"These are the Islamic Laws according to the Fatawa of
Ayatullah al Uzama Syed Ali al-Husaini Seestani.
This is the English Version of Taudhihul Masae'l, translated
by the World Federation of KSI Muslim Communities, P.O.
Box 60, Stanmore, U.K. HA7 4LQ. See also a downloadable
version of this book in HTML Help format.
Note: The * sign after a number denotes
that there is a total or partial variation from the
fatwa of Marhum
Ayatullah Al Uzama Syed Abul
Qasim El Khui. These laws are also available
online at Al-Islam.org.
See also more laws of Ayatullah Seestani with Contemporary
Rulings in Shi'i Law. ----------------------------------------
2044. * Hajj (pilgrimage) means visiting
the House of Allah (Ka'bah), and performing all those
worshipful acts which have been ordered to be performed
there. It is obligatory on a person once in his lifetime,
provided that he fulfils the following conditions:
(i) He should be baligh.
(ii) He should be sane and free, that is, he should
not be insane and should not be a slave.
(iii) Because of proceeding to Makkah for Hajj, he should
not be obliged to commit a haraam act, avoidance of
which is more important than Hajj, nor should he be
compelled to forsake an obligatory work which is more
important than Hajj.
(iv) He should be capable of performing Hajj, and this
depends upon number of factors:
(a) He should possess provisions and means for transportation,
if need be, or heshould have enough money to buy them.
(b) He should be healthy and strong enough to go to
Makkah and per form Hajj, without suffering extreme
difficulties.
(c) There should be no obstacle on the way. If the way
is closed, or if a person fears that he will lose his
life, or honour, while on his way to Makkah, or he will
berobbed of his property, it is not obligatory on him
to perform Hajj. But if he can reach Makkah by another
route, he should go to perform Hajj, even if the other
route is a longer one. But that route should not be
unusually longer.
(d) He should have enough time to reach Makkah, and
to perform all the acts of worship in Hajj.
(e) He should possess sufficient money to meet the expenses
of his dependents whose maintenance is obligatory on
him, like, his wife and children, as well as the expenses
of those who have to be paid, like, servants, maids,
etc. (f) On return from Hajj, he should have some means
of livelihood, like, income from the property, farming,
business, employment etc. so that he may not lead a
life of hardship.
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2045. When a person is in need of owning
a house, performance of Hajj will be obligatory on him
if he also possesses money for the house.
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2046. If a wife can go to Makkah but
does not have any means of support on her return, and
if her husband is also poor, and cannot provide her
subsistence, subjecting her to hard life, Hajj will
not be obligatory on her.
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2047. If a person does not possess
necessary provision for the journey, nor any means of
transport, and another person asks him to go for Hajj
undertaking to meet his expenses as well as of his family
during his Hajj, and he (i.e. the person who is asked
to go for Hajj) is satisfied with what the other man
offers, Hajj becomes obligatory on him.
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2048. * If a person is offered the
expenses of his return journey to Makkah, as well as
the expenses of his family during the period of Hajj,
Hajj becomes obligatory on him, even if he is indebted,
and does not possess means of support with which to
lead his life after his return. But if the days of Hajj
and the days of his work coincide, meaning that if he
abandons his work and goes for Hajj, he will not be
able to pay his debts in time, nor support himself for
the rest of the year, Hajj will not be Wajib on him.
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2049. * If a person is given expenses
of going to and returning from Makkah, and the expenses
of his family during that period, and is asked to go
to Hajj without mentioning that the help given is his
property, performance of Hajj becomes obligatory on
him, if he is satisfied that it will not be taken back
from him.
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2050. If a person is given an amount
to cover expenses just sufficient for Hajj, with a condition
that on his way to Makkah he will serve the person who
gave the expenses, Hajj does not become obligatory on
him.
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2051. If a person is given monetary
help to enable him to perform obligatory Hajj, and he
does perform Hajj, another Hajj will not become obligatory
on him if he himself becomes wealthy.
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2052. If a person goes, for example,
to Jeddah in connection with trade, and acquires sufficient
money to go to Makkah, he should perform Hajj. And if
he performs Hajj, performance of another Hajj will not
be obligatory on him, if he later acquires enough wealth
to enable to go to Makkah from his hometown. 2053. If
a person is hired to perform Hajj on behalf of another
person, but he cannot go for Hajj himself, and wishes
to send someone else, he should seek permission from
the person who hired him.
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2054. * If a person could afford to
perform Hajj but did not perform it, and then became
poor, he should perform Hajj facing all odds. And if
he is not at all able to go for Hajj, and if another
person hires him for Hajj, he should go to Makkah and
perform Hajj on behalf of the person who has hired him.
He should then remain in Makkah for a year if possible,
and perform his own Hajj. But, if it is possible that
he is hired and given his wages in cash, and the person
who hires him agrees that he may perform Hajj on his
behalf next year, he should perform his own Hajj in
the first year, and that on behalf of the person who
has hired him, in the second year, if he feels that
he might not be able to perform his own Hajj in the
following year.
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2055. * If a person goes to Makkah
in the year in which he can afford to perform Hajj,
but cannot reach Arafat and Mash'arul Haram at the prescribed
time, and cannot afford to go for Hajj during the succeeding
years, Hajj is not obligatory on him. But, if he could
afford to go for Hajj in the earlier years, and did
not go, he should perform Hajj in spite of all difficulties.
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2056. * If a person did not perform
Hajj in the year in which he could afford to go for
Hajj, and cannot perform Hajj now owing to old age,
or ailment, or weakness, and does not hope that in the
future, he will be able to perform Hajj in person, he
should send someone else to perform Hajj on his behalf.
In fact, even if he does not lose hope, the obligatory
precaution is that he should hire a person. And when
he becomes capable afterwards, he should perform Hajj
himself also. And the same applies if a person becoming
capable of going to Hajj for the first time, is prevented
to perform Hajj because of old age, ailment or weakness,
and loses hope of gaining strength. In all these cases,
however, he should, as a recommended precaution, hire
a male person, and the one who is going to Hajj for
the first time.
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2057. * A person who has been hired
by another person to perform Hajj should perform Tawafun
Nisa also on his behalf, failing which his own wife
(i.e. the wife of the hired person) becomes haraam for
him.
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2058. If a person does not perform
Tawafun Nisa correctly, or forgets to perform it, and
if he remembers it after a few days and returns to perform
it, his action is in order. And if his returning is
difficult for him, he can depute another person to perform
the Tawaf on his behalf.
