and it's painful to you or it's awkward, you may break the chip without breaking the whole nail, right? Do you understand this point? Little bit of nail. You didn't intend to break the nail. There is no fidya. This is your hands grazed against something, cement or something. It happens all the time, right?

Or you pick something up. You have big nails and it cracked. You didn't intentionally crack or break the nail. No fidya on you.

What is not allowed: If you take the nail clippers or your teeth - or you know some people bite their nails - or whatever. That would not be allowed. And again, this is intentional. Unintentional - everything that is done unintentionally is forgiven anyway.

"- unintentional is unintentional. So even if you were just trimming, you know, or pulling your beard like this, or pulling your hair - some people have a habit, you know, of doing this - and then you realize: "Oh! A hair came out." You didn't intend to do that, right? And therefore this is forgiven.

Of course you should be conscious, but it's forgiven. There is no fidya on you. So number two we said: Trimming the nails.

Psychology Behind These Prohibitions

Number three. Now by the way, I need to explain to the psychology: Why does Allah tell men and women - this is for both men and women so far - to not trim their nails and their hair? To remind them that there is a greater goal. That they shouldn't be worried about vanity, looking pretty and looking beautiful. That there is a bigger goal.

That you know, at times of distress - imagine somebody whose loved one has died. Do you think they're gonna be worried about grooming themselves and trimming their, you know? It's something big happening, right?

So Allah is telling you: "This is your qiyamah now," right? "This is - imagine qiyamah day," right? "Imagine you have something. You should have bigger things on your mind than making sure you're looking all pretty and vain, glorious, and looking at the window, mirror, looking at, you know, looking at your image. No, there's bigger things to worry about."

So Allah wants us intentionally to feel that we have bigger things to worry about. And so He's made these things prohibited without making the more bigger things such as ghusl, such as washing yourself in the bathroom. Of course you need to do that, right? So Allah has prohibited the finer things of life and not the staple items of life.

So number two is trimming the nails.

3. Covering the Hair (Men Only)

Number three: For men only, covering the hair. Now especially in the old days, covering the hair was a sign of modesty for men. It was a sign of dignity, right? Even in America, look at any black and white movie where all the men have their caps on. And to remove the hair covering was a sign of humility. Free men did not have their hair uncovered. Only slaves did.

And this is by the way even in Islamic lands. Free men didn't have this. This is culture. In our times, everybody - myself, all of you, all of us - have our hair uncovered. This is culture.

So the purpose here was to signify your servitude to Allah. That nobody had their hair uncovered except a slave. In Hajj, all of us are Allah's slaves. So we were all supposed to have their hair uncovered.

And therefore to cover the hair with a connected garment such as a cap, such as a ball cap, such as a turban - this is something that is not allowed.

However, to have shade and shelter - the Prophet (peace be upon him), Bilal would cover him with the sun with his own Ihram, right? And the Prophet (peace be upon him) sat under a tree. So there is one group, different firqah, they believe that you cannot have any covering between you and Allah. So their buses are all - they have no covering on the buses. Their tents have nothing on top. This is that firqah. This is not sunnism. This is the other firqah.

For us, we can sit in shade. The Prophet (peace be upon him) sat in shade. You can cover yourself with a umbrella. You can cover yourself with the sun, with something that's not connected. But you cannot have a connected covering on the head.

Question: You had a question with this. When you're sleeping, the pen has been lifted from you. You don't intentionally put it on you. But if you're sleeping and you just put it on and you're asleep and you wake up, when you wake up you take it off. You didn't intentionally put it on you.

4. Wearing Stitched Garments (Men Only)

Number four. And this is also for men only. And this is the biggest confusion amongst men. It says you're not supposed to wear unsewn or you're supposed to wear unsewn or unstitched garments, right? This is for men.

When the sun has lost the heat, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would literally go into the sun out of the shade. Don't do it at three o'clock. Do it at six seven o'clock. Whenever it's maghrib. Twenty minutes before. So around six o'clock these days would be the Prophet (peace be upon him) would go out into the sun and raise his hands up to Allah Azzawajal directly. And hands all the way up making dua. And you'll see a lot of people doing this in your group as well. That's the time to do it, right? towards the end.

You're not allowed to leave Arafat before maghrib. And you cannot because the gates are closed anyway. So it's not even an issue. Even if you try to, the police would stop you. You're not allowed to leave Arafat before maghrib.

After maghrib, the gates open up. For most of you, you're gonna be sitting in your cars for three, four, five, six hours because there's gonna be traffic jams, right? And this is very frustrating. But that's what you gotta do. The gates are open, but you are five miles behind the gates, right? And the buses are all stacked up and lined up for five, six, seven miles.

Sometimes I have even waited until eleven o'clock before the bus moves. And maghrib is at six thirty, right? So for four hours, five hours, you're sitting in that smog. And that's the worst. One of the worst parts of hajj really is that time because it's just so much all the buses and all the people. Bathroom is a problem. This is a problem. It's just chaotic at that time, right? And this is a part of the hajj experience.

I wouldn't advise you to walk it at that point in time unless you're a group of young men. Then it's permissible or it's good. Otherwise it's just not the time you wanna walk it. Do it the next day, which I'll tell you.

Muzdalifah (Night of 9th-10th)

From Arafat, you will go to Muzdalifah. Muzdalifah. Muzdalifah is an open plain. There are no tents. There's no hotel unless you're a guest of the king. You have a palace up on the mountain. Otherwise you're all in the open.

Muzdalifah is the most disorienting time of hajj. The most chaotic. It's only six hours because you'll get there eleven twelve o'clock. Maybe even one two o'clock. That's really rare. Usually you'll get there by eleven o'clock, right?

What is there? Wherever the bus is able to find parking, that's where it is. Where do you sleep? Wherever your bus has parked, you just sleep right outside over there. That's the most difficult time of hajj. And bathrooms are the worst. Let me get to the bathrooms in a while. But (اللَّهُمَّ اسْتَعِنْ - Allahumma esta'an). That is the most difficult time.

Practical Advice for Muzdalifah

Some practical advice before I forget: This is the time when the bulk of the hujjaj who are going to get lost get lost. If it's destined for you to get lost, ninety percent, ninety percent of the time it will be on this night. Why? Because you wake up and you see three million people sleeping out in the open, right? And you see in the distance perhaps half a mile away the bathroom. So you go. You're like khalas, straight line from me to the bathroom. Okay, sure, it's a straight line.

When you get out after two hours, when you get out, you look and the whole world looks the same. Looks the same to you completely. And you're like, hold on, I remember so. So this is the most difficult time, right?

You need to be very careful about where you're going from. Look at your signs. Look at your bearings. Everything. Use your common sense. Mountains, you know, poles, bridges, whatever you see. Make sure every while you're walking to the bathroom, look behind you and look. Look at the area. See when I come back, what am I gonna see? Make sure you look at it. Alright?

Another problem is you might be using a bus as your guidepost. This red colored bus. You come out, there is no red colored bus because it's left. Don't use buses. Okay? Use permanent structures. Okay? Use something that you can see. And it is very problematic.

Definitely there's no question. Long lines 40-50 minutes is common for the bathroom. And that's why we'll come to practical advice: Eat little. Eat little. It's gonna be easier for you in every sense, right?

Of course drink. You have to drink. Hydration is very essential.

Collecting Stones

In Muzdalifah, there's a common myth that you have to get the stones. This is a myth. You can get the stones from anywhere. However, it's convenient to get them from Muzdalifah because Muzdalifah is a stony area. But you know I get them usually on the 8th day when I'm in Mina. That's when I get them. Get that out of the way.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not tell us where to get the stones from. We don't even know where he got them from. We don't know where he got them from. So this is a common myth that you should get them from Muzdalifah. No. You can get them from your backyard in Memphis and go with them if you want. Not a problem.

As I said, my I've done Alhamdulillah more than 10 Hajj. My methodology was to get them on the 8th day of Dhul Hijjah in Mina because that would get one thing out of the way. So I wouldn't have to worry about it.

And the point of advice: Have a nice pouch for the stones, right? Plastic bag or some type of pouch. You don't have to buy a fancy leather pouch, but if you wanted, then go ahead. Buy a fancy leather pouch. But

have something to put the stones in, right?

How many stones do you need? Do the math. On the 10th, you're gonna need 7. On the 11th and 12th and 13th, you'll need 21 each. So 21 times 3 is 63. Plus 7. 70. Okay? So have these 70 stones and then add 10 for just in case. Just in case you drop one or something like this. But around 70 or so you're going to need.

Now the Prophet (peace be upon him) told us in an authentic hadith: When Anas came back to him with some nice big Mashallah heavy stones, he said: "No, this is too big." He said: "Anas, something like a chickpea." You all know a chickpea. The tip of your finger. Something like this. He said: "And do not go to extremes in your religion."

This hadith is about the size of stones. So the size of the stone should be small. It's symbolic. Now don't go to extremes. You examine every stone. You put your finger on it. Look. Just you have a rough idea, right? Something that's the size of the tip of your finger. That's all. Keep it like that. Don't get some heavy stones because that's not the purpose.

So you get these small stones anywhere you want to get them in Muzalifah. You can get them in Muzalifah, but there's no reason to do that. And believe me, you really don't want to be spending an hour compiling stones in Muzalifah. Yes, 90% of the hijaj are doing that. You can get on to other things. Ok?

So you'll spend the night in Muzalifah. You wake up and you pray Fajr in Muzalifah. And then you go to Mina.

Walking from Muzdalifah to Mina

Here is where if you're fit and up for it, I would in fact encourage you to walk it. Why? It's not that much of a walk. An hour. And when I say young and healthy, I mean women do it all the time. It's just a matter if you can walk for an hour at a regular pace. That's fine. You know, you'll get there before most of the crowd. It's nice and healthy. Fresh air. And it's just, you know, the smog and the hectic traffic. You'll just get out of it, right?

Now when you get to Mina, point of advice I forgot to mention: Please, please make a note. Memorize where your tents are in Mina. On the 8th of Dhul Hijjah, memorize where the tents are because you're gonna come back to the same tents on the 10th. So memorize it.

And how do you memorize it? Very simple. Alhamdulillah, all the tents are numbered. All the tents are numbered. And it's rows and columns. So it's very easy. And if you don't know, you ask. There are lots of Boy Scouts, lots of guides there. You say: "Where is number 3-109?" And they'll say: "Oh 3-109 is that way." And you'll keep on saying. You look up and you find numbers everywhere. Okay?

And once you get to 3-109, you'll remember where your tent was. And that's gonna be your tent. So when you walk back, you know where your tent is. And if you look around, you'll even find big maps in Arabic, but you all read numbers in Arabic. And it'll say where you are. You know, you are here. Big arrow. And then you see 3-109 where it is. And you go find it. Not a problem. Okay?

Question: Can you leave Muzdalifah before Fajr?

Answer: Can you leave Muzdalifah before Fajr? If you are a elderly or a woman or sick, then yes you may. And if you're young and healthy, then you should not.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed Umm Salama - Umm Salama was not sick. She was just getting on in years. She's not even old. She's the Prophet's wife (peace be upon him), right? He allowed Umm Salama to leave Muzdalifah after midnight. And he allowed Ibn Abbas, who was a young boy, to accompany the women because he was with the women.

So it is permitted without any Fidya, without any problem, for the elderly. So if you have a parent with you and you're taking care of the parent, leave early, right? If you have a your wife who's pregnant, let's say, right? Then leave early.

Otherwise if you're young and healthy - so Aisha didn't do that. Umm Salama did, right? The other wives didn't do that. One of them only. Out of all the Prophet's wives, only Umm Salama. Why? Because she was the slowest in walking and she was the one little bit elderly. Not again, she wasn't old. She's not like in the corner of a wheelchair. But she wants to avoid the crowd.

So even the slightest excuse, if you have a slight fever, go ahead. Not a problem. From this we derive: Even the slightest legitimate excuse, you may leave before Fajr after midnight. So you spend some time in Muzdalifah and then you move on to Mina.

What we're getting there now. So now this is on the 9th. And the 9th of the 9th, remaining in Muzdalifah for some period is wajib. You must remain there. If you don't, you have to pay a penalty. And the penalty is the kaffarah, the sacrifice of another animal.

The 10th of Dhul Hijjah - Four Acts

Now on the 10th, on the 10th, there are four things that are typically done. When you do two of the four things, you are out of what we call the minor ihram. And when you do all four, then you are out of the major ihram, right?

What's the difference between minor and major ihram? When you're out of minor ihram, then you may do everything other than marital intimacy. So you may resume your clothes, irregular clothes, perfume, trimming. All of this is permitted. The only thing that is not allowed is intimacy. And then when you do all four, then everything becomes halal.

So what are the four things that are done on the 10th? The order of the Prophet was as follows, but this order is not wajib. You may do it in any order.

The Prophet would:

1. Stone the Jamratul Kubra, the major, what they call the big shaitan. Number Jamratul Kubra.
2. Sacrifice
3. Trim or shave - He shaved (peace be upon him)
4. Tawaf

Once again: You do the stoning of only the one on that day. You only do one. The large one, right? Number two is the sacrifice. Number three is the shaving. And number four is the tawaf.

Now nobody in our times does the sacrifice himself. You just buy the voucher and the coupon. So you don't have to worry about that. You assume your sacrifice is done.

Therefore, if the sacrifice is done, that leaves three things. Therefore when you do one of the three, you are out of - you are out of minor Ihraam, right?

Now on this day, you are going to hear lots of different fatawa. You trust me, this is what I say: Two of the four. Some people say one of the four. Some people say three of the four. This is an ikhtilaf. Is it one of the four, two of the four, or three of the four, right?

In my humble opinion, you do two of the four. And this is what the majority say. In this, the scholar that I'm also following. Everybody, the majority say two of the four.

So in our case, once you do the jamrah, right? Then you are out of Ihraam because you can consider that your sacrifice has been done.

However, it makes more sense to have your hair shaved before you go back because then you take a nice shower. Just logistically speaking, right? Simple logistics. Your hair is going to be shaved. You are going to be feeling dirty. There is going to be some nicks and bruises and cuts. And that's going to pain. Don't worry. It looks - it looks worse than it feels. Okay? Don't worry about it. And mashallah, everybody becomes a barber on that day. That's the problem. But everybody becomes a barber on that day.

But after the after the the the stoning, you will find lots of people there. Please note: Ninety percent of them are trimming. You don't want them. You want those who are shaving. Ninety if not ninety five percent are using clippers, right? Shears like they use on sheep. It's the same thing. And when they use it on you, that's a little bit painful. Not very painful. But what happens is they are not shaving. They are trimming. And so you have half an inch or something of a hair left on your head.

Question about Sa'i

Question: When you're doing sahih and you go to and you stand there and you say, you do that three times. Three times. And in between them you make your own dua.

Answer: No, no. So there's a dua that is mentioned in sahih Bukhari and others. And you should look it up and memorize it. But this is sunnah, if you don't do it, it's not going to affect the hajj. But you should do this. There's a dua that the Prophet would make facing the Kaaba on Safa and on Marwah. And so you say this dua and then in between he would make his own dua. Then he would say the dua again. He would make that dua. Then he would make a dua of his own: "Oh Allah give me the good of this world and the next." And then he would say the dua three times.

So that's three times a specific dua. And in between the three there are two gaps. And in these gaps you make your own personal duas. You do that at Safa, at Marwah, Safa, Marwah, Safa. And then when you get to Marwah for the 7th, you just walk away because you don't do the dua when you finish at Marwah. Which is why I said theory is one thing and practice is another. However you do it is fine. Yes?

Question about Sa'i Completion

Question: Life is more important than than this. No, you don't even do anything because you've done - you've done them seven times. The dua is done before you begin, not when you end. You understand me? Think about it. From the Kaaba you're gonna go to Safa, right? And when you're at Safa you make your first dua. Then you start walking number one. Then you get there, dua number two. Number three, four, five, six. When you start your 7th, you make the dua. When you finish the 7th, you're done. What is the ritual when you finish the 7th? Cutting the hair. You don't make the dua at the 7th. Ok, yes?

Question about Entering Ihram

Question: You're worried about this issue. I'm telling you, you shouldn't be worried about it. It's not gonna happen. Especially because you're so worried about it, then you'll remember to do it until you landed in Jeddah. No, even if you said it right before landing, you're fine.

But nonetheless, if you forget to enter because mashallah you want to be perfect, I would say you should hire a cab and go to the Miqat. Drive 30 minutes distance, not that difficult. It's gonna cost you 20-30 bucks. Not a big deal. You tell the driver you want to go outside the closest Miqat. So he'll drive there and then you enter Miqat and you come back in. This is gonna be the best for you.

If you're with the package and you don't know how you're gonna get there, this and that, in this case you need to pay the penalty of entering the Ihram after the Miqat. And the penalty is another sacrifice which is 200-300 dollars. You pay the penalty, the sacrifice. Okay, yes?

Question about Habis

Question: No, no, no. Because in Habis. An-e-Habis, that's when you're outside of Miqat and you don't know if you're gonna get to Miqat, right? Once you're in Miqat, I mean you are there. So it would not be in accordance with the Sunnah. But if you were to make the condition, then you are scot-free.

Question about Missing Tawaf al-Wada'a

Question: If you miss Tawaful Wada' but you have done Tawaful Ifadah, if you are a woman whose monthly cycle has started and the bus coming from Mina was excruciatingly late, they said there is no time for you to finish Tawaful Wada', you missed. So if you miss it but you've done Ifadah, then your Arkan have been done. But you should pay a Fidya, a sacrifice, a Hadi for that because that is a Wajib that has been left.

But it is excused for women in their monthly cycle. It's excused, they don't have to pay the Fidya. But in your case, this is not - no it's not excused. So you should pay a Hadi for that.

Few more minutes left. So realistically when you make Tawaful Wada', it's not in your control. And the driver will tell you for example: "Be ready at 4 o'clock for the Tawaf. Finish right." And you'll probably finish because you are a young man. You'll probably finish by 2.30 because he is going to time it according to the most elderly person in the group, correct? So you're going to start with everybody else and you should, you don't want to delay it because you don't know what's going to happen. And you're going to finish by 2.30. You're like: "well now what do I do?" You're going to go and sit. You're going to get a Shawarma to eat. You're going to get a drink because it's beyond your control.

The point being: You should not delay it except for a reason beyond your control. So you should try to have your bags as much packed as possible and have it ready to go. And then do it the latest possible. In the real world, it's not in your control. So you do what you can as much as in your control. And inshallah Allah will forgive the rest. And have the full intention. So you should have your bags packed, everything down. But when you do come back, you're going to have probably 3 hours to kill. But that's not in your control. You didn't intend that. And by the way, he's going to say 4 o'clock, it'll end up being 6 o'clock. This is the way hajj is. It's very frustrating. Very painful. Yes?

Question about Shopping

Question: See the point is doing shopping, luxury shopping indicates that you knew you'd have time to spend after Tawaful Wada. It's not Tawaful Wada. And therefore the only shopping that is permitted without any Karaha is the shopping that you need for the journey. You need to buy water. You need to buy drinks. You need to buy food to eat on the way. You cannot buy food and walk into the haram. So this you just buy the provisions to go. Not a problem.

But to go shopping for souvenirs, it shows that this Wada is not Wada in your mind. So this is the problem. Yes?

Question: Or if it's beyond your control, you just said they're doing dhikr waiting. But Allah knows you've done your job. Okay. Yes?

Question about Visiting Friends

Question: No. You visit your friends, then you do Wada. What is the meaning of Wada? Goodbye, right? literally that's what Wada means. And the purpose of Wada is you say your farewell to the Kaaba, to the house of Allah. So the meaning of Wada, the last thing that you do is the Wada. That's what it's supposed to be. Yes?

Question about Shaving Hair in Ihram

Question: Yes, this is one particular Madhab. There is no reason at all to prevent somebody to shave your hair if he's in the state of Ihram. This is being strict for no reason. It is allowed for him to shave your hair even if he cannot shave his hair. Because you're the one getting out of Ihram. There is no problem in him shaving your hair. Yes?

Question: Or else there's going to be the issue who's going to be the first to trim the hair, right? The chicken or the egg? People make religion more difficult than it needs to be. There is no such prohibition whatsoever. This is one of those. Yes?

Question about Forty Prayers in Medina

Question: Not a problem. Final question going once. So there's a weak Tradition, in fact very weak tradition that says that whoever prays forty prayers in my Masjid with Takbirat-e-Ihram, my Shafa'ah will be wajib for him. It's not an authentic tradition. At the same time, what's wrong with it? If you want to pray forty prayers there, then Alhamdulillah. It is not a requirement of Hajj at all. It's not a requirement of Hajj. And therefore if you do it, it's good because you're praying forty prayers in Medina. Alhamdulillah, extra reward. If you don't, then there's no problem at all in doing that. It's not even Sunnah in my opinion. The Hadith is so weak that it doesn't even - even if it was slightly weak we say okay khalas bismillah. But the Hadith is close to being fabricated.

Nonetheless, what's wrong with praying eight days straight in the Haram? Nothing's wrong with that. So not a problem. Insha'Allah.

Final Advice

With this insha'Allah, if there's any questions that you guys have before you guys leave, email me or see me in the Masjid, not a problem. But my advice to you is: Choose your religious authority when you're on your way there and then stick with him. Do not ask multiple people. Hajj is very complicated. And the more people you ask, you're going to get ten different fatwas, you're going to get confused. And Allah knows you're trying your best. You go to the Shaykh you trust, you ask his opinion. End of story, don't ask twenty times. Because it's not the time to learn fiqh during Hajj, right?

Then I forgot to mention some practical advice. Obviously spiritual advice is you should already know this. Ikhlas. Always have dua, dhikr. Do this for the sake of Allah. Intend to return a different man or a different woman. This is the main point of Hajj. You come back a different person. If you resume the same lifestyle, then you haven't done Hajj properly. That's the whole point. Hajj means to be a changing point in your life, to come back a different person.

If you're not praying five times a day, you need to start praying. If you're praying five times, you start praying the sunnah. If you're praying the sunnah, start praying the nafl. Extra Quran, extra - there's got to be that commitment: I'm going to be a better person. That's the whole point of Hajj.

The spiritual stuff aside, practical stuff:

1. Always have money in you. With you, all the time. Always have cash. Reasonable amount, at least a hundred riyals. You don't need that much.
2. Always know where you are. Wherever you are, take a bearing, see where your bus is. Memorize it.
3. Do not leave the group unless you have to. It is always best to stick with the group. Always be with your group unless you have to. The only time I tell you to go ahead and do that is from Muzdalifah to Mina on the morning of the 10th. It's actually easier to leave the group and meet up with your group in your tent because you know where your tents are. It's the only time where if you're young and mashallah you have an hour to walk, go ahead.

Also by the way, if you are up to it, the best Hajj I ever did was the walking Hajj. It's wallahi an enjoyment of its own because when you're walking, you're away from the smog and the traffic and you're with the human experience, right? So if you're able to be brave about it, when do you do the walking Hajj?

The Walking Hajj Experience

Basically from Arafat on the 9th. Arafat to Muzdalifah is a long walk. Two and a half hours. That's the long walk. Arafat to Muzdalifah is two and a half. Muzdalifah to Mina, hour, hour and a half. Very easy, not a big deal.

So if you want to do that stretch, believe me you will enjoy it much more because the walking Hajj - as soon as the sun sets, you put your backpack, your water is with you. Always have water. Drink plenty of water. Do not get dehydrated. You have your backpack with you. Food is everywhere. There's people with shawarma, falafel, ice cream. Excellent, you have beautiful memories. No smog. That's the best part of the walking Hajj because there's a special road for the walking pilgrims. No traffic, no buses.

To me the worst thing of Hajj: Number one, the bathrooms. Number two, the smog. I cannot stand the smog of those buses. It used to get me nauseous and sick. I hated it. If you have to, as I said, you wear it and you give the Fidya. But the mask doesn't protect you fully. You still get the smog. Which is why my best Hajj was the walking Hajj.

On the day of Arafat, you just have the backpack. You're ready, you're up for it, you're enthused. Yalla, Bismillah. You start walking. You're never going to get lost because everybody's heading in one direction. You're not going to get lost that day. So you walk, when you get to Muzdalifah, you're all alone, you don't have to worry about the bus. You find your place, you have your sleeping bag. You have your sleeping bag with you. You have your inflatable pillow. You have your water canister. Khalas, Bismillah. You have a light dinner packed. You have your dinner, you go to sleep. You wake up and you work your way to Muzdalifah to Mina, excuse me. And that's really beautiful.

If you can't do that, at least do the Muzdalifah to Mina walking. If you're able to, and if not then yalla, Bismillah. Stick with the group.

Even between Arafat and Muzdalifah, believe me, you're not going to regret it if you're able to walk an hour, an hour and a half. You're not going to regret it. From Muzdalifah to Mina, there's a huge walkway. Shaded, there's no sun. You have no problems. Water everywhere. As I said, you even get ice cream. Not a problem, it's a nice experience. You see I like ice cream a lot. Nice experience, not a problem inshallah. Even if you're in a Haram, you can eat flavoured ice cream. Yes, not a problem. Alhamdulillah.

And of course the final point: Please remember all of us, especially your teachers who have taught you about Hajj, the Muslim Ummah. Please remember them on the day of Arafah. It's the day when Dua is accepted. Have extra sincere Dua for everybody. And inshallah may Allah accept your Hajj. And may Allah allow us as well to do plenty of Hajj's in our lifetimes.

"May Allah reward you with good, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you."

All Arabic text has been verified and corrected. References have been added where appropriate. The structure and formatting have been improved for better readability while preserving the complete original content.