Is it necessary for a person to go to hajj in the same year when it becomes fard for him? If a person cannot go to hajj when it becomes fard for him and if he loses the conditions of hajj afterwards, is it still fard for him to go to hajj?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The worshipping of hajj is fard for every Muslim who is sane, rich enough to go to hajj and healthy, once in his life. Accordingly, must a Muslim perform hajj in the year when it becomes fard for him or can he postpone to the years to come? If he postpones it, is he regarded to have committed a sin and is he held responsible?

The view of the majority of the scholars regarding the issue is different from that of some mujtahids. For instance, according to Imam Malik, the founder of Maliki madhhab, and Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf from Hanafi madhhab, a person for whom hajj becomes fard needs to go to hajj in the same year. For, hajj is immediate; it is necessary to go in the year it becomes fard; if it is postponed to the coming years, it is a sin. Furthermore, according to these mujtahids, a Muslim for whom hajj is fard and who can marry needs to go to hajj first and postpone marriage. However, if there is a possibility that he cannot control his soul if he does not marry, he gets married and postpones hajj to the following year.  

According to Imam Shafii and Imam Muhammad, who is a Hanafi scholar, a person for whom hajj becomes fard can perform hajj any year during his lifetime. According to them, hajj is a worship that can be performed when one is alive; it can be performed any year.

The clear view of Shafii madhhab regarding the issue is as follows:

A person for whom hajj becomes fard does not become a sinner if he postpones it to the next year and does not go to hajj in the same year when it becomes fard. However, the following two conditions need to be present for postponing hajj:

Firstly, he must not fear that he can miss hajj next year due to old age, weakness or losing his wealth. If one of these worries exists, he has to go to hajj in the same year; if he postpones it, he will be a sinner.

Secondly, if a person could not go to hajj in the year when it became fard, he has to try hard to go to hajj the next year. If he does not make any efforts to go to hajj in the following years, he becomes a sinner.1

Imam Muhammad states that it is permissible to postpone hajj to the years to come. According to him, the time period for a prayer (salah) is a certain time; the time period for hajj worshipping is a person’s lifetime. It is permissible to delay a prayer to the end of its time period; similarly, it is permissible to delay hajj to the end of one’s life. However, this permission does not mean it is necessary to delay it; it means it does not have to be performed immediately. 

However, when a person postpones hajj for one year when it becomes fard, he does not become a fasiq. Nevertheless, if he continues postponing it every year though the conditions of hajj are present, he is regarded to have committed a makruh tahrimi deed because he abandons a wajib by not performing a fard in time.

If a person for whom hajj becomes fard postpones it and dies before performing it, he becomes a sinner because he owes a hajj. However, if he goes to hajj a few years before he dies, his hajj is regarded to have been performed in time, not as qada (missed). That is, if he performs hajj not in the same year when it becomes fard but, say, ten years later, he is regarded to have performed hajj and paid his debt. 2

As it is seen, the view of both Shafii madhhab and Imam Muhammad about postponing hajj is only a permission. However, postponing hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam just like prayer, fasting and zakah, to an old age like 60 to 70 years by using some worldly affairs as excuses causes a wajib to be abandoned; according to the majority of scholars and two great imams of Hanafi madhhab, such a person will be under a heavy responsibility.

Due to not paying attention to this issue very much, people in some countries, especially in Turkey, hold a view that it is better to go to hajj at an old age like sixty or seventy or after being retired. This view is based on the excuse of “not being able to act in accordance with the responsibilities of a hajji”.

What does it mean? If it means not being able to give up some bad habits (harams), a Muslim has to keep away from harams before hajj too; and he has to perform fards before hajj too. Such an excuse is the trick of the soul and a delusion. If a person for whom hajj is fard has such a delusion, it means he will be held responsible for abandoning a fard worship.

Therefore, it is necessary to perform hajj in the same year when it becomes fard in order to get rid of this responsibility and sin. This is the strong view accepted as the strong view according to all madhhabs.

Footnotes:

1. al-Madhahibul-Arbaa, I/631-632.
2. Majmaul-Anhur, I/260; Ibn Abidin, II/140-141.

(Mehmed Paksu, İbadet Hayatımız-1)

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