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Hajj
Hajj is the pilgrimage to the Sacred House in Makkah, performed in the days of Dhu al-Hijjah. Allah says that pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to Him by every person who is able to find a way to it.
It is required once in a lifetime of every adult Muslim of sound mind who is able: with the health to travel, the means to reach Makkah and return, provision for the family left behind, and a safe route. When the Prophet ﷺ was asked whether it was every year, he said only once, and anything more is voluntary.
Its central rites include entering the sacred state of ihram, standing at 'Arafah on the ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah, the tawaf around the Ka'bah and the walk between Safa and Marwah. The standing at 'Arafah is its heart: the Prophet ﷺ said, "Hajj is 'Arafah."
Whoever performs Hajj for Allah, avoiding obscenity and sin, returns as free of sin as on the day his mother bore him, and the reward of an accepted Hajj is nothing less than Paradise.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Once a person is able, must Hajj be performed straight away, or may it be delayed?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Shafi'i.
Show each school
- Immediately (fawr)Hanafi · Maliki · Hanbali
- May be delayed (tarakhi)Shafi'i
- Hanafi
- This is the view of Abu Yusuf, also reported from Abu Hanifah and adopted in the school, while his companion Muhammad held it may be delayed provided it is done before death.
- Maliki
- The school reports both views, and immediacy is the one favoured by many of its later authorities, out of concern that the chance may be lost.
- Shafi'i
- Hajj was made obligatory before the Prophet ﷺ performed it in 10 AH, so it may be delayed, though hastening is better, and one who dies without performing it while able has sinned.
- Hanbali
- Commands are carried out at once by default, and no one knows whether health, wealth and life will remain, so delaying without excuse is a sin.
- Qur'an 3:97
- Qur'an 22:27
- Qur'an 2:197
- Sahih Muslim 1337Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud 1721 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 889 Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1521 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1773 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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