Haj Preparations in Full Swing.
     
        
      RIYADH/JEDDAH, 18 December 2005 - Saudi Arabia has stepped up preparations for the forthcoming Haj that begins on Jan. 8. More than 2.5 million pilgrims are expected to assemble in Makkah and nearby holy sites for the largest gathering of Muslims in the world.

      The government has spent more than SR1 billion on various development projects in Makkah, Mina and Arafat this year to increase facilities for the guests of God. This includes expansion of the Jamrat (stoning area) in Mina.

      Thousands of pilgrims have already arrived in Makkah and Madinah to take part in the five-day event. The first batch of Iranian and Tunisian pilgrims arrived in Jeddah yesterday. Iran will send 102,000 pilgrims this year for Haj. Saudi Arabian Airlines and Iran Air will transport the Iranian pilgrims.

      Saudia has made arrangements for the transport of more than one million pilgrims on 4,896 flights during this Haj season from both domestic and international stations.

      Khaled Ben-Bakr, the airline's director general, emphasized Saudia's commitment to provide the best possible services to the guests of God on directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

      Meanwhile, the Passport Department has urged both Saudis and expatriates intending to perform Haj this year to sign a contract with one of the licensed Haj service agents in order to get Haj permits.

      Maj. Gen. Salem Al-Bilaihid, director general of the department, said citizens and residents who performed Haj during the past five years would not be given permission to obtain a Haj permit this year.

      He said the only way to obtain a Haj permit for citizens or residents is to proceed to one of the authorized Haj service agents and register with them, as those agents will then finish the necessary paperwork for them with concerned authorities to issue Haj permits for all its registered pilgrims after completing the Ministry of Haj's recommendations and the necessary requirements.

      Al-Bilaihid said that non-Saudis must have valid iqamas. Domestic Haj service agents will tender their request for Haj permits based on the number of pilgrims they are allowed to accommodate by the Ministry of Haj.

      He also said that housemaids might also obtain Haj permits if their sponsors have received the permits from authorized Haj service agents. The sponsor must submit a request on behalf of the maid, telling authorities that he wishes her to accompany his family during the ritual.

      The director general said that only the owners of domestic Haj service agents or their representatives were allowed to process paperwork to get permits from various passport departments in the Kingdom. Local public service offices will not be allowed to submit requests for Haj permits for individuals, he added.

      Al-Bilaihid said that anyone who has received or will receive a permit to perform Haj this year and will not be able to perform the ritual should return the permit to the nearest Passport Department at least a month before the next Haj so his name could be deleted from the passport data system.



            The Pilgrimage -  Substitute Pilgrimage. 
              
            People often ask about offering the pilgrimage on behalf of someone else, usually a deceased parent or relative. Others also ask about offering it on behalf of a parent who is alive but cannot afford to do the pilgrimage.

            The first thing to say with regard to doing the pilgrimage on behalf of someone else is that it is acceptable, provided that certain conditions are observed. Such substitute pilgrimage may be undertaken on behalf of a person who has died without offering this major duty of Islam, or on behalf of someone who cannot physically undertake the journey because of illness or some other disability or impediment. Not only so, but it is particularly important that the children or the heirs of a deceased person who did not do the pilgrimage despite meeting the condition of ability should arrange for a substitute pilgrimage on that person's behalf as soon as possible. This may be done by one of them or they may hire someone else for the purpose, paying all that person's expenses. A woman asked the Prophet (pbuh) about her father's case, who could not sit properly on camel back. He told her to offer the pilgrimage on her father's behalf. Another man asked him about his own father who died without doing the pilgrimage. The Prophet asked his questioner whether he would repay his father's creditors if he had left some outstanding debts. When the man answered in the affirmative, the Prophet said to him: "A debt owed to God has an even stronger claim to be settled." On the basis of this Hadith, scholars agree that a woman may offer the pilgrimage on behalf of a man and vice versa. On the other hand, the person who is doing a substitute pilgrimage need not be a relative of the one on whose behalf he is doing it.

            The most important condition is that the person who is doing a substitute pilgrimage should have already fulfilled his personal obligation of doing the pilgrimage on his or her own behalf. It is not permissible for someone who has not fulfilled this religious duty to undertake it on someone else's behalf. When the Prophet went on his journey of pilgrimage, he heard someone declaring his intention to do the pilgrimage on behalf of Shibrimah. The Prophet asked him who Shibrimah was. "A brother of mine," was the man's answer. The Prophet asked him whether he had done his own pilgrimage. When the man said that he had not, the Prophet told him: "Then do the pilgrimage on your own behalf first, then do it on behalf of Shibrimah." On the basis of this Hadith scholars agree that if a man doing the pilgrimage for the first time intends his pilgrimage on behalf of anyone other than himself, his pilgrimage is deemed to be his own, in fulfillment of his own religious duty.

            This condition must be observed by many expatriates who, out of a sense of dutifulness, wish to offer the pilgrimage on behalf of their deceased parents. They cannot do so, unless they have done their own pilgrimage first. On the other hand, expatriates are often keen to do a substitute pilgrimage on behalf of a living relative back home. It is important to realize that the pilgrimage is an individual duty that becomes due when a person fulfils the condition of ability. Thus, if those people who live back home fulfill this condition, then they must do it themselves. Their relatives working in the Kingdom cannot just try to spare them the journey by doing the pilgrimage on their behalf. On the other hand, if those people back home do not fulfill the ability condition, the pilgrimage duty does not apply to them. If it is a son or a daughter who wish to do the pilgrimage on behalf of their parents, they should know that it is a much better gesture of dutifulness to their parents to arrange for them to do the pilgrimage themselves, by paying their expenses. If they cannot afford that, then they need not do so.

            A substitute pilgrimage is offered in the same way we offer our own pilgrimage. The only difference is that at the time of declaring our intention to do the pilgrimage we make it clear that we are offering the pilgrimage on behalf of the person it is dedicated for. Moreover, whatever applies to pilgrimage in this respect also applies to the Umrah.

            We should always remember that doing the pilgrimage on behalf of a deceased person is the greatest gift that can be offered to that person, because the reward of a pilgrimage undertaken with sincerity and careful attention to duty is forgiveness of past sins and admittance into heaven. A question has been raised by some readers about a pilgrim who might have wronged other people: How are the people whom he has wronged to receive justice if God forgives that pilgrim any injustice he has done to them?

            The Prophet has taught us that God forgives anything which is owed to Him by his servants, if He pleases. Therefore, if someone has done many mistakes or sins, which fall within his direct relationship with God, then he sincerely repents having done them and firmly resolves not to allow himself to make such mistakes or do such sins again, then God will forgive him. This applies mainly to duties and prohibitions. Thus, if someone fails to do his duty of fasting, prayer, etc. or indulges in what God has forbidden, such as drinking or gambling, such sins are forgiven as a result of proper repentance that includes a resolve not to repeat the same disobedience of God. A pilgrimage undertaken in complete devotion to God also ensures forgiveness of past sins. Such forgiveness can also be guaranteed if one fasts properly in Ramadan or if he does any of the things the Prophet has described as a means of achieving God's forgiveness.

            There are, however, other forbidden matters which human beings may do, but these fall in the area of relations between people. Such matters include theft, defamation, false accusations, backbiting, perjury, defaulting on debt repayment, oppression and injustice generally. When a person is guilty of any of these, he is deemed to have committed an offense against God who has forbidden such actions and an offense against the person at the receiving end of such an action. God may forgive him the first part if he repents and does any of the actions ensuring forgiveness of sins. But the portion which relates to the rights of other people has a different treatment. God does not forgive these unless the offender pays back to the aggrieved party what is owed to him, whether material or abstract. The wronged person should also forgive the offender before he is able to obtain forgiveness from God.

            This is the general rule. However, it may happen that a person who has done such wrongs cannot pay back the people he had wronged or give them satisfaction. This may be the case because he does not have the means to make amends, or he does not know for certain the person or persons he has wronged, or he cannot trace them or because he will inevitably expose himself to great trouble if he admits his guilt to them, or for any other reason. In such cases, he should pray hard to God to grant him forgiveness. If God answers his prayers and wishes to forgive him, He will take it upon Himself to satisfy the wronged person. On the Day of Judgment, He will call the one who is wronged and ask him to forgive the offender. If he does, then God rewards him generously for forgoing his rights. If he says that he does not want to forgive him, then God will increase the reward He grants him for his good actions until he willingly forgives his offender. In this way, God takes it upon Himself to satisfy the offended party and ensure forgiveness for the offender as a result of his sincere repentance.
           


      May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala guide us to the straight path.Amen. 

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