Article: Innovations During Hajj

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalamu Alaikum.

Sigh, yes. Unfortunately, lots of people practice innovations during Hajj (and everywhere else for that matter).

Someone might say, “Hey, what’s the big deal if there are a few innovations here and there?”

Well, Allah has ordered us to do that which He loves and has asked us to stay away from that which He does not love.

So, the one who wishes to earn the love of Allah must apply the shariah as best as they can.

However, innovations are something that people have invented thinking that it will help them gain the love of Allah.

Just a few questions:

1) Does anyone know what Allah loves more than He does? How can anyone add anything to the shariah saying that it is a “good” innovation??? If it was truly a good thing, then Allah would have revealed it to His Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam)!

2) Has what he has ordered us to do not enough for us? Why do people feel the need to invent practices?

The main problem with those who practice innovations is not knowing the Majesty of Allah and not understanding the religion of Islam.

This is why it is mandatory for all of us to seek knowledge from authentic sources and also ask Allah to grant us fiqh (understanding) of this religion.

As for some of the innovations that are practiced during Hajj, the following article sheds light on that:

[Note: The translators seem to be in the process of adding more information so please check the main link provided below for any updates. Also, Points 11 and 12 are the same, probably a publishing error.]

Lecture Series: Getting the Best out of Hajj

Assalamu Alaikum.

If you’re in a hurry to learn about Hajj and you’re running out of time, I would highly advise you to listen to the following series, even if you listen to nothing else.

There are loads of practical tips here. The brother has also written the following two books:

1) Getting the Best out of Al-Hajj (It looks like this.)

2) The Ultimate Guide to Umrah (It looks like this. A bit of it is available on Google Books.)

Both of them can be purchased from Dasrussalam.

If you’re going for Hajj, you NEED to get this book.  If you are unable to find it, then at least try to get your hands on the Umrah book.

What if you can’t get your hands on either of them? Well then, just try to stick to the seminar below. (You might need to watch it more than once.)

Website: True and Good Words

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalamu Alaikum.

Here’s another blog that has loads of information on Hajj and Umrah:

http://trueword.wordpress.com/hajj/

Again, I don’t necessarily agree with everything there but it does have some good stuff.

Hajj Coach

Assalamu Alaikum.

Here’s a nice little series that prepares you for Hajj:

[Note: As the Hajj coach site is no longer available, I’ve put up all the required information here. All the information in green is from the original Hajj coach site. I don’t necessarily agree with everything that’s there.]

Hajj Coach by Muhammad Al-Shareef

Session 1: Everything you need to know