THE Holy Qur'an says: And Haj to the House (Ka'ba) is a duty that mankind owes to Allah, those who can afford the expenses. (3-97) To perform Haj is to act on some specified rituals: 1) Ihram (two white seamless sheets to be worn on upper and lower part of the body) with intention to perform Haj. 2) This Ihram is to be worn from the appointed destinations (Meeqat), around Makkah region. Ibn Abbas reported Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as saying: “The place to don Ihram from Madina is Dhul-Hulaifah (now known as Abyar Ali). For pilgrims from Syria it is ‘Juhfah, for Najd (Riyadh region) it is Qarn Al-Manazil (now known as Sail Al-Kabeer), for Yemen it is ‘Yalamlam' and for others from where they start for Haj.” Makkans will don Ihram for Haj from Makkah itself (agreed tradition). But for Umrah, the Makkans would assume Ihram from outside the boundary of Al-Haram or from Ayesha Mosque (Taneem) or Jur'ana. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: One must not cross the Meeqat save in Ihram. The persons coming from outside the country and assuming Ihram from Jeddah must sacrifice a goat in Makkah for the acceptance of their Haj. 3) The other obligatory act is to attend the standing in Arafat on 9th Dhul-Hijjah even before dawn. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said the Haj is Arafat, i.e. to enter the boundary of Arafat is obligatory. It has often been noticed that several pilgrims stay outside the boundary of Arafat and do not enter it. Their Haj is rendered void is no Haj for them. It is the consensus among all the jurists. 4) The last obligation upon returning from Arafat and Muzdalifa is to perform ‘Tawaf Al-Ifadah' or Tawaf Al-Ziarah (circumambulating the Holy Ka'ba seven times) and Sa'ee between the hillocks of Safa and Marwah if performing Haj Tamattu and if performing Haj Al-Ifrad or Haj Al-Qiran and did not perform Sa'ee with Tawaf Al-Qudoom. Wajibat (mandatory actions) 1) To stay at Muzdalifah for the first half of the night of 10th is mandatory according to Imam Al-Shafei. Others hold that the stay must be till Fajr prayers. However, the Prophet (peace be upon him), though he himself stayed till Fajr prayers, allowed the weak and sick and those who had animals for sacrifice to leave Muzdalifah after midnight. 2) (a) Stoning of big Jamarah. The stoning time starts from midnight till the whole day and before Fajr of the following day. (b) All the three Jamraat are to be stoned on 11th and 12th Dhul-Hijjah. First the small, the middle and then the big Jamarah respectively. 3) To saty at Mina for the most part of the night is Wajib according to Imam Al-Shafei. If he misses his stay on the first night or the last night for making Tawaf Al-Ifadah, his Haj remains valid. To stay at Mina is only Sunnah for the Hanafis. 4) For the person performing Umrah he has to get his hair shaved or trimmed after accomplishing Sa'ee (hastening between As-Safa and Al-Marawah. But in case of Haj ‘Ifrad' the one will stone the big Jamarah and then will get a part of his hair trimmed or shave his head to get out of the state of Ihram. But any one who is combining Umrah with Haj will do his sacrifice and then will shave or trim his hair partially. This is known as ‘Tahallul Al-Asghar', which does away with all the Ihram prohibitions except having sexual relations with one's spouse. That is allowed only after doing the last Tawaf known as Tawaf Al-Ifadah. For the ladies the haircut is limited to a fingertip. If anybody has sexual contact with his spouse before his or her performing Tawaf Al-Ifadah, he will have to sacrifice a goat in compensation for making his Haj acceptable. If any woman performs Tawaf during her menses her Tawaf is nullified and she has to sacrifice a camel. If any one misses his Sa'ee of Haj or Umrah he has to sacrifice a goat. If any one comes out of the boundary of Arafat before sunset on the 9th of Dhul-Hajjah, he will have to sacrifice a goat. All these sacrifices are to be done only in Makkah. The meat thereof is for the poor of Makkah only and is not to be taken anywhere else.
