As the pilgrimage season approaches, it is important for anyone who wishes to fulfill this highly exceptional duty to know the details of what to do, when to do it, and what to avoid so that his or her pilgrimage is complete. It is often the case that people make unnecessary mistakes which require costly compensation, only because they have not asked the right person or put the right question before making it.
To someone who is doing the pilgrimage for the first time, reading about it may make the duty appear to be very complicated. Yet it is simple enough for anyone who studies its details, and makes sure to know what is required, recommended or prohibited well in time. My advice to my readers who wish to do this blessed duty is to read this series of articles very carefully, and to take it with them when they start traveling so that they could refer to it whenever they need.
First of all we need to say that pilgrimage is a duty incumbent on every Muslim, man and woman, who is able to undertake the journey, once in a lifetime. If he does it more than once, it is all the better. Any additional pilgrimage one does is voluntary. Pilgrimage earns a very generous reward from God, which is expressed by the Prophet who says: “A pure pilgrimage erases all past sins and leaves pilgrims as pure of sin as they were on the day of their birth.”
To do the pilgrimage a person should be a Muslim adult, of sound mind, able physically and financially to make the journey and fulfill all its duties, and has safe access to the pilgrimage area. A woman must be accompanied by a mahram, or a male relative who may be her husband or close relative to whom she may not be married, such as her father, brother, son or nephew.
The condition of ability is very important. Ability is both physical and financial. Physically the pilgrim must be healthy and strong enough to endure the difficulty of the journey and to fulfill all duties at their appropriate times. Thus an elderly person who is too weak to endure the journey should not do the pilgrimage himself, even if he has the financial ability. He may send someone to do the pilgrimage on his behalf, provided that that person has already done his own pilgrimage duty. Financially, a person who wants to do the pilgrimage must have enough money to cover his own expenses during the whole journey and to leave his family an amount sufficient to pay for their living expenses during his absence. This means that a pilgrim should be free of all financial worries throughout his journey, until his return home.
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What we propose to do in this series is to outline some duties of pilgrimage, explain how these are fulfilled, and then speak about their purpose and the reason for which they are included in this duty, remembering always that the essence of pilgrimage is to show complete dedication and submission to God.
The first main duty of pilgrimage is to enter into the state of consecration, or ihraam. There are certain points of time and location for the beginning of consecration which must be observed. The time limit for pilgrimage starts at the break of dawn on the first day of Shawwal and lasts until the day of the Eid of sacrifice, which gives us a period of two months and ten days. Consecration or ihraam for pilgrimage may start at any point in time during this period. For Umrah, it may start at any time. There is no point in time when Umrah cannot be started and completed.
The places where consecration must start have been appointed by the Prophet, when he named Al-Juhafah, which is at the place where the city of Rabigh is located, for people coming from Egypt and Syria. Thul-Hulaifah or Abyar Ali is the point of consecration, or meeqat, for the people of Madinah. The people of Najd and Eastern areas start their ihraam at Qarn Al-Manazil, while the meeqat for people in Iraq and northern easterly areas is That Irq. The final meeqat is that of Yalamlam, for the people of Yemen and southern areas. If we connect these points with an imaginary line, we form a geographical area called the Hil area which must not be entered by any person who lives outside it and is traveling to Makkah for pilgrimage or Umrah, unless that person is in the state of ihraam or consecration. Those who live within this area, such as the people of Jeddah and Bahrah, start their ihraam at their homes, before they begin their journey for the pilgrimage or Umrah.
During ihraam, or consecration, certain things we are forbidden to do. These are:
1. Sexual intercourse with one’s wife, and its preliminaries, such as kissing, sex play and speaking about sex to one’s wife or husband.
2. Committing anything that is forbidden. Pilgrimage is an act of worship. It cannot be combined with disobeying God.
3. Quarreling with friends, servants, family or strangers.
4. For a man, wearing anything that is tailored, or sewed as an article of clothing. A man wears only two pieces of cloth, preferably napkin cloth. He ties one around his waist so that it covers him from his waistline down to well below his knees. The other he throws over his shoulders to cover them and the upper half of his body. He must wear no head cover of any sort, and no shoes other than slippers. A woman wears her ordinary clothes, except that she must uncover her face and hands, up to her wrists. She is not allowed to wear perfume or any article of clothing that has been perfumed.
5. Making a marriage contract for oneself or others. If a marriage contract is made during ihraam, it is invalid. The marriage does not become a reality.
6. Clipping one’s nails and cutting one’s hair or removing it with any other method.
7. Wearing perfume on one’s body or garments. This applies to both men and women.
8. Wearing any article of clothing that has been colored with a nice smelling dye.
9. A person in consecration may catch fish and other water animals. He is not allowed to hunt or to help a person in hunting, not even by telling him of the place where game may be hiding. He may not point to it, or scare an animal so that it may be hunted. He may not take the eggs of animals, or sell or buy them, or express the milk of animals.
10. Eating of the meat of any animal that has been hunted for him, or to which he pointed, or which he might have scared. If he has done nothing of this type and the game has not been killed for his sake, then he may eat of its meat.
These are the actions that are prohibited in consecration. Violations of the rules of pilgrimage require compensation. With regard to the violation of the rules of ihraam, compensation is required in one of three forms: either the sacrifice of one sheep with the meat given to the poor to eat, or feeding six needy persons, or fasting for three days. One may choose the form of compensation to offer. This applies to all matters that are prohibited with two exceptions:
1. Sexual intercourse with one’s wife: This invalidates one’s pilgrimage if committed at any time before the first release from consecration. However, the person concerned should continue the pilgrimage to its end, perform a complete pilgrimage the following year, and sacrifice a camel or a cow. If the intercourse takes place after the first release, then the pilgrimage remains valid but a sacrifice of one sheep becomes due in compensation.
2. Hunting: When a pilgrim kills an animal, whether hunting it deliberately, or by accident, he has to sacrifice a similar animal and give its meat to the poor at the Kaabah. This means that if he hunts a deer, he sacrifices a sheep in Makkah, and if he hunts an ostrich or a zebra or an animal of a similar size, he sacrifices a cow. If he cannot find a similar animal, the value of what he hunted is estimated by two persons and it is given to the poor in Makkah. If he cannot afford that, he feeds a suitable number of poor people, or he fasts for three days if the compensation is a sheep, 20 days if it is a cow, and 30 days if it is a camel.
Another action that is prohibited for anyone whether he is in ihraam or not is cutting the trees of the Haram area, or pulling out its plants, even thorny plants, except for two types which are used frequently. It is also prohibited to scare game or pick up anything of value dropped by someone else.
This sums up the prohibitions associated with the state of consecration, or ihraam. We will move along this journey of a lifetime next Monday, God willing.
Arab News Islam 6 January 2003
