Answer
Wa`alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
The conditions of Hajj are: being a Muslim, being an adult, being of sound mind, being free, and having the physical and financial ability to travel. If any of these are missing, Hajj is not obligatory.
In his book Fiqh-us-Sunnah, the late Egyptian scholar Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq, states:
Who Is Required to Perform Hajj in Islam?
There is a consensus among jurists concerning the prerequisites that must be found in a person for Hajj to be incumbent on him/her. These prerequisites are as follows:
- He/she must be a Muslim.
- H/she must be an adult.
- He/she must be of a sound state of mind.
- He/she must be free.
- He/she must have the necessary power and ability to undertake the journey.
Anyone lacking any of the above conditions is not obligated to perform Hajj.
All these conditions (i.e. being a Muslim, being of adult age and of sound mind, being free, and possessing the power to discharge the duty) are equally valid with respect to all other forms of worship in Islam.
How Hadith Clarifies the Conditions of Accountability
This is based on a hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) which says, โThree persons are not to be held accountable for their actions: a sleeping person until he awakes, a child until he comes of age, and a mentally disturbed person until he regains his reason.โ (Ahmad)
The Quranic Basis for the Conditions of Hajj
Freedom is an essential prerequisite for Hajj, for this worship needs time as well as financial ability. The Qurโan says, โAnd pilgrimage to the House is a duty unto Allah for mankind, for him who can find a way thither.โ (Aal `Imran 3:97)
Comprehensive details are found in the following fatwas:
- What Is Hajj Tamattu? A Simple Guide
- What Are the Types of Hajj?
- Differences Between Hajj and Umrah
- Performing Hajj on Behalf of Another Before Umrah: Valid?
- What Is the Best Type of Hajj?
- Can You Do `Umrah before Hajj? Learn the Sunnah
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editorโs note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholarโs archive and was originally published at an earlier date.