Ads by Muslim Ad Network

aaa

Does Hajj Waive Obligatory Duties such as Expiations and Debts?

22 August, 2016
Q As-Salamu alaykum. Praise be to Allah, last year I had the opportunity to perform the obligation of Hajj. As you know, the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said in the hadith: “An accepted Hajj brings no less a reward than Paradise.” When the Muslim performs the obligatory Hajj, all the sins that he had committed are forgiven and he goes back from Hajj (free of sin) as on the day his mother bore him, and he goes back to the fitrah (sound human nature). My question is: I have some days to make up from Ramadan from two years ago. After performing Hajj, do I still need to make these days up, or will Allah forgive me for what is past because of the Hajj that I did?

Answer

Ask the Scholar Editor
22 August, 2016

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi 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.

Dear questioner, we would like to thank you for the great confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.

You still have to make up the days that you owe of Ramadan, and your duties cannot be discharged except by doing that.

Ads by Muslim Ad Network

Elaborating more on this, we would like to cite the following fatwa published on www.islamqa.info:

There are many hadiths about the virtues of Hajj which indicate that it erases sins and expiates for bad deeds, and the individual returns from it (free of sin) as on the day his mother bore him.

But this virtue and reward does not mean that obligatory duties are waived, whether they are duties owed to Allah, may He be exalted, such as expiations and fulfillment of vows, or duties that one has not yet fulfilled, such as zakah that he has not paid or fasts that he has to make up, or duties owed to other people, such as debts and the like. Hajj brings forgiveness of sins, but it does not mean that these duties are waived, according to scholarly consensus.

If a person delays making up Ramadan fasts, for example, and that is without an excuse, then he does Hajj and it is accepted, his Hajj brings forgiveness for the sin of delaying, but the obligation to make up those days is not waived.

Imam Ad-Dumayri said:

“In the sound hadith we read “Whoever performs Hajj and does not utter obscenities or commit sin, will emerge from his sins as on the day his mother bore him.” This has to do specifically with sins realted to the rights of Allah, may He be exalted, in particular, and not the rights of other people. The duties themselves are not waived. So if a person owes prayer, expiations and other rights of Allah, may He be exalted, they are not waived, because they are duties, not sins; rather the sin is delaying them. So the delay is waived by Hajj, but the duty itself is not. If he delays it after that, the sin is renewed. So an accepted Hajj brings forgiveness for the sin of non-compliance, but does not waive the duties themselves.” (Kashf al-Qina`2/522)

Allah Almighty knows best.