 As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Bismillahir rahmanir raheem wa as-salatu wa as-salamu ala Sayyidina wa Habibina wa Shafi'ina wa ta'idina Sayyidina Muhammad insallallahu alaihi wa sallam Ya Rabbana laka al-hamdu kama yambadi l-jalal il-wajihika wa hazimi sultanika Allahumma ya ar-Rahmanir raheemin Iftah alayna futuh al-a'arifin Allimna mayan fauna wa nfaana rima'an lam tana ya Allah We mentioned earlier that in these theories we will talk about the 10 outer actions that would draw us closer to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and would get us more prepared for the day when we will leave this dunya to meet Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala The outer action that we're going to talk about today is performing Hajj Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says Buni al-Islamu ala khums Shahadati alla ilaha illa Allah Wa anna Muhammadan abduhum wa rasuluh Wa iqan bi salati wa ita izzakaati Wa hadjil bayti wa saumi Ramadhan The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says and fasting the month of Ramadhan So we'll concentrate on performing Hajj today Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in surat al-Aliya Umran in ayah 97 said wa lilahi ala al-naasi hijjul bayti man istata'a ilayhi sabila and due to Allah from the people is pilgrimage to the house for whoever is able to find their too away We all know that undertaking the Hajj at least once is a duty from Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the journey to Mecca So what does the emphasis of financial ability mean? wa lilahi ala al-naasi hijjul bayti man istata'a ilayhi sabila whoever is able to do it So what does it mean? We said that it means physical and financial ability This is the ability that a Muslim should have in order for Hajj to be a fard for him So what is this? What does the emphasis on financial ability mean? Financial ability means to ensure that a Muslim the Muslim takes care of his family first so he should keep them he should keep his family whom he is leaving behind he should keep them well sustained so that they don't need anyone to provide for them financially when he is away It also means that he owns the needed money for him to travel to cover his expenses while traveling and to cover the expenses of the journey while he is there and also to cover the expenses of the way coming back home So all that falls under the financial ability Now there is also another requirement that a Muslim should be healthy and should be physically capable of undertaking the Hajj undertaking the pilgrimage and enduring he should be able to endure the severities of the travel You know sometimes there are problems sometimes there are hardships so he should be able to endure the severities of the travel If he cannot fulfill all these requirements then he is not obliged to perform Hajj When Muslims begin the journey to Makkah What do they do? The first thing they do they leave all worldly things behind them and they start to repeat which means here I am at your service oh my lord yallah here I am here I am no partner do you have and here I am truly the praise and the favor are yours yallah and the dominion no partner do you have So these words these are the words enchanted by some two three million people performing Hajj and it soothes the heart to say these words Subhanallah So when these words Muslims say they say you feel that these words prepare the hearts of Muslims to receive the lights during this journey Now all these people two three million sometimes more are all performing they had to step simultaneously imagine simultaneously all together at the same time all of them pray together imagine two three million people are lined up they all start their prayer at the same time when the Imam says Allahu Akbar they all make ruku'a at the same time when the Imam says Allahu Akbar they all follow the Imam very closely with each movement of the prayer and they finish their prayer at the same time they all they all do all the steps of the prayer they pray at the same time what an amazing religion Islam is imagine that there is a commander in the army and he wants to line up the soldiers two three million soldiers he needs at least 10 minutes to get them all lined up and starting to to follow the orders but it takes the Imam just to say Allahu Akbar so that all the millions all those millions start to follow Subhanallah now if we want to talk about the etiquettes of the Hajj what are the etiquettes the first thing when someone intends to perform Hajj the first thing to do is repenting to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala this is the first thing that a person does Ya Allah accept my my Tauba accept my repentance and he asks Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to help him along the the way of this journey so this is the first thing then he starts with actions so what does he do if he has any amana for anybody then he returns the people interests that he has for them so he returns the rights to people then he asks people to forgive him he calls his friends his family says I'm going to Hajj forgive me if I made any mistake towards you and he chooses a righteous companion who's going to Hajj he chooses a sheikh to be with he chooses a friend of Allah to be with and the companion while traveling is very important so this is one of the etiquettes of performing Hajj and then the money that he has should be pure should be halal completely halal Allah is righteous Allah is good he doesn't accept anything that is not good and one more thing which is very important to keep in mind is that his intention should be just for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala only for the sake of Allah he's going to perform Hajj just for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala not so that people would say oh he's a Hajji not that he combines his intention with doing some trading along the way Hajj is for the sake of Allah with no other intention and before he leaves to Hajj he should attend a gathering of knowledge just to learn about Hajj about the rules of Hajj what is halal what is haram what is sunnah what breaks the Hajj what so he should learn about Hajj while in Hajj doing Hajj he should be away away from dispute no arguments no dispute Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in surat al-Baqarah so Hajj is during well-known month so there is special time for Hajj so whoever has made Hajj obligatory upon himself and that is by entering the state of ihram there is to be for him no sexual relations husband wife no disobedience and no disputing no arguments during Hajj and of course when someone is going to Hajj he should he should have good manners and he should be he should keep in mind that there should be there might be some hardship and there might be some ease so it's it's like a dish sometimes you will have more salt in it sometimes you will have more pepper in it but at the end it should be a good dish so don't worry about what's what's there just think of that the purpose that you are going for Hajj and forget about everything all the obstacles that you might you might face during this time now there are secrets for the Hajj so what are these these secrets Sayyidna Ibrahim alaihi salam when he first built the Kaaba he called people to perform Hajj and people came and they performed Hajj later on there were some something with performing Hajj for example people started to worship idols so they put many idols in the Kaaba around the Kaaba everywhere and they used to go there to pray to these idols so there was a shift of intentions when Sayyidina Ibrahim alaihi salam built the Kaaba the intention was just for Allah SWT to worship Allah SWT then things came into into that when Sayyidna conquered Mecca the first thing he did he destroyed these idols so there are no more idols in around the Kaaba or in in the Kaaba so what what else did he do he prevented people from going around the Kaaba naked so there were some some some bad mentalities thinking how they should perform the the Hajj so Sayyidina Muhammad SAW set the rules and Allah SWT asked Sayyidina Muhammad SAW salam to call people for Hajj so now the Kaaba is clear is pure no more no more idols in the Kaaba people cannot perform Hajj naked so Allah SWT when he said in surat al-Hajj in proclaiming to the people the Hajj so they will come to you on food on food and on every lean camel so where do they come from they will come from every distance pass every distance pass all over right and left north and south they will come to perform Hajj so there are secrets now the Kaaba is purified from idols and it's just to worship Allah SWT Allah SWT has honored this his house and he combined it to his name and we say baytullah baytullah so the house of Allah that's being visited by all all people who are performing Hajj who are performing gamra they're coming from everywhere and when we see the Kaaba one of the du'as that we do Allah increase the this house to be more honor and to be more valuable so people now are coming to perform Hajj are coming to to perform the gamra they come very humbly and there all people are equal the rich or poor the old and young so millions of people from across the world from all walks of life and every corner of the world they all unite to perform the Hajj so this is reminding us that in the eyes of Allah SWT we are all equal as human beings no one is better than another and Allah SWT mentioned that in Surah al-Hujwati when he said Allah SWT is calling people oh mankind indeed we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another so indeed the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous and Allah is knowing Allah is acquainted Allah knows everything so in the eyes of Allah SWT we are all equal doesn't matter the color doesn't matter the age it doesn't matter how rich we are doesn't matter nothing matters in the eye of Allah SWT except who has righteousness in the heart this is what's important to Allah SWT so Hajj by itself creates a sense of equality among the pilgrims so the rich are identical to the poor the white to the black the king to the servant the young to the old we're all wearing the same thing wearing white towels is for the men oh men if we want to talk about the steps of Hajj so what are the steps of Hajj Hajj the first one is Ihram and Ihram has three types Ifrad, Tamattar and Qiran so what is Ifrad? Ifrad is to have the intention of Hajj but just to perform Hajj okay now what is Tamattar? Tamattar is that a person intends to have first Umrah then he breaks his Ihram and then perform Hajj do another Ihram and perform Hajj with this with this the person who is doing Atamattar should slatter okay now the third the third type of Ihram is to do it to have the intention that you are doing a Qiran Qiran means you are doing Hajj and Umrah together and in this case also there should be slaughtering so what is after we do the Nia what happens so with the Nia of Ihram some permissible actions become Haram you cannot do them anymore the one performing Hajj cannot do there's no perfume no husband wife sexual relation no stitched clothes for men no hunting so there are so many rules what to do what not to do and by itself in fact Ihram is to be away from desires and what the nafs likes to do so keeping the nafs only in a state of remembrance of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala and worshipping of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala now after Ihram we have the Tawaf and the Tawaf is going around the Ka'ba seven times starting with the black stone and saying Bismillah Allahu Akbar so when you are at the black stone you raise your left hand facing the the raising your left hand and you point at the Hajj at the black stone and you say Bismillah Allahu Akbar and this indicates the starting of the Tawaf so each going one time around the Ka'ba each Tawaf you each one time this Tawaf is going around the Ka'ba seven times so each one when you when you reach the Hajjar al-Iswad the black stone then you say you stop you point to the Hajjar al-Iswad and you say Bismillah Allahu Akbar Tawaf by itself replaces the two rakhats the sunnah when of greeting the mosque so when you come to the Ka'ba when you go to the Ka'ba you don't do two rakhats to the greeting of the mosque you do a Tawaf if you can when someone goes around the Ka'ba and starts with the black stone he always keeps in mind that these are just stones the Ka'ba the black stone these are just stones they do not harm they do not benefit and the one who is worshipped is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Sayyidina Umar radiallahu anhu so this is Sayyidina Umar see the what he thinks he says he used to kiss the black stone and he says I know you you are just a stone you don't benefit me you don't harm me and if I haven't seen Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam kissing you I wouldn't have kissed you how we finish Tawaf after finishing the Tawaf we pray two rakhats after behind the standing place of Ibrahim alayhi sallam and Allah mentioned that in surah al-Baqarah 125 when he says sallam and take from the standing place of Ibrahim a place of prayer so we do two rakhats of Tawaf after that we we go to As-Safa wa al-Marwa and we go seven times each going from Safa to Marwa is considered one Marwa to Safa two and we do that seven rounds so what's the secret of As-Safa wa al-Marwa performing this Sa'i between As-Safa wa al-Marwa reminds us that the best thing to do is to depend on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala remember the story of Sayyidina Ibrahim when he left Sayyidah Hajar and her baby he left them there he went and he visited her in a place that has no plans no nothing and he wanted to go away he wanted to leave them and his wife Hajar alayhi sallam she asked him do the order you to leave us Sayyidina Ibrahim said yes what was her answer she said then Allah will not let us down Allah will not let us down think of this complete Tawakku Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala now the Safa on Marwa is done then the ones before performing Hajj go to Arafat and Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam said al-Hajj wa Arafa al-Hajj wa Arafa al-Hajj wa Arafa so Mina Thalath so this is Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam saying the Hajj is Arafa Hajj is Arafa Hajj is Arafa so if someone misses Arafa by one minute then he missed Hajj the days of Mina are three but women adraka alayh women ta'akhra falayth ma alayh so these are rules there are rules that we have to follow there are secrets for following these rules so the day of Arafa is the day that what happens people are saved from hellfire imagine that shaitan shaitan whispers to people and on the day Arafa of Arafa Sayyidah Aisha radiallahu anha taqool so this is Sayyidah Aisha radiallahu anha saying that the messenger of Allah Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam said there is no day on which Allah sets free more slaves from hell than he does on the day of Arafa what happens to shaitan he does his best all year around to whisper to to make people deviate from the right path to to be away from Allah to do so many bad things but when they go to Hajj when they stay when they are in Arafa then Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam says so shaitan is not considered more at-based or more cast or more come contemptible or more angry he humiliated on a day then on the day of Arafa that's only because he sees the descent of the mercy of Allah's this regard of the great wrong actions he sees how Allah s.w.t sets free people from hellfire he sees that Allah s.w.t forgives people on the day of Arafa then people go to Muzdalifah until Fajr then to Mina then to throw the stones and then to do Tawaf al-ifadah and then to break the ihra by shaving or for women just cutting a little bit of their hair by staying in Mina and then Tawaf al-wadah when someone performs Hajj and reaches the step of Tawaf al-wadah he feels that his heart is now connected to the Kaaba how can he leave Tawaf al-wadah is so touching you tell your Allah I've been here I want to be always close to you so Hajj when performing Hajj you feel that you are connected to Allah s.w.t you're making dua and you know that you are sure that Allah s.w.t will accept this dua Allah will fulfill your desires Allah will fulfill your dua Allah Allah will accept your repentance Allah will accept you asking him forgiveness so when you perform Tawaf al-wadah you feel that you're going to leave your heart there performing Tawaf around the Kaaba all the time so now what is the big secret of performing Hajj what is it that we can compare Hajj to actually Hajj is almost a rehearsal of the day of judgment how okay let's take it step by step or point by point traveling reminds us that we are on a journey that our life is a journey so traveling to perform Hajj reminds us that we are on a journey towards the Akhir so when we are going to Hajj to perform Hajj we prepare ourselves we have some sustenance now that we remember that we are going on a journey to Akhir to the day of judgment to meet Allah s.w.t. this will always make us getting prepared for that day and we mentioned at the beginning of this series and oh or at the beginning of each and every class of this series that the purpose of this series is to get us closer to Allah s.w.t to get us prepared for the day when we leave this dunya so while remembering that we are on a journey to the Akhir we make sure that all our actions are pleasing to Allah s.w.t so we want to do our best just to make Allah s.w.t pleased with us so that we would be of the group about whom Allah s.w.t said so when someone always thinks of the Akhir then he rectifies everything his actions with others and he does his best so that no everyone around him is pleased with him he doesn't say anything that would hurt anybody he doesn't do anything that would make anyone upset he he just wants to be on the safe side so to reach the end safely so starting the journey to perform Hajj like any other journey someone just give salam farewell to everybody and ask them to make toha for him what does this remind us of it reminds of the last moments of a person in this dunya that he's going to leave this dunya so when he starts the journey he left then this is like death itself it's like getting out of this life so when a person reaches the miqat then he wears the white cloth that's for men he wears the white so the white towels what does this mean what does this remind us of the white shroud so when someone dies there will be buried in a white shroud and wearing the white towels resembles the leaving of this world and preparing for the journey towards the day after now now this is the white shroud now what does it tell me i'll bake alone i'll bake what does it mean what does it look like it looks like the angel holding the trumpet just to blow it so that the reckoning starts so going on the journey is compared to death and going out of this dunya now we are in maqa performing the steps the actions of hajj and we just mentioned that with each action we do there there is a secret and the more the heart is pure the more this heart can get of the lights and the secrets and always when the heart is pure then it gets more closer to Allah closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and what does it do when when you when you feel you are close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what do you do you make dua you feel that you are so close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he is listening to you and this is exactly what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in surah al-baqarah ayah 186 he said and when my servants ask you oh Muhammad concerning me indeed i am near and i respond to the invocation i respond to the dua to the supplication of people when they call me so let them respond to me let them obey me and believe in me that they may be rightly guided so whenever we are closer we feel we are close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we make dua the hajj journey when all the hajj actions are done either before people start their hajj or after they finish the steps of hajj the actions of hajj they visit the Medina so Muslims go to Medina to visit Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam you are in in the blessed Medina al Medina al Munawwara when someone goes to the Medina the first thing that they they their mind is thinking of is going into the rada the blessed rada and so they go in to visit Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for men they can stand before Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the muwajaha or they can be next to the blessed head in in the rada in the area for the woman which is open to the woman so the first thing they would do is to pray to raka'as in arroldu sharifah Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says what is between my house and my member is a garden from the gardens of paradise so what is there in the house of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the grave of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam so between the grave of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the member the the pulpit is a garden of paradise so this is what people think of the first thing they want to do is to pray in the rada and Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says also one salah performing one salah in the in this masjid of mine is better than 1000 prayers in any other masjid imagine the the reward except for the masjid al haram the reward there is higher so when you go to hajj or when you go to amra try to pray all your prayers in the haram in the masjid of rasulullah or adhikada try to make up the five prayers of a day every day you are there try to pray at least one time try to gain as much good deeds as you can as the reward there is highly multiplied while traveling while going to hajj sometimes we uh so what what should we do the for for a person performing the hajj the person that at that time he should practice patience so hajj in itself is nothing but a school and after finishing this school the winners of the students who are graduating they take their reward so hajj is a school and we ask Allah SWT to give us the opportunity to make hajj and to give us the opportunity to make amras on and on many times inshallah we ask Allah SWT to unite us with him to get us closer to him to unite us with his Habib SWT and to make us to make our children on the right path following Sayyidina Muhammad SWT so that when we meet on the day after he is pleased with us and Allah is pleased with us we can talk Allah a lot more about hajj about the secrets of hajj about the etiquettes of hajj but that's all we are going to do for today and until we meet next time inshallah we will have another outer action that would get us closer to Allah SWT and until then I send my salam and your salam to Sayyidina Muhammad SWT