 As-Salaamu Alaykum viewers of Imam Hussain TV often programs transmitted from Imam Hussain TV naturally spell out the discourses of the spread of Islam, Duwaz, Ziyarat, teachings of the Holy Affil Bait al-Him, Islam, Islam in a capitalist, social, plurist form, however all of these actions can more or less be discussed and also performed at almost any time, at any place, however there is one action which is also compulsory, i.e. wajib, that has to be performed at a specific time, a specific place and in a specific land. It is of course Hajj, tonight's program will be looking at the social ideals, the political ideology of Hajj and also the legalities of it. With me tonight, we have Dr. Sayyid Ahmad Naqshrani, As-Salaamu Alaykum Wa-Alaykum As-Salaam Wa-Alaykum As-Salaam Wa-Rahmatullah. Thank you for joining us again. My pleasure. Thank you. Again, it's a great honor to be here and it's a topic that I think a number of viewers have been looking forward to listen to and watch, a unique program because it's obviously talking and hopefully going to be looking at Hajj which is only going to be performed at a certain time. We've got a lot of material here to cover tonight, inshallah. So the first one I'd like to cover, the first point, essentially, is with regards to the political aspects. Let's view how the family, Oresh, inherited from the great Nabi Ibrahim al-Islam and then became the custodians of the holy cover. What exactly happened? Yes, the Arabs had immense respect for the period of Hajj. It was actually a period of great festivity and one may argue that until today there isn't much difference. It's quite festive periods. If you look at many of us when we had gone to Hajj, there'll be the times where we're performing our Amal, for example, going to the mosque, reciting your prayers, but also you wouldn't mind as well going to, you know, for a bit of shopping or you don't mind going to the odd American burger joint that may be in Mecca or in Medina. And I think at that time you'll find that the merry-making and the festivities took place over a 40-day period. The Quraish's honor before the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon his family, before one may argue before the announcement of his prophethood, is seen in the fact that they are the ones where everybody from the followers of Abraham flocks to in order to honor that wonderful site behind us. If you find that over that 40-day period the people would come from far and wide and some of the actions that we perform today are actions that they used to perform as well. So for example, the Tawaf around the Ka'ba is the Tawaf that they used to perform as well in the days of Jahiliyyah. The pre-Islamic Arabian community used to also… Why is that so? Well, once again it's an honor firstly that this is God's house. There are many images of God in that house but this is God's house and this is an honor of Prophet Abraham who built God's house and we are the descendants of Abraham. The custodians of the Ka'ba as we know was Abd al-Muttalib, the great renowned personality of the religion of Islam, the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family. And Abd al-Muttalib is the one who looks after the Ka'ba and another of the famous personalities who has a role in the period of Hajj and is respected highly is Khwaelid the father of Khadija. Okay. Yes. Khwaelid really means Khalid. Right. So if you hear the name Jawabr it means Jabr and if you hear the name Khwaelid it means Khalid. I see. And what you have there is you have a renowned personality. They would look after these people when they would come towards the period of Hajj. They'd look after their camels. They'd give them water. But sadly what began to happen upon the onset of the religion of Islam was that they had forgotten the morals and the spiritual aspects of Hajj. Any act of worship can either be an act of oscillating tongue movement. Can either be an act of moving your feet or moving your knees. Or it can be an act where your heart is very much involved in the act. For example when it comes to prayer there are those who pray but their prayer is thrown back at them on the day of judgment but keep this prayer. What was that prayer? Right. Your heart was not in this prayer. The Prophet would always tell the people, first, pray like you saw me pray. And then secondly, pray as if it's your last prayer. Meaning that the heart should be involved. Talk to Allah. Open up. Likewise with the Hajj it could be a case where the Arabs are going around the Ka'bah but gossiping. Yes. The Arabs could be going around the Ka'bah checking his phone. No Tasbih. Just checking on the WhatsApp messages and Tawaf. Let me check what's going on here. Okay, let me delete this message. Okay, let me move on to that message. Now it's not Haram for a person, for example, to be checking their WhatsApp messages. But when you're around that very structure that is seen as the axis where all energy is guided towards, then you'd want to feel a bit of that. You'd want to be in a state of introspection or a state of reflection. So what was happening sadly was they begun to forget the favors Allah bestowed upon them by having that Ka'bah in their midst, number one. By having Ibrahim, and Ismail, and Hajar, number two, all being involved in the building of that Ka'bah. Number three, by even seeing how Allah protects that house when the companions of the elephant who came to attack the house of God, Surat Al-Feeil, they came to attack the house of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala showed the Quraish. Until then, even after the Surah after that, what came? This Lord is the one who honored you Arabs. You weren't even worth honoring, really. As in what? It was a barbaric group of people, at that time, maybe even till now, but a barbaric group of people, and even Fatima Al-Zahra, alaihi salam, alludes to this in her famous khotba. The famous khotba, known as al-Fadakia, the khotba al-Fadakia, she makes it clear to them that you guys were on the edge of, you know, on the pits of hell. My father who came and saved you, really, because these people were now doing tawaf naked. Today, when we circumambulate around the Ka'bah, we'll wear the most humble piece of clothing, for example. We'll wear a piece of clothing. That's a piece of clothing that reminds us of the shroud that we're going to rise with on the day of judgement. These people started going around the Ka'bah naked. Now you've got gossiping going on, got nudity. Look at the message, the pristine message of Abraham. What happened to it? You've got idols being worshipped and being bowed down to. You've got people not just bowing to an idol. There were some people who would get, you know, saffron, saffron. Our Iranian viewers will know it, because the Iranians absolutely loved saffron. Yeah, they used it in their cooking and so on. Used it in their cooking, gives that lovely taste. Some of the Arabs would go and put saffron next to the idol. Some of them would go and put milk next to the idol. Ibrahim broke the idols of his time, and now the children of Abraham, or the descendants of Abraham in some cases, were now encouraging the building of those idols and the mounting of those idols in the Hajj period. So what you had was, in the lead up to the announcement of the religion of Islam, Hajj was still an institution. People respected the Ka'bah, saffron, marwa. People would respect those areas of Arafah and Mina and Muzdalifah, but the spiritual essence had gone, and their acts had become polluted. So in today's modern era, naturally, the custodianship is in the hands of the Saudi government. But really, realistically, and I'm sure the viewers would be interested to know this, who does it actually belong to? Well you know, the king has the honourable title of being known as Khadim al-Haramain al-Shalafain. He's the custodian and the servant of the two holy shrines, Mecca and Medina. Reality is that we're still getting visas to go there. So on the one hand, those who are saying that, you know what, it's in the hands of the worst and the most oppressive and so on, yes, there are political differences for sure. But if I come from a particular country where I can see that there are visas being given for me to go, then I could go there. I can perform the rituals of Hajj. No one's going to stop me, not to say there haven't been skirmishes, not to say there hasn't been obscenities, not to say there hasn't been arrogance shown by the custodians of that era, of that area. But I think it's important for us as well that we can either stress on this that these people who are in charge are the ones who follow the Wahhabi ideology, of course they don't like to be called Wahhabi, they believe there's no such thing. Okay, you follow the Salafi ideology, however, there are people from different countries who are followers of Ahl al-Bayt who are welcome to come and perform the Hajj. So I think us going too far into always condemning the Wahhabis and the Saudis and so on, I think that there are certain areas where we definitely needed to condemn, there are certain acts of oppression, no doubt Jannah al-Baqiyyah, and the way that that was destroyed will continue to speak about that forever. I think at the same time there's no need for us to cause these skirmishes and troubles when we're going there on Hajj. And you've touched at some length in terms of what some of these people as it will maybe tribes used to enact, you know, going around the Qabah, stuck for a while, naked gossiping, placing idols as it were in the Holy Qabah, but was also the Holy Qabah hijacked? Well the Qabah has been through a number of attacks, that's for sure. Now we know it's absurd to respect a person who orders his soldiers to attack the Qabah. And we also know that in the period of Hajj you're not even meant to kill a mosquito if it comes in. Yes, that's right. Because when you're going to be going to Hajj very soon, you're going to find those moments where you've got this mosquito which may be coming up your shoulder and you feel that it's about to bite you. And you're in that state of sanctity. So therefore you wouldn't. We reached a stage where Yazid, son of Muawiyah, was ordering governors to kill Imam al-Hussein and the grandson of the Prophet by the Qabah. Even if he's hanging by the Qabah, you'll behead him. Then to add insult to injury, Yazid actually orders his governors to attack the Qabah, to attack the house of Allah SWT. So the Qabah, while in the days of Jahiliyyah, it was attacked by a form of idol worship which was seen as a pollution and a sin in Islam, I think those days of Jahiliyyah came back with Abu Sufyan and his children. And if you can just confirm, or maybe there may be some narrations around this, the Holy Prophet, how many times did he perform Hajj? Was it just once? And if it was just once, why Habibullah al-Mustafa, peace be upon him, and the Holy Ahlul Bayt and the name of Islam, why was it not performed more numerous times, or was it performed in secret? Yeah, no, the Holy Prophet only performs Hajj once. And the reason he performs Hajj once is because the political situation at that time, because you've got to remember he's living where? He was living in Medina. Medina, yes. For him to be able to go and perform Hajj, he would have to be either on the best of terms with the Quraish at that time, or it would have had to have reached a stage where there was a peace treaty, or it would have to reach a stage where he'd have to overpower the Quraish to be able to comfortably be in charge of Mecca or Medina. Now we know that for the first six years of his period, while he was in Medina, that first six year period is very clear that he was living in Medina and he could not go and do Hajj. So that means 18 years one may argue of his prophethood, he was not able to perform Hajj. First 13 years in Mecca, not able to perform Hajj, the ordinance of Hajj has not come down yet, then the last 10 years in Medina, even if he wants to go back to Mecca, he's finding it difficult. Now that's when the famous Hodebiya peace treaty came in, because with the Hodebiya peace treaty what you had was the Holy Prophet trying to open some sort of inroad into Mecca, where there is now possibly a chance that the Quraish are going to allow him and his companions to come to Mecca, even if it's just for a few days. So we don't want to come for the whole Hajj period. We just want to come for a few days, will you allow us? And their reply was okay, come for a few days, and that's it. Now they were able to do Umrah. So the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family does a couple of Umrahs, but then when he manages to overcome the Quraishi elite after they've broken the Hodebiya peace treaty, and he's able to went back Mecca, that's when he finally is able to perform the Hajj in peace. So therefore there was only one Hajj, you know sometimes you hear people saying the farewell pilgrimage. Yes, that's right. That was the only pilgrimage, but it was the farewell pilgrimage because he dies a couple of months later. Later. Yes, so it's only one Hajj, but SubhanAllah in that one Hajj he sets the basis of our understanding of the verses related to Hajj. Now in terms of the legalities of performing Hajj, where are the rulings derived from? Well like we have in many cases when we're coming to any legislation where either going to, mainly we're going to be looking at the Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon his family and looking at the way that they had performed Hajj. The Quran will give us the basis that one of Allah's rights over us is Hajj. Therefore in the roots of the religion of Islam, you know the pillars we have let's say when we talk about the principles of religion, normally they add up to five. But then we also talk about the Furo'ah of the religion. When we talk about the Furo'ah of the religion, you will see Salat is wajib. Aqeemu Salat. Yes. There's a clear command to perform Salat. Aatu al-Zakat. There's a clear command to give charity. Wa'amur bil-ma'roof. Wa'nha'an al-monka. Al-Jihad. Al-Khums. Al-Khums. Al-Tawalli. Tabari. Yes. Likewise, amongst the areas which isn't being made wajib for us is the act of Hajj. Walillahi. Al-Nas. Hajj al-Bait. Man istata'a ilayhi sabila. The first way we understood the laws of Hajj is from the Quran. That Allah has a right over all of us and that is that we come and visit him and what a wonderful, what a wonderful right it is. You know what? I get invited to many places. I'm honoured that I get invited to many places. But to be invited to the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and I think sometimes there's a lot of people out there when they're not going to Hajj or they make excuses for not going to Hajj. Yeah, sure. The philosophy of realising, number one, that when Allah says, I've got a right over you, meaning I've given you a lot in life, come visit me sometimes. Exactly. Exactly. Is there a better dinner invite than the banquet of the angels and the prophets of Allah? And do you think this is now going to probably cause some discussion here, but do you think there should be some reformation in terms of the rulings? I mean, for example, if we're looking to answer to some, without any names mentioned or anything like that, secular Muslims or people who may think that I just go about, I'm a good person, you know, I don't give harm to anyone, but should there be some sort of ease or slack or should there be some sort of reformation in regards to Hajj? It's ritual, it's wajib actions, is it too rigid? What would you have to say about that? Let's first understand where we got the laws from. So when we've got the laws, we've got the Qur'an providing us with the laws of Hajj, that's clear. Then we have the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his family. Either I'm going to take all the laws from that one Hajj or I'm going to also see the issues that came up in Hajj in the lives of the Ahlul Bayt, alayhi ma'salaam, because we know the Ahlul Bayt performed Hajj by foot some cases 20, 25 times. Yes. You know the likes of Imam al-Hassan, alayhi salam, these people were performing Hajj on a regular basis. So when we're looking for the laws, how do I do Tawaf? Within which precincts do I do Tawaf? How long do I, for example, stay in Arafa? And then when I go to Muzdalifah, what happens if I reach Minna before Fajr, or after Fajr, and how long do I stay in? All of these laws we got from the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt, alayhi ma'salaam, and that's why when the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family says, I leave behind for you two weighty things, hold on to them. You will never go astray. And this, ironically, this Hadith al-Qalain is mentioned at Khum, Sahih Muslim narrates, which stopped at Khum after Hajj, because some people are always trying to make this thing that, well, the Prophet's final sermon was at Hajj. No, it wasn't. In Sahih Muslim narrations there, the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family stops at Khum, and he says that I leave behind for you two weighty things, hold on to them, you will not go astray. Not the Quran and Sunnah, it's not Sahih Muslim, it's not Quran and Sunnah, Quran and the Ahlul Bayt, alayhi ma'salaam. What I see in the Quran, does the Quran give me all the laws of Hajj, no way? The Quran is made up of six and a half thousand verses. I defy anyone to show me, at max, max 700 verses in the Quran, which are legal, max. Okay. Most people will show you 500 verses of the Quran, which are known as Ayat al-Ahkam, the legal verses. You will not find more than 700. Right. 700 being a max. Okay. Generally, people will say 500. Therefore, where do I get my understanding of the laws of Hajj from? I get my understanding of the laws of Hajj of the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family. Did all the cases come up in that one Hajj of the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family? Did every single case come up that there is now an increase in the size of the Muslim community and there are people flocking from far and wide? Where exactly is the Miqat for these people? Where is the Miqat for those people? Where do these people, for example, what do they do if they're Muslim for this time? Mina for this time? Which supplications? Even mustahabbat, the mustahabbat in the period of Hajj. I learned them from Ahlul Bayt, alayhi ma'salaam. Now, we recognize that when the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family done Hajj, that number of people with him in Hajj is considerably different to the three million or two are at Hajj in the next few weeks. Yeah. Let's say, okay, if we say at a maximum at that time we say we're reaching six figures, let's say at Hajj. If that, now we're reaching three million. When we're reaching three million, are there certain reforms, like you said, that need to take place? And these reforms, are they reforms that we conclude external to the texts of the Quran and Sunnah or within? Okay. What I mean by that is, say, for example, there's a principle, Islamic law should not occasion any harm. Islamic law should not occasion any harm. There's something I used to see at Hajj regularly. When we're doing tawar, we know that in Shia law, the main opinion was always that when you're doing tawar, you have to stay within the Ka'ba and Maqam Ibrahim, do you agree? That's right. In between. So what you used to always see, I would always say the strongest people I always saw at Hajj was the Indonesian groups. Don't let Haidt deceive you. Even if the Indonesian is four-foot-three, he's stronger than the Nigerian seven-foot-seven. The Indonesians, when they're together, they're something else. Number two, then I'd see the group of the Shia, especially the ones where there's two men protecting 40 women. Two men protecting 40 women. And those two men suddenly become Superman and give me another of these characters. Which one? Superman and Batman. They come around protecting these women. Woman by themselves are stronger than any man. You put two men protecting them, you'll start hearing the screams. When they start doing that, why? Because they want to ensure that their group of women do not leave that area between Maqam Ibrahim and Ka'ba. Now, when we're doing that, aren't we elbowing some people in doing that? Undoubtedly. I got elbowed by one person in Hajj. He elbowed me an elbow. I remember until today, and ironically from the same medhab as me, and he elbowed me an elbow, and I'll never forget until today that the reason he did it was because I was being pushed, so when I pushed into him and his married woman who are all with him, he's got angry with me. Habibi, what do you want me to do? I've just had someone just push me. There's not four of us, there's many of us. Now, we're all causing harm to each other, aren't we? And especially with this ruling, it's causing harm. So what does Ayatollah see standing concrete? Now what do other marajah in some cases conclude that a person may go outside of Maqam Ibrahim, that period with that area between Maqam Ibrahim and the Ka'ba? You may go outside that if it's going to cause harm. Okay, right. I don't believe any school in Islam, I don't believe any school in Islam's gates of Ijtihad closed. I know that there are certain people who will say the Hanafi gate or the Shafi'i or the Malik or the Hanbali gates closed. I don't believe, I believe that all those madhhab, there was always renowned personalities who made sure that the doors of Ijtihad in each madhhab remained open. Now, while I may differ in terms of Ijtihad and the presence of a ma'asum, what you find in the school of Ahl al-Wayt is the door of Ijtihad in this area isn't me using something outside of my texts, I'm using a principle, a hadith which is saying that Islamic law should not occasion harm. If I'm seeing that this Islamic law is occasioning harm, then the marjah hasn't remained quiet on this issue. The marjah looked at the issue, and this is one of a number of issues by the way. I believe that there are other areas of the Hajj, even when it comes to where you're sacrificing and how that goes to the poor, but is that area particularly the area of the poor, should we be so restrictive? And there's other areas about covering your head from the sun, where the rulings were open for reform in the cases of the marjah. So those people who are saying, you know what, the way we're doing it, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon his family, did not do it that way in the sense that, you know, the Prophet Muhammad would have appreciated that things have changed, yes, there are scholars who have also shown reform or reconsideration of their opinions on the basis of time and place. Yeah, sure. Okay. You touched on the point of, you know, the Holy Prophet talking about the farewell Hajj, as it were, and then the Ghadir, afterwards. Muslims often follow social inclinations, when in a group, okay? And sometimes there is a political stance, and sometimes follow just actions based on what they've been informed of. So essentially, how should we educate fellow Muslims? I mean, should they be gearing up to take some sort of focus on a political stance? And I don't mean in terms of showing respect or unity, as it were, standing, all dressed in the aham, the white cloth, the shroud, as it were. Should there be another form to, for Muslims to actually take on when they go on Hajj? It's a, it's an interesting question. I believe that when we're going there, we have to try as much as possible to represent our Medheb in the best of ways. Right. When you get to Jannah al-Baqiyyah, insha'Allah, you're going to, insha'Allah, be standing by, well, you're not exactly going to be standing so close because now they've pushed us further and further away. But you're going to be not too far from Imam al-Hassan and Imam Zayn al-Habideen and Imam al-Baqir and Imam al-Sadaq, alaihi wa s-salam. Now you're going to have four, five characters who are going to stand there. One speaks Urdu, fluent. Right. One speaks Arabic, fluent. One speaks Farsi, fluent. Okay. One speaks English, fluent. They will antagonize you from every angle that you showing respect to these people. Firstly, I'll say to you, we don't know who's buried there, grandsons of Muhammad. Secondly, they might turn around to you and say, why do you even care about them? They're dead now. Say salam and move on. Right. Now you've got a couple of options. One option is, you know what, let me start debating here. Another option, you've found some, they were antagonized by this, it kicked off. Okay. They've got others, you know what, go to the side. Thank Allah, for allowing you to visit the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, his family, pray for your dearly departed souls, no need for anyone to make a scene. Likewise, there are many who believe that while they are there in Hajj, they should be putting certain slogans up. Oh, I see. Slogans, for example, if there's a political situation in the world, down with so-and-so, down with so-and-so, down with so-and-so. The basis of that is that they say, well, Hajj is nothing unless there's a political aspect. But you don't have to raise awareness by causing chaos. You can raise awareness by sitting with your respective group, like you mentioned, as social human beings. Sit with them. And while you're sitting with your respective group, you discuss your affairs. Believe you me, Hajj Muhammad. When you're there, you're going to be seeing Muslims worldwide. You're going to be seeing African Muslims, Asian Muslims, European Muslims, American Muslims, Australian Muslims, Middle Eastern Muslims. Sit with them, learn from them, talk to them, see what their issues are, understand what difficulties they're facing, understand what help they need. A person having a political vision does not always have to result in a punch-up or a fight or a war of words. The country which you're visiting has made it clear who they idolize. They're not hiding behind anything anymore. They make it clear that we idolize, so-and-so. And if you, for example, believe that that's not right, there are many different platforms to show this. It doesn't have to be only there. I believe that we've lost a lot of blood because of insisting on antagonizing each other. And you could tell there are sensitivities already. And I would just hope one day we can all go to Hajj without there being a situation of I'm right, you're wrong, you're burning in hell, and I'm going to heaven. But you go there and reflect on your life. Let everybody else reflect on their lives. There are certain Shi'a who go to Hajj who've never, ever in their life met anyone from the Salafi background. There are certain Sunnis who go to Hajj who've never met a Shi'a in their life. I guarantee you. Yes. I guarantee you. There are certain members of Ahlu Sunnah from West Africa or from the Far East. They've never, ever met a Shi'a in their life. There are some people from Bangladesh have never met a Shi'a in their life. Now you want to go there, what do you want to do? You want to leave a good impression, leave a good impression. Yes. It doesn't always have to be I'm here, anyone who disagrees with me, I'm going to fight, I'm going to raise a slogan because I'm going to even let me make clear. There are those who go to Hajj and want to make a show, Allahumma kulli waliyyika al-Hajjad and they want to recite the dua loudly and they want to say, Ya Muhammad, ya Ali, ya Fatima, ya Hassan said, Habibi, there's no need to antagonize. Now I know you're passionate about the Imam and I know that your God's gift on earth in terms of your knowledge and love of the Imam and I know that you love Imam Amir al-Mu'minin so much that your lifestyle is befitting and a mirror of his lifestyle, but don't push it in people's faces. Yeah, yeah, just going back to this point, for example, say most people I'd like to think have been invited by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to Hajj, what would you recommend to people who are traveling to Hajj and also, you know, just the viewers in terms of what spiritual conditioning or exercises should they be actually implementing upon arriving there? Just go and enjoy it. Go and enjoy it. I've seen people who've gone to Hajj and these people who've gone to Hajj become too pedantic. Okay. I accidentally looked in the mirror, will I burn in hell? I accidentally had a hair fall out, will I be scolded by an angel? Just chill out, bro. Right. Chill out. You know, when you go to someone's house when you're invited, there's two types of people we go to. The ones where there's too many formalities and you're happy to be there, but you're not as comfortable. And then you've got that best friend, the one who you love going to their house because you could just chill in their house. And when I say chill, I mean try and build that friendship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Okay, okay. Go and enjoy. Spit sincere. Be real. Be real. You know, there's too many people out there. You know what? I need to go on six Hajj courses before I go to Hajj. Buddy, what is this? Okay. Where are you going to a war zone? Yes, respect the laws that have been given. I don't want people going there, stale acts of worshipers, but rather you want people going there who are constantly in reflection as a period of accounting themselves. Okay. Where am I heading? Right. I see. My heart is a heart of purity or is my Haram pure? There are many who'll tell you, I actually just spilled coke on my Haram. Am I going to die in the day of judgment or something? You know, and you look at them and you're just like, Buddy, forget about that cloth and its purity. Think about the purity of your heart. Yeah, of course. Are you someone who's envious of everyone? Are you someone who tries to put people down all the time? Arrogant? Okay. Alhamdulillah, I'll say that. Viewers will be going for a short break. Please do join us again. I'm very sure. It's a live show on Imam Hussein TV. I do strongly recommend viewers to actually call in. The telephone number is 0203 51501 999. Say, Assalamu alaikum. So if we just quickly resume back to before the break, we were talking about how one should really behave, being real, sincere, and you gave a couple of good examples of just being really true and honest to yourself. If we can just maybe just recap quickly on that. Yeah, I just believe that many people who go on Hajj are more concerned with fulfilling the legal aspects. And I believe that they come back thinking, mmm, that didn't really change me much. Or I didn't really feel it. I'm being very real about this as someone who's led, you know, maybe five, six Hajj groups in my life and Allah has blessed me, Alhamdulillah, for this. There was a time where people would come and literally panic, there'd be a state of panic. I don't know if that panic is because they are in awe of their Lord or the panic is, I've just spent this much money, I've had to do this properly. Tell me what the laws are, I need to get home and say that I did everything properly. Nervous. Yeah, and nervous. And sometimes this was, sometimes people in my job are the ones who make you nervous, honestly. Because sometimes we may be the ones when we're giving the lecture, for example, or we're doing the course, if you do this, this happens. If you do this, kafara, kafara, kafara, expiation, there's no, now these are all important laws. I can't, you know, I'm not denying that. But we want people who go there where they see that the Qalb has truly under taken taqallum. That the heart truly has rotated, has been moved. Ultimately, I don't want someone who comes back as a legal expert of Hajj, that if you are at Mina this time and you're at Mosdalifah, no, no, no. When you were at Mosdalifah under that dark sky, at that moment, did you feel equal with everybody? That all of you are looking for a place where there's pebbles on the ground? Did you feel equal? When you went to Mina, at that moment, shaitan, who may have been your friend for a period of time, have you now come to a conclusion that all these acts which he used to invite you towards or certain acts or attributes you still have, you're gonna now get rid of? So what we're saying is in that famous conversation Imam Zayn al-Abdina has with Shibli, and later works on Hajj have sought to emphasize a more spiritual aspect. Let me give you an example. The Imam says around the Ka'ba, there are 120 mercies of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. 60 of them are for the people who are doing Taw'a. So those who are in Taw'a, and what a wonderful feeling. You, oh creation, are constantly moving whereas I remain firm, the one, the only. True. We're constantly struggling, but there remains a constant in the middle. That is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. The laws of Allah, principles of Allah remain. We may differ, deviate, but Allah remain. What you find is 60 out of the 120 are for those in Taw'a. Okay. So how much is left, my dear brother Muhammad? You're in the world of finance. 60 is left. Yes, 60 is left. 40 are for those who are performing Salah. Salah. 100,000 times multiplied when you pray in Masjid al-Haram. Yes, the sacred mosque. The prayers are multiplied. How much? 60 plus 40, 100. What's left? 20. 20 is for those who just sit and look at the Ka'ba. We'll come back to this point just in terms of gazing at the holy Ka'ba and what the blessings are of that. I think there's a phone caller. Salamu alaykum. Wa alaykum as-salam. Yes, brother. Your question please. I wanted to ask what are the rules regarding praying behind a non-Shia Jama'a leader who was there to do differently? Yes, that's it. Okay, thank you. Yes, we will face this when we go to Hajj that the prayer leader, maybe someone for example of the Hambali Matahab. Yes, good question. There's nothing wrong in praying behind them. And we have instructions from the Imams of Ahlul Bayt al-Alimu Salam to join the prayers of our brethren. We can pray behind them. But you would pray in Forada, for example. You would say the words yourself. You follow the actions, but you say the words yourself. As you know, there are some differences that exist in terms of not the order of Salam but rather the wordings that are there. But otherwise there is no harm in praying behind. And in some cases, for example, someone might say, I might pray behind them. I've already prayed the prayer. I might pray this one Qadha, for example. I may have certain Qadha prayers which I can make up in this prayer. Right, we'll talk about some of the places of visitation whilst on Hajj. But before we do, let's just go back to... Looking at the Kaaba. Looking at the Gazing at the Kaaba and also the benefits of Kaaba following immediately on, perhaps. You see, when I'm looking at the Kaaba, I'm taking a snapshot with a camera whose pixels. No camera on this earth is able to capture imagery like that. And that is the soul of the human being, Subhanallah. The soul of the human can capture that image and you take it with you everywhere. As well at that moment, we know that there's a part, a piece of Jannah in front of us. That black stone. We know very well that this is the center of the creation of Allah, the house of Allah on the earth. There is a direct link with the house and the heavens. You've moved from the physical to the metaphysical. You're now in the world of the seen and the unseen. So you don't just interject, sorry. We've got another caller now. We'll come back again to this point. Salaamu Alaikum. Salaamu Alaikum. Alaikum, Salaam, Alaikum, Salaam, yes. Yes, so my name is Zain, I'm calling from London. The same mention that, Alhamdulillah, that he has been blessed to go to Hajj five or six times. And inshaAllah Allah blesses him more to go these four times. But there are many people who are unfortunate enough not to be able to go to Hajj every year. And some aren't evens during their lifetimes. And you see, like for example, in Nigeria, they've actually made a ka'bah to emulate that ka'bah, the original one. Is that permissible? Is it not? Does the state have advice for people, for people? You know, I wish things were that easy where we can, for example, make a nice ka'bah in like Mayfair or something tomorrow and you know, and then go shave our heads, get a couple of sheep, sacrifice them, and Bob's your uncle. But sadly it's not that easy, you know, and I know that there are certain people out there who wish it could be that easy. And I pray for those people, you know, Hajj is of course obligatory on the ones who can afford to go to Hajj. Who aren't going to spend money which is going to keep their family in trouble, who haven't taken money from people who want their money back. Because sometimes someone might say, I want to go to Hajj but I have a loan. If you have a loan that's based on an agreement with someone, there's no harm. They know that you're going to pay it over a period of time. But if you're using someone's money and that person's not giving you permission once they're money back, then there's issues. So Hajj becomes obligatory, as the Qur'an said, wa lillahi ala al-naas, Hajj al-bayt man istata'a ilayhi sabila. The istata'a must be there. But make sure that if you are able to go to Hajj, then you must go to Hajj. There is no, I can afford Hajj but I don't want to go because that means when I come back, I'm going to have to be religious. I don't want to be religious because I want to chill for about 14.6 years and then I want to go to Hajj. Because there are people who have this. Of course. There are people who... That's right. And you know, sometimes I do wonder to myself, how could you be so arrogant with your Lord? You know, your Lord said that you come home and you're making excuses and then your Hajj becomes the Hajj of Qadha because you were able to afford and you didn't go to Hajj and becomes a Hajj which is Qadha and you don't want to go to Hajj in that state. You want to go the moment you can afford and I must admit that yes, the prices these days aren't easy. Right. But then you asked me about the benefits of Hajj. When the imams tell you whatever issue you have, Hajj will clear it. Don't worry. And those who are in a state of poverty do not worry, you'll be looked after. That is one incentive. But I wouldn't take that as the be-all and end-all. I'm going to be honouring Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's guidance to me and the message of the great prophets of God. What else do I want? Alhamdulillah. Say that we've got another call. As-salamu alaikum. As-salamu alaikum. Hello, as-salamu alaikum. Alaykum as-salam. Yes, your question please. Not relating. I don't know if there's any chance you could please be kind enough to explain to me the philosophy of Istighara and how it works and how it's sort of connected through Ahl al-Bayt, please. Okay, sure. Istighara is, of course, when a person invokes the Lord for guidance. In some cases by the use of the Qur'an, in some cases by the use of a sebha or a tasbih. This is something that was taught by the Ahl al-Bayt to their family members and therefore is an act which is no doubt recommended. Okay. But there are a couple of pointers that some of our grand scholars will teach us all the time. Number one, before you take Istighara, make sure you enter consultation and seek advice on an issue. Right. You know, there's someone who may, for example, say that I want to buy this house and they tell him, listen, go ask the agents. Is it worth going for this house at that money or not? Yeah. He's like, no, no, I just want to do Istighara. Yeah, but ask the agents. Maybe the agents will tell you that in that area at the moment, it's not beneficial for you to buy at that price because it's going to plummet. Okay. No, I want to do an Istighara. Normally, the seeking of advice before taking that Istighara is something which we are taught. Further than that, there has to be also an understanding that don't mess about with the Istighara. There are some people. Take an Istighara on another Istighara and so and so. Yeah, there are some people who, say, you come and propose for their daughter and you've got one of those really difficult father-in-laws to be. First time, Istighara comes out good, he's like, no, I'm taking another one. Yeah, but buddy, if you're going to ask Allah to help guide you, even though some scholars say it's makroh to do Istighara for marriage, but let's say, if you're looking for Allah's guidance, he's told you this person's good. No, I want to take Istighara. Second Istighara, good, no. Third Istighara, good, no. How long do we have left before he got to an Istighara, which came out bad? Then he's like, I told you it's bad. Yes, you told us it's bad after six good Istigharas. Thirdly, just because an Istighara comes out good, don't expect that that automatically means everything's going to be rosy. Right. And the guy who you could have taken Istighara may have lost connection on the Wi-Fi that day with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, meaning that it's not as respected as you thought. And also number two, what you see as good, may not be what Allah sees as good. You take an Istighara, I want to marry someone. Comes out good, you end up divorced with them, but you say Istighara came out good, or maybe you have to go through that for you to find your path. We'll come back to the subject of Hajj very shortly, but just one point I just wanted to ask. Could you just briefly mention a difference between Istighara and Istighara? That's exactly what I said at the beginning. Istighara, meaning Istighara is when you're seeking to consult, you know you've got a surah in the Quran called Shura, which is surah number? I do. 42, well done. Poets. Excellent. Muhammad Moza, well done. No, that's Shura. Okay, okay. Shura, surah 42, consultation. Consultation, okay. And that surah encourages the Muslim community that, for example, try and consult each other. Okay. Yes, there's certain areas I won't let you consult. I pick my prophets on earth. You guys aren't consulting. You don't choose who the prophets are, but there's other areas you consult. So, Istighara, before Istighara. Yep. Okay, As-Salaamu Alaikum. We have another call online. As-Salaamu Alaikum. Alaikum, As-Salaamu Alaikum. As-Salaam. Well, in school and in places of work, we, the Sunnis, asked this question that when it came to the prophets about Hajj, why didn't he announce Imam Ali in the Hajj? And why did he have Fribu Taghadeel to announce the Imam Ali's leadership of the Hajj? Thank you very much. Sure, it's a very good question. First and foremost, Imam Ali bin Abi Talib was being spoken of as the Khalif of the Prophet was already something that was spoken of years before Hajj. Yes, yes. And one example is Dawat Al-Ashira. In Dawat Al-Ashira, we have a clear example. A great dinner as it were, yeah. Yeah, Muslims from the beginning knew that if you put food in a program, people will turn up. Of course. That's right. If there's food, everyone will turn up. So the Quran said, And you know the story. He invites everybody, whoever accepts me as the Prophet, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him says, will be my Wassi and my Khalifa after me. And everybody knows Ali, son of Abu Talib, was the only one. From that young age, the Prophet said this is the Khalifa and the Wassi after me. Likewise, other occasions, where Allah, Subhanu Wa Ta'ala, gives him positions higher than anyone around him. And who said it has to be in Hajj? Yeah. What is that? A law that we have to make announcements that Hajj, otherwise everybody is gonna be misguided, then why does the Prophet stop at Khom? I asked this question. Sahih Muslim, go and look it up. I ask all the viewers. Okay. Go and look up. Type the word Khom, K-H-U, double M in English. And when you do type it up, you will see the farewell pilgrimage. No, at Khom he stopped. Allah, Subhanu Wa Ta'ala, decides when he wants which message to be delivered on which occasion. Right. Allah, Subhanu Wa Ta'ala, knows best why after Hajj make the Prophet stop at Khom. And someone could easily turn around and say, that's okay, he stopped at Khom, maybe for a rest. Why they need for more pronouncements and more guidance? Yeah. I leave behind for you two weighty things. The book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt. Of course, someone always come and say, no, he's saying to us, I leave behind for you the Quran, but try and maintain a relationship or look after my Ahlul Bayt. Buddy, he said I leave two weighty things. I don't care if it's maintained, look after it, it's two weighty things. They are thakalain. He stopped at Khom. No Muslim alive can deny the tawatur of what happened at Ghadir. The authenticity. Nobody can deny it brings us a certainty. That's on that day. Man kuntu maula fa'adah aliyum maula Allahumma wali man wala wa adi man adah. No one can deny that there was an announcement regarding Ali, son of Abu Talib, not before Hajj, just in case there was a problem before Hajj, after Hajj at Khom. Right, right. Imam alayhi salam, there was an announcement concerning him. Now naturally, if you tell someone, man kuntu maula fa'adah aliyum maula, the word maula, naturally they could turn around and say listen, is there a qareena, is there a context to this? Okay. And we know al-qara'in, those who studied al-soul al-fiqh will know. You have a qareena muttasala, and a qareena munfasala. Okay. You can have a qareena in the same hadith, like a context that gives you the meaning of that word. Because say for example, if you have a word which has many meanings, I need to see, has the context been placed so I know how it's used? So for example, if I say, there's a lion coming towards us. You'd assume that's the animal, the lion. If I say, and he was a lion on the football pitch. The context is that he was a warrior on that pitch, correct? That is brave. Like someone like Steven Gerrard, for example. He was phenomenal, like a lion on the football pitch. Or Fernando Torres in his prime, or Luis Suarez, or, you know, or Jamie Carragher. These are lions. You obviously will not tell which team I support. Now, likewise with what happened at Ghadir, there's a qareena. And that qareena before man kuntu moula, fada'ali moula, was that the prophet made sure he showed us the word moula. In which qareena? Surah 33 verse six. An nabi'u aula bil mu'mineena min anfusikum. Aula. The prophet has a greater right on authority than the believers has all over you, all the believers have over themselves. The word moula, therefore, is in the qareena of what? Aula. Correct? Yes. An nabi'u aula bil mu'mineena, alas tu aula bikum min anfusikum. Don't I have a greater right on authority than you do over yourself? They said, yes. Men kuntu moula. Yes. Men kuntu moula, what is happening here? For men kuntu moula, it is showing us that the word moula is in relation to authority. So therefore that person who comes and tells me, was Ali ibn Abi Talib spoken of as Khalifa before Ghadir? Yes. Was Ali ibn Abi Talib chosen on the day of Ghadir? No Muslim on earth can deny that an announcement was made. Yes, they may differ on the word moula. But I look at the qareena and whether you want to look at a qareena from the angle of Mutasala or Munfasala, you'll still find that chapter 33 verse number six acts as a guide for us. Okay, Alhamdulillah. Thank you for that deep insight. We've got one question that's come through an anonymous question. As a woman, when do we interwaaf in Umrah or Hajj? There was a fear of being molested. So you may not be able to focus on the tawaf because it is very common apparently. What is Sayyidina's opinion? Well, even as a man, there's a fear of being molested. You know, we've been on tawaf and you sometimes wonder about the behavior of some people. But naturally we want to look after our sisters. Yeah, sure. We want to protect them, but you know, don't just think about this. You're next to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala and insha'Allah it never happens to you. And if it does happen, then you'll find that even in the time of the Ahlul Bayt, there were people who were sick in their heads like that and all we can do is ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala to try and protect us as much as possible. You know, if a person's gonna do that next to the Ka'bah, then this is the lowest of individuals. Try not to think about this too much and hopefully it doesn't affect you. Okay, let's revert back to the main area of tonight's program, Hajj. In particular, there's various stages on Magamat as it were, perhaps traveling, visitation or actions that one has to perform whilst on Hajj. So for example, the stony of the trinity of the idols and minna, Arafah, what is the significance of these? Well, Hajj is Arafah. Let me be very blunt about this. These are the words and the guidance of the Ahlul Bayt, Hajj is Arafah. Why so? It's the most wonderful moment, I think, in the world of worship and Islam. What I find so amazing is the connection of Arafah, to what Imam was saying and why Arafah. Before you even get there, what's amazing is that all I have to do is I've got to stay for a few hours on the planes of Arafah from Zohar until Maghrib, not do anything, no du'a, no phala, nothing, in the sense of nothing which is not obligatory, and God forgives every single synapse in it, just for sitting there. And they tell me that my Lord wants to send people to hell? A Lord who I have disobeyed so much, a Lord who I feel I've let down so much, and then he tells me, come see me at Arafah, between Zohar and Maghrib. And if you doubt that I've forgiven you, then your Hajj is incomplete. If you doubt, because there are some people, when they get there, they're like, you know what a sin I did when I was 16? You know what a sin I performed when I was 21? You know what a bad act I did when I was, Allah's saying to you, don't worry. I don't care how big it was. If you've come to see me, I am Rahman, Rahim, Ghafoor, Karim, Wadu, Jawal, Ghani. I'm your Mola, and that's what's so beautiful about Arafah. Really, you'll sit there, and like you mentioned quite wonderfully, we the followers of Ahlul Bayt, we Shi'at Al-Muhammad, nobody comes near us and du'a. No. Nobody comes near us. If you ever want to know how to be confident as a Shi'a, theology, other schools share theological texts. Faith, other schools have their own legal ordinances. Ethics, other schools have ethical treaties. No one's got our supplications. No one can write a du'a like du'a Arafah of Imam Hussain. And you know what the sadness is? Many of our people probably don't read it. In the sense, apart from that one day at Hajj, if you ask them, have you ever since that day? Don't have to only have to read it. Hajj, really don't when you're sitting at home. Instead of sometimes wasting your time watching rubbish. Well, you know, there are some who just, they can sit for hours on these. What do they call these games? Cameraman, Habibi, what do they call these games? The ones that people play on the mobile phone all day. Nintendo, Sega. What's it called? Candy Crush? And what's the other famous one? Fortnite. Fortnite. There are people who will stay playing these games non-stop and won't reflect on the heritage of Ahlul Bayt. I'm just even for 10, 15 minutes. How sad. Wallah, du'a Arafah of Imam Hussain is beautiful. Du'a Arafah of Imam Zayn al-Abideen is wonderful. And many people read du'a Arafah of Imam Hussain. I asked them always, try and read du'a Arafah of Imam Zayn al-Abideen as well. These imams, when they'd be at Arafah, it's sobbing. Because they could not believe just how merciful this Lord is. That you may have sinned and transgressed against him all these years. And that's what we need to inculcate in our mosques as well. I'm not denying that you need Majalists talking about hell and so on. But you don't make that every single lecture. Try and talk about God's mercy. God loves us. God opens the doors of forgiveness. God wants all of us to know that there is guidance available for all. Yeah, sure, sure. We've got a caller coming in on the line. And also two questions also via WhatsApp. And just a few minutes left now. So, salamu alaykum. Alaykum salam. Alaykum salam. Yes, your question please. Why is it like visiting Ka'balah to Imam Hussain? And why is that residency all more times than the reward of doing Hajj? Interesting question about my dear sister, but that doesn't relate to the Wajj of Hajj. That relates to the Mustahab Hajj. The Wajj of Hajj, nothing can compare to it. Right. In the sense that it's obligatory on you. When then you've done that Wajj of Hajj, you've done your obligatory. After that, there is nothing like the Ziyara of Imam Hussain, alayhi salam. You know, the Imams would blatantly say to people who've gone on 19 Hajj, then they'll say, do one more. It will equal one Ziyara of Imam Hussain. So why do you Hajj? No, you can't be saying, I'm going Ziyara all the time. I don't need to do Hajj because I heard the Hajj, the Ziyara is great. No, the Ziyara is maybe greater than the Hajj, which is Mustahab. But the first Wajj of Hajj, nothing comes nearer. Okay, okay. And please advise if one has performed one Hajj, can he go on another Hajj? Or is it incumbent on him to pay for someone who has not been able to afford to go? That's a good question. Well, you know what? You can go on another Hajj. You know, I can appreciate that there are people out there, for example, who feel that that first Hajj they went on. They either need a recharge of the battery or they feel they didn't understand it the way they understand it or their religiosity has increased since last time. So I can understand if someone wants to go on a second Hajj. It doesn't have to be a case of, well, you are being on one, that means I'm going to send someone else. Mashallah, if you do send someone else to your credit, that's amazing. Yes. But I can understand if someone wants to do a second Hajj to continue improving and working on themselves. Okay. I mean, Alhamdulillah, I've been... But let's not just... Sorry, I'm going to interrupt you. Let's also make clear that don't make Hajj this get-out for you that I'll do sins next year as well, because I know I'm going Hajj anyway. It's like the ones who donate to charity, there are two types. There's the one who gives to charity because he sincerely wants to help the creations of Allah. There's another who gives to charity because that's so much haram. But that year, he's like, you know what, I need to donate to almost urgently. Otherwise, everything that I've done is going to catch up with me. Likewise with Hajj, don't make it a case of, you know what, I need to go to Hajj because I've done so much haram. Then come back from Hajj. I'll do that haram again because I know I'm going to Hajj at the end of the year. Don't have that mentality. Right, right. I mean, Alhamdulillah, I've been invited to go on Hajj. What advice would you give myself and also potential hujjad who are being invited to Hajj? What would you say? In terms of, obviously, in addition to enjoying it and being real and seeing, what would you say to first-timers? I'd say that, you know, try and build your relationship with Allah SWT and with the Ahlul Bayt. Imam Sadaf says, you're being told to come and visit these stones and rocks and then after that to submit to us, Al-Muhammad. So try and build your relationship with them. Make a Hajj resolution. This is what I'm going to do when I return. Maybe I've realized my Qur'an recital is not as good as it could be. My understanding of Qur'an is lacking. Okay. You know, maybe build on these areas. And especially when you go, try and remember the Imam of your time, how much of a relationship you have with him and how much you can improve. Okay, just one final question now. We've got hardly two minutes left. Very, very briefly, how do you think or does the sacrifice of the animal while it's on Hajj that, inshallah, we've been told that washes away our sins. It's a relief as it was. How does that correlate to the great waka of Karbala? But if you can possibly, is there a connection, is there a connection? I think, you know, I think the poet says it beautifully. Right. When he's standing in Karbala on the day of Arafah and he looks towards the people who are at Hajj, all you who are about to drink Zamzam, my tears for Hussain make the real Zamzam. And all you who are about to sacrifice a sheep come to me in the land of sacrifice. And truly, you know, Abraham's sacrifice was his son, Allah replaced it. Whereas with Imam Hussain, he had to witness those sons die one by one. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so now from Dr. Syed Ahmad Al-Shawani. So I want to comment for myself, Muhammad Ali also and inshallah viewers who have been invited to Hajj. I wish you Mubarak as well. And inshallah, join us again next time.