۞ وَإِذِ ٱبْتَلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ رَبُّهُۥ بِكَلِمَـٰتٍۢ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّى جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًۭا ۖ قَالَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِى ۖ قَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِى ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ ١٢٤
˹Remember˺ when Abraham was tested by his Lord with ˹certain˺ commandments, which he fulfilled. Allah said, “I will certainly make you into a role model for the people.” Abraham asked, “What about my offspring?” Allah replied, “My covenant is not extended to the wrongdoers.” [al Baqarah: 124]
The legend, Prophet Ibrahim(AS) was declared as a role model for humanity because of how we excelled in his trials. My teacher would say:
Sallama nafsahu lin neeraan
Wa waladuhu lil qurbaan
Wa ahlahu lil ijraan
Wa maalahu lid dhayfaan
He was tested in his self through the fire (remaining firm to his belief)
With his son through sacrifice
With his people through exile
And with his wealth when he looked after his guests graciously.
The value of our early days of Dhul Hijjah should be measured by what we are doing in the days after this period. If the purification was sincere, we should be better than we were before that experience.
And Prophet Ibrahim (AS) didn’t become lax on achieving this privilege, rather he asked about his coming generations. And Allah(SWT) responded to say that this honour was not carried by lineage, if those future generations did evil.
So how do we keep up the Hajj experience.
Get the reward of Hajj any time of the year
We are familiar with the Prophet (SAW) telling us that “One who comes to this House for Hajj and avoids all lewdness and sins, he returns as he was on the day his mother gave birth to him.” (Bukhari & Muslim)
But did you know you can get the reward of Hajj by doing many other deeds?
1. Performing Wudu (Ablution) at Home and Offering Fard Salah in Jamah (congregation)
The Messenger of Allah Muhammad ﷺ said: “Whoever performs ablution in his home and then goes out to perform the obligatory prayer in the mosque has a reward similar to the reward of a Hajj pilgrim. Whoever goes out to perform the (voluntary) mid-morning prayer (Duha) has a reward same as the reward of the one performing Umrah.” [Sunan Abi Dawud 558, Hasan]
2. Dhikr (remembrance of Allah (SWT) from Fajr to Sunrise and Praying Two Rak’ahs
Anas ibn Maalik (RA) narrated that The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever prays Fajr in the congregation, then sits down and engages in Dhikr (Allah’s remembrance) until the sun rises, then prays two rak’ahs, he will have the reward of one Hajj and one Umrah. Complete! Complete! Complete!” [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 586, Hasan according to al Albani]
Based on this hadith, some scholars say if women pray at home and do the same, they will get the reward too.
3. Sincere Intention of Doing Hajj
In Islam, good intentions have great virtues. If you intend to do a good deed like Hajj, then try for it at your best but can’t perform Hajj for some reason, you’ll get the reward of Hajj insha Allah. The following hadith supports it.
Ibn Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, Allah has recorded good and evil deeds and He made them clear. Whoever intends to perform a good deed but does not do it, Allah will record it as a complete good deed. If he intends to do it and does so, Allah Almighty will record it as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times as much or even more. If he intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, Allah will record for him one complete good deed. If he does it, Allah will record for him a single evil deed.” [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6491, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 131]
Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimuhullah) had a dream while he was sleeping near the Kaaba. He saw two angels descend from the sky, and start talking to each other.
One of the angels asked the other, “Do you know how many people have come for Hajj this year?”
The other angel replied, “Six hundred thousand have come for Hajj.” Abdullah bin Mubarak had also gone for Hajj that year.
The first angel asked, “How many people’s Hajj has been accepted?”
The second replied, “I wonder if anyone’s Hajj has been accepted at all.” Abdullah bin Mubarak was grieved to hear that.
Then he heard the other angel speak, “There is a cobbler in Damascus. His name is Ali bin al-Mufiq. He could not come for Hajj, but Allah has accepted his intention of Hajj. Not only will he get the reward for Hajj, but because of him, all the Hajjis will be rewarded.”
When Abdullah bin Mubarak woke up, he decided he would go to Damascus and meet that cobbler whose intention of Hajj carried such weight. On reaching Damascus, Abdullah bin Mubarak inquired about the cobbler. The town’s people directed him to a house.
When a man appeared from the house Abdullah bin Mubarak greeted him and asked his name and what he did for a living. Then the cobbler asked the stranger’s name that had come looking for him. Abdullah bin Mubarak was a very well-known scholar. When he introduced himself, the cobbler was anxious to find out why he was seeking him out.
Abdullah bin Mubarak asked the cobbler to tell him if he had made any plans to go for Hajj. He replied, “For thirty years I have lived in the hope of performing the Hajj. This year I had saved enough to go for Hajj, but Allah did not will it, so I couldn’t make my intention translate into action.”
Abdullah bin Mubarak further asked, “Why couldn’t you go for Hajj?” In order not to disclose the reason the cobbler again replied, “It was Allah’s will”.
When Abdullah bin Mubarak persisted the cobbler revealed, “Once I went to see my neighbour’s house. His family was just sitting down for dinner. Although I was not hungry I thought my neighbour would invite me to sit down for dinner out of courtesy but I could see that my neighbour was grieved about something and wanted to avoid inviting me for dinner.
After some hesitation the neighbour told me, ‘I am sorry I cannot invite you for food. We were without food for three days and I could not bear to see the pain of hunger of my children. I went out looking for food today and found a dead donkey. In my desperation, I cut out some meat from the dead animal, and brought it home so that my wife could cook it. It is Halal (lawful) for us because of our extreme hunger, but I cannot offer it to you.’
On hearing this, my heart bled with tears. I got up and went home, collected the three thousand dinars I had saved for Hajj, and gave my neighbour the money. I too had to go hungry but that was to save money for Hajj, but I thought that helping my neighbour during his difficult times was more important. I still desire to go for Hajj if Allah wills.”
Abdullah bin Mubarak was greatly inspired by the cobbler’s story and told the cobbler of his dream.
Allah (azza wa jall) is Merciful and shows mercy to those who do likewise to His creatures. This act of compassion on the part of the cobbler was so pleasing to Him that it not only earned him the reward of Hajj but was extended to all the people who came for Hajj.
4. Dhikr after Obligatory Prayer
Think about how you praise a GOAT sports personality.
Perfection
“Messi is a genius because of his meticulous play design and calculation-based decisions. “
“Isn’t Ronaldo amazing because of his work ethic. “
“Khabib dominated the Octagon like no other, and always executed perfect submission skills – never losing or even bleeding once.”
Greatness
Muhammad Ali is often regarded as the greatest sportsperson of all time. Ali competed in some of the greatest fights in boxing history, including the ‘Fight of the Century’, ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and ‘Thrilla in Manila’. He was famous for his political stances and was stripped of his heavyweight title after refusing to be conscripted into the US military to fight in the Vietnam War. Arguably more famous than all of this, however, are his timeless quotes. “Floats like a butterfly, sting like a bee” is among the dozens of one-liners that Ali is famous for. But perhaps the quote that best sums up Muhammad Ali is: “I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round.”
Jon Jones has “never been beat. He destroyed everybody at light heavyweight which at the time was the toughest weight class in the company, in the sport. Then he moved up to heavyweight. He won easily at heavyweight,” White said. “There’s no debate. Nobody can debate who’s the greatest of all time. It’s absolutely, positively Jon Jones. He’s never lost. He’s never been beat in the octagon.”
These discussions get us excited and we only increase the strength of our opinion when we mention them. But all of them will be forgotten in 200 years and their talent will wane in 20 years. What about recognising True Perfection and Greatness.
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The poor Emigrants came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: “The wealthy have gone with the highest ranks and lasting bliss.” He asked: “How is that?” They replied: “They offer Salat (prayer) as we offer it; they observe fast as we do; (and as they are wealthy) they perform Hajj and ‘Umrah, and go for Jihad, and they spend in charity but we cannot, and they free the slaves but we are unable to do so.”
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Shall I not teach you something with which you may overtake those who surpassed you and with which you will surpass those who will come after you? None will excel you unless he who does which you do.” They said: “Yes, please do, O Messenger of Allah” He (ﷺ) said, “You should recite: Tasbih (Allah is free from imperfection), Takbir (Allah is Greatest), Tahmid (Praise be to Allah) thirty-three times after each Salat.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
5. Being Good to Your Parents
Anas (RA) reports that a man came to Rasulullah ﷺ and said: “I wish to participate in Jihad, but I cannot afford it.” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ enquired if any of his parents were alive, to which he said: “Yes! My mother is alive”. Thereupon, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Show Allah how you serve her. If you do so (properly), you will be like a: Haji (one doing Hajj), a Mu’tamir (one doing ‘Umrah), and a Mujahid (one striving in the way of Allah).” [(Abu Ya’la, Hadith: 2760, and Tabarani with good chains.-Targhib, vol. 3, pg. 315 and Mukhtasar Ithaf, Hadith: 5721)]
6. Learning and Teaching in The Masjid
Abu Umama (RA) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever goes to the mosque with the intention of learning or teaching something good will be rewarded like a person who performs Hajj completely.” [al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr 7346 Grade: Sahih]
7. Performing Umrah in Ramadan
Abdullah Ibn Abbas (RA) narrates Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “If you perform Umrah in Ramadan, you will get the same reward as performing Hajj with me.” [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1782, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1256]
The early generations also considered some other acts with similar reward such as fulfilling a Fellow Muslim’s Needs. Hasan al-Basri, (rh) said, “Going to fulfill the fellow Muslim brother’s need is better than one Hajj after another.”
