Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat | Book of Hajj | Pillars of Hajj

أَرْكَانُ اَلْحَجِّ وَأَحْكَامُ اَلْأُضْحِيَّةِ

Pillars and Obligations of Hajj & Umrah

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أَرْكَانُ اَلْحَجِّ أَرْبَعَةٌ: إِحْرَامٌ, وَوُقُوفٌ, وَطَوَافٌ, وَسَعْيٌ

Hajj has 4 Pillars (Arkan):

1. Entering into the state of Ihram
2. Standing at Arafah
3. Tawaf
4. Sa’ee

Pillars VS Obligations
If something is termed as a pillar, then an action cannot be completed without it being accomplished. The action becomes invalid without it irrespective of the reason it was missed. As for obligations, they do not invalidate the action but a compensation or similar needs to be given to make up for missing it.

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وَوَاجِبَاتُه سَبْعَةٌ: إِحْرَامُ مَارٍّ عَلَى مِيقَاتٍ مِنْهُ, وَوُقُوفٌ إِلَى اَللَّيْلِ إِنْ وَقَفَ نَهَارًا, وَمُبَيَّتٌ بِمُزْدَلِفَةَ إِلَى بَعْدِ نِصْفِهِ, إِنْ وَافَاهَا قَبْلَهُ, وَبِمَنَى لَيَالِيَهَا, وَالرَّمْيُ مُرَتَّبًا, وَحَلْقٌ أَوْ تَقْصِيرٌ, وَطَوَافُ وَدَاعٍ

Hajj has 7 Obligatory Actions (Wajibat):

1. Anyone passing through a Miqat should enter into the state of Ihram from there
2. Standing until the night at Arafah for the one who did so during the day
3. Staying the night at Muzdalifah until after midnight if one arrived before it
4. Staying in Mina during its appointed nights
5. Throwing pebbles at the Jamarat in the prescribed order
6. Shaving or trimming the hair
7. Farewell Tawaf

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وَأَرْكَانُ اَلْعُمْرَةِ ثَلَاثَةٌ إِحْرَامٌ, وَطَوَافٌ, وَسَعْيٌ

Umrah has 3 Pillars:

1. Entering into the state of Ihram
2. Tawaf
3. Sa’ee

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وَوَاجِبَاتُهَا اِثْنَانِ: اَلْإِحْرَامُ مِنَ اَلْحِلِّ, وَالْحَلْقُ أَوْ اَلتَّقْصِيرُ

Umrah has 2 Obligatory Actions:

1. Entering into the state of Ihram from outside the Haram boundary (al-Hill)
2. Shaving or shortening the hair

Why is the same not required for Hajj? Because when we are leaving the Haram to go to Arafah and other locations, we are naturally going outside the Haram boundary. In Umrah, one never leaves the Masjid al-Haram.

Sheikh Ibn Aqeel says that when it comes to the places that are inside and outside the Haram, then Mina and Muzdalifah are symbols of Hajj and are part of the Haram. Arafah is a symbol of Hajj but it is not a part of the Haram. Muhassir is not a symbol of Hajj but it is a part of the Haram.

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وَمَنْ فَاتَهُ اَلْوُقُوفُ فَاتَهُ اَلْحَجُّ, وَتَحَلَّلَ بِعُمْرَة ٍ وَهَدْيٍ إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ اِشْتَرطَ

If a person missed standing at Arafah, then he has missed Hajj. The person is released from his state of Ihram by performing Umrah and giving a sacrifice if he did not intend a stipulation (of release from trouble) in his primary intention.

فَاِنْ حَبَسَنِي حَابِسٌ فَمَحِلِّ حَيْثُ حَبَسْتَنِي

If I am prevented by any obstacle, my place of conclusion is wherever I am held up.

If the person fears that something will prevent him from completing his Hajj he should make a condition when he makes his intentions, by saying: ” If I am prevented by any obstacle, my place (of release from Ihram) is wherever I am held up.” If the person has no such fear, he doesn’t make this condition always as per the opinion of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, Sheikh Abdur Rahman as-Sa’adi etc. They restrict it to a need alone. The Hanabila have kept it general and open for everyone irrespective of there being any potential dangers.

If the person has stipulated a condition, they they are not required to offer any sacrifice (fidyah). However, they mush shave or shorten their hair.

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وَمَنْ مُنِعَ اَلْبَيْتِ هَدَى ثُمَّ حَلَّ, فَإِنَّ فَقْدَه ُ صَامَ عَشْرَةَ أَيَّامٍ, وَمَنْ صُدَّ عَنْ عَرَفَةَ تَحَلَّلَ بِعُمْرَةٍ وَلَا دَمَ

If anyone is prevented from accessing the Kabah, they give a blood sacrifice and they are then released from their state of Ihram. If the person cannot or does not have a sacrifice to offer, then he is to fast for 10 days.

If anyone is prevented from standing at Arafah, then they are released from their state of Ihram by performing Umrah and no sacrifice is required of them. As per the Hanabila, this does not count as the obligatory Umrah that every person in Islam is obliged to do and that Umrah needs to be done separately. This was mentioned by Imam Ibn Najjar in al-Muntaha.

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وَالْأُضْحِيَّة ُ سُنَّةٌ, يُكْرَهُ تَرْكُهَا لَقَادِرٍ

The Udhiyah (qurbani) is a Sunnah and it is disliked that someone who is able to afford it, does not do so. It is a strongly recommended sunnah. If one has real financial difficulty then there is a scope of exemption for them without making it too tough on them.

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وَوَقْتُ اَلذَّبْحِ: بَعْدَ صَلَاةِ اَلْعِيدِ أَوْ قَدْرِهَا إِلَى آخَرِ ثَانِيَ اَلتَّشْرِيقِ

The time of slaughtering is after the Prayer of Eid until the second day of Tashriq. In a place where there isn’t Eid salah or because of some excuse the person cannot pray, then the time for slaughtering begins after the amount of time required to pray the Eid prayer is complete.

As per the Madhab, there are 3 days to slaughter and 4 days according to the second opinion in the madhab. The 2 days are, the Day of Eid, 11 Dhul Hijjah, and 12 Dhul Hijjah. Imam Ahmad says that this is proven from 5 Sahaba. However if someone has left it till the 4th day due to a need or similar, then their sacrifice is valid.

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وَلَا يُعْطَى جَازِرٌ أَجَرْتَه ُ مِنْهَا, وَلَا يُبَاعُ جِلْدُهَا وَلَا شَيْءٌ مِنْهَا بَلْ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ

The butcher or the person slaughtering is not given his wages from the animal, nor is he given the hide or any portion of the hide. Instead, we can benefit from it without selling it.

Why? Because this is a sacrifice purely for Allah and using it for the benefit of a transaction is wrong. The Madhab is that it is Haram.

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وَأَفْضَلُ هَدْيٍ وَأُضْحِيَّةٍ: إِبِلٌ, ثُمَّ بَقَرٌ, ثُمَّ غَنَمٌ

The best of sacrifices is a camel, then a cow, and then a sheep. This is when we are talking about slaughtering a whole camel, cow, or sheep. If only a seventh of a camel is being slaughtered, then slaughtering one whole sheep is better.

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وَلَا يُجْزِئُ إِلَّا جِذْعُ ضَأْن ٍ أَوْ ثَنِيٌّ غَيْرِهِ, فَثَنِيُّ إِبِلٍ مَا لَهُ خَمْسُ سِنِينَ, وَبَقَرٍ سَنَتَانِ, وَتُجْزِئُ اَلشَّاةُ عَنْ وَاحِدٍ, وَالْبَدَنَةُ وَالْبَقَرَةُ عَنْ سَبْعَةٍ, وَلَا تُجْزِئُ هُزَيْلَة ٌ وَبَيِّنَةُ عَوَرٍ أَوْ عَرَجٍ, وَلَا ذَاهِبَةُ اَلثَّنَايَا, أَوْ أَكْثَرِ أُذُنِهَا أَوْ قَرْنِهَا

وَالسُّنَّةُ نَحْرُ إِبِلٍ قَائِمَةً مَعْقُولَةً يَدُهَا اَلْيُسْرَى وَذَبْحُ غَيْرِهَا, وَيَقُولُ : بِسْمِ اَللَّهِ اَللَّهُمَّ هَذَا مِنْكَ وَلَكَ

It doesn’t suffice to sacrifice any animal for an obligatory hadi or udhiyyah sacrifice except that it has met the requirement of the minimum age. It should be a six month old male sheep, or a “ثَنِيٌّ” of a non male sheep. The ” ثَنِيٌّ” of a goat is one that has completed one full year. The thani of a camel is that one has completed five years of age and the thani of a cow is one that has completed two years of age.

One sheep suffices one person. When we say one person, we include his household who are all those financially dependent on him under this sacrifice. A full camel or a full cow suffice seven people or seven households.

An animal that has deficiencies, or is very lean (without much meat), or is clearly blind does not suffice the requirements. Similarly an animal that is missing its front teeth, most of an ear, or its horn is not sufficient. Why? A sacrifice for Allah has to be from the best and not from the worst. This is against Adab towards Allah and is from the actions of the nations that were destroyed. Small injuries or small damage to the ear etc is acceptable.

It is recommended to slaughter a camel from the bottom of its neck while its is standing and has its left leg tied up. Other animals are slaughtered from the top of the neck by laying it on its left side.

Slaughtering is generally of 2 types:

1. Nahr is performed by thrusting a knife in the animal’s libba [the hollow between the two collarbones at the base of the neck]
2. Dhab is the most common method of slaughtering, whereby the slaughterer manually slits the animals throat and causes its blood to drain out.

There are adab to be followed even while slaughtering an animal.

• It should not be made uncomfortable or caused to freak out
• It should not be slaughtered where the animals can see it being slaughtered
• It should not be slaughtered in front of its family
• It should be fed, watered, and taken care of properly
• The knife should be sharpened to the maximum
• Everything that can be done for the animal to make it easy and painless should be done and anything that causes distress to the animal should be avoided.

The person slaughtering says:

بِسْمِ اَللَّهِ اَللَّهُمَّ هَذَا مِنْكَ وَلَكَ
In the Name of Allah! O Allah! This is from You and for You!

It is also recommend to say that takbeer before slaughtering as per the madhab.

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وَسُنَّ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ وَيُهْدِيَ وَيَتَصَدَّقَ أَثْلَاثًا مُطْلَقً ا وَالْحَلْقُ بَعْدَهَا, وَإِنْ أَكَلَهَا إِلَّا أُوقِيَّةً جَازَ, وَحَرُمَ عَلَى مُرِيدِهَا أَخْذُ شَيْءٍ مِنْ شَعْرِهِ, وَظُفُرِهِ وَبَشْرْتِه ِ   فِي اَلْعَشْرِ

It is recommended to split the udhiyah into 3 parts

1. To Eat
2. To Gift
3. To Give in Charity

It is recommended to remove the body hair after that. The one who intends to sacrifice cannot remove his hair, skin, or nails in the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah till he has performed the sacrifice. The position of the Madhab as stated by the author is that doing so is Haram. As per al-Qadhi Abu Ya’la and Imam Majd Ibn Taymiyyah it is not Haram but Makruh to do so. These are two of the giants and of the pillars of the madhab. This is the position of the vast majority of the scholars. Some of the scholars even consider it to be Mubah. It is safe to give fatwa based on the position of Qadhi Abu Ya’la when living in a mixed society.

As per Sheikh Musa Furber, it is recommended to give charity from the best third of the meat, gift the second best portion, and consume the other portion of it. Meat can be given to non-Muslims from a voluntary sacrifice only.

A person can eat all of it, except that he should give away a portion in charity so that his sacrifice has meaning. As per the Madhab, the minimum amount of meat (lahm) should be given. What is this minimum? This would depend from place to place and culture to culture. Some of the Hanabila, including the author, say that the minimum amount to be given is an uqiyah which is worth 14 Dirhams of silver or approximately 119 grams of silver.

Sheikh Mari’ al-Karmi in Daleel al-Talib does not go into numbers. He says that it is obligatory to give that minimum which is considered as lahm.

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وَتُسَنُّ اَلْعَقِيقَةُ وَتُسَنُّ الْعَقِيَقَةُ وَهِيَ عَنِ الْغُلَامِ شَاتَانِ، وَعَنِ الْجَارِيَةِ شَاةٌ تُذْبَحُ يَوْمَ اَلسَّابِعِ, فَإِنْ فَاتَ فَفِي أَرْبَعَةَ عَشَرَ, فَإِنْ فَاتَ فَفِي أَحَدَ وَعِشْرِينَ, ثُمَّ لَا تَعْتَبِرُ اَلْأَسَابِيعُ, وَحُكْمُهَا كَأُضْحِيَّ ة

Slaughtering for a newborn (aqiqah) is recommended. It recommended to slaughter 2 sheep for a male and 1 sheep for a female. This is the position of the Madhab. If a person wants, then it is permissible to do one sheep as well.

It is slaughtered on the seventh day after the birth. If it is missed, then it is to be done on the fourteenth. If that is missed, then it is to be done on the twenty first. After that, following these windows of 7 days is not necessary, there is no specific day, and one can do it as soon as possible.

It takes the same rulings as that of an udhiyah sacrifice.

Based on the Hanbali primer, Akhsar Al-Mukhtasarat authored by Ibn Balban al-Hanbali as taught by Sheikh Zahed Fettah حفظه الله