Yasir Qadhi – Ask Shaykh YQ #68

			Sister sajida emails that she was planning to go for Hajj. But now the government has announced that
the Hajj has been cancelled. And so she had saved up some money is she sinful in taking that money
and using it for her other expenses, given the fact that she is saying their situation is not as
financially strong as it was because of the COVID crisis. And also we have brother Taha emailing,
asking my opinion about is this something permissible? Is it allowed to stop people for coming for
hedge? So, this question will be about the hedge
		

			regulations that have come and the 50 issues pertaining to that.
		

			Poverty in reinjure.
		

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			Lake Erie?
		

			I'll start with the second question first, regarding whether it is it is permissible or not, in the
end of the day, we have to deal with what we are given. I'm not in charge of this decision. It is
the Ministry of hygiene, the Ministry of Health that has decided this, and I am sympathetic to it
overall, I understand that it is not the wisest at this stage to have millions of people from across
the globe come together. The question of whether this has ever occurred in the past or not? Well, it
is true that in Islamic history, there have been a number of times where the Hajj has been severely
impeded. For example, in the year 317 hedgerow there was an internal revolt, a fanatical sect called
		

			the kilometer or the calculations, the kilometer, they were a very extreme fringe sect that were on
the esoteric, you know, branches of Islam, and they had very bizarre beliefs that they were not
considered mainstream Muslims. And they attacked the Kava during Hajj in the year 317. very tragic
state of affairs, they actually believe it or not a destroyed sections of the Kaaba, they hijack the
black stone, the hazardous word and they took it to their place in the region of Bahrain that they
built a false gather over there. And so for around 20 years, there was no black stone. In fact, in
that hedge in 317, very tragic story. They actually massacred the pilgrims in front of the caribou.
		

			And they are the villa of the villa, they stuffed the well of Zamzam with their dead bodies. These
are stories that a lot of times nobody's even heard of. But these are well known incidents in
Islamic history, and they rained havoc and terror for a number of years. And so after that year,
when the people heard about this, they were terrified to even go. So for a number of years, the
height dwindled, very, you know, to a very small quantity, as well multiple times. There are a
number of civil wars that took place in the Muslim world that prevented large caravans from coming
in the third and the fourth century is multiple times, especially specific regions in the Muslim
		

			world, were not able to send their Hajaj, obviously in the Mongol invasion as well. When the Mongols
invaded Kangas Han, when he invaded, the entire Muslim world was disrupted. And for a number of
years, the Hajj was very much symbolic, very small groups of people came. Also in 1798, when
Napoleon invaded Egypt, there were no judge that went from the entire North African region. So
imagine from Morocco all the way because, you know, the project would go through Egypt when they
come to, to the Hejaz, to Mecca and Medina. And so when Napoleon invaded it disrupted the entire one
of the major arteries of hedge was completely disrupted. Now, hedge went on, but we know it was not
		

			anywhere near the numbers that they were accustomed to, as well. Throughout Islamic history, there
have been a number of pandemics, or rather I should say, cholera outbreaks, because that's usually
what occurred is that there are a number of deadly bouts of cholera. And these affected Hajaj, the
famous Egyptian historian Elijah Bharati, he mentioned that in the year 1831, see, he basically 150
years ago, 170 years ago, three fourths of the Hajaj died in hajj because of a outbreak of cholera.
And in 1865, the hedge killed over almost 20,000 people. And in those days hedge was around 80,000,
like one fourth of the project. So basically, within 30 years, you know, three fourths and then one
		

			fourth of the project were wiped out. And by the way, in 1865, the hedge actually caused, you know,
meaning the people that were interacting and hedge when they returned back, it caused this this
cholera outbreak to spread across the globe. So much so that they even said that, you know,
eventually that outbreak even reached the Western world in America. And of course, at this point in
time, the British and the French are ruling large segments of the Muslim world. So they're taking
charge of the hijab, the 1819 century, and it's interesting that in the 19th century,
		

			The 18 hundred's after the mutiny after the British Raj in 1856 1857, when the British took over,
the British had to organize the pilgrims of India, which was the largest group or one of the largest
groups of pilgrims. And because the British are in charge, they have to have a ministry of Hydra,
believe it or not, they actually had a, a person stationed in Jeddah, a British, you know, person
non Muslim, that's in charge of the Hajaj and monitoring them. And because cholera was one of the
biggest problems. So there were attempts to curb you know, the quantity of her judging, of course,
this causes a huge backlash because the Muslims felt Who are you to tell us whether we can go or
		

			not. And the British felt that, you know, we're in charge of you, and you're affecting our ships,
because you're coming on our ships, your color is gonna affect all of us. And so it was, there were
always tensions here and there. This isn't the first time this tension is taking place. And an
interesting incident took place in 1899, that the famous Russian ruble, the great audio of the last
century, he discusses that in 1899, because of the spread of cholera, French authorities attempted
to curtail the hogs, they don't have the right to ban but you know, they're ruling over countries,
they're ruling over North Africa, they have sections of Egypt and whatnot. And so they attempted to
		

			curb the Hajj from their own parties. They can't stop it in Mecca and Medina, but they can stop it
in their own lands or the colonized lands, I should say that are ruled by these colonial powers. And
the French attempted to ban their peoples from going for Hajj. And this caused a huge outbreak
because again, the French were invaders the French were colonizers and the Muslim Ummah, felt Who
are you to tell us that we cannot go for Hajj. And this issue reached the Grand Mufti of Egypt and
greater Omar gathered together in 1899. And they discussed whether the French ban should be
effective or not. And shall Hershey the Buddha he talks about this in one of his his writings in
		

			modulatory, monopolies and he mentioned that,
		

			that the race measures and novar and the call the and the shareholders had an MFT dogma city, they
came together amongst them who say we should have the right man and Noah, we ensure AbdulQadir or
Rafi and others of that era. And they all agreed that the authorities in France had no rights to
tell the Muslims whether they should or they should not go for Hajj. And they said and they said
that just because there's a cholera outbreak in the Hejaz, that this should not stop the Muslims
from going for Hajj, and whoever wants to go for Hajj, even if there is a sickness, then they should
be allowed to go. Now, this having Having said this, it should also be mentioned that she she
		

			literally and others, they mentioned that the French, they had a sinister motive. It wasn't the
health of the project. In 1899, there was a lot of anti British and anti French sentiment going on.
And there were people that wanted to get rid of these colonial powers, but they weren't allowed to
meet in France or in ICC in the French occupied territories. And so mcuh became a safe haven for
political dissidents across the globe to come together and to hatch plans to basically be anti
British and anti French. And so the notion was they're not stopping the Muslims from going for
hedge. They're stopping political dissidents from meeting up. And so that was the goal there. In any
		

			case, all of this is down history lane. And by the way, just FYI, 100 years ago, as you should all
know, this is something by now everybody should know that the the closest pandemic that we should be
familiar with is that which took place in 1917 and 1918. In the Spanish influenza, which was global,
and it was from the same strain as the COVID-19, the same strain of virus that is there and the
Spanish influenza is now present as well in the COVID. And in 1917, and 1918. When the sheriff's of
Makkah, they ruled over that region, they did not prevent the judge from coming even to the numbers
were less than usual. Now, all of this is history. In the end of the day, I'm not in charge, it
		

			wasn't my decision. Whether I agree or not, doesn't change the fact that any hedge has has
temporarily been suspended for people outside the country. As for those inside the country, there
will be a very small amount one reports at 1001 reports at 10,000 people just a symbolic amount that
the hedge will take place. It does appear to me and Allah knows best that this might be the first
time in all of Islamic history, that the hedge has been curtailed in this manner, but do realize as
well that the reason why it is even possible for this to happen is because of the nation states and
the visas and the transportations. I mean, you couldn't have stopped a hedge 500 years ago, even if
		

			you wanted to her judge would come from Morocco, they wouldn't know what's going on. I mean, there
is going to take three months for them to get to MCC visas and stamping them although this is now
modern stuff you know. So getting on the airplane making sure you have your paperwork. You couldn't
have done this even 200
		

			years ago. So this notion of is there precedents or not, as I have mentioned in my, in my previous
lectures about this COVID crisis, it is not my philosophy that we need precedents in the first
place. To be brutally honest, I am not of the mindset that we need a precedent for every single
factor that is given, as I said in a previous lecture, that this COVID crisis really has demarcated
two paradigms from within the scholarly community, it is one paradigm that is, is completely averse
to any change whatsoever. And they're always looking to the past and always looking for precedents.
And they're saying, Who before us allow this? And I understand and I respect that very, you know,
		

			philosophically conservative frame of mind. But the flip side is that, why are we bound by the views
of people 500 years ago, 1000 years ago with our utmost respect to them, but our knowledge and our
circumstances have changed. And had they been alive right now it is my belief that they would have
taken advantage of the knowledge that we have. So I don't need precedents in this regard. Rather,
the scholars of our times we should not do it single handedly, neither me nor any scholar should
just break away from the chains of all scholarship, we should always have, you know, groups of early
amount groups of people come together and discuss these modern issues. And by and large, as you're
		

			aware, that majority of our scholars of our times they have agreed to this to this band for for from
foreigners to come. Because we don't want to exacerbate the situation. We now know how these viruses
are spread. We know much more about the transmission and safety mechanisms. And this was not known
even 100 years ago, it wasn't known even in the Spanish influenza, when it occurred, we would we
didn't know what we know now. And so we want to be safe here and of the primary pillars of our
shediac is the preservation of life. And as for the hedge, it is not being stopped, there will be a
group of people that are going to be going to Hajj will take place, whether it's 1000 whether it's
		

			10,000 Hamdulillah, the event will be called people being out of fat, and here's the beauty. Our
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said as we're all familiar with in the man mo bindi yet, we're
in the Colibri in Manoa. All actions will be judged by intentions and everyone will get what they
intended. And so I was intending to go for Hajj. I had a group of 200 people that were going to with
me for Hajj. So many people were intending to go for Hajj. Insha Allah be certain that you had the
intention. Allah will reward you for that intention. You know, there's a hadith by Abdullah Abdullah
Al Azhar Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said he they're sticking out the Muslim, that if a
		

			Muslim is sick, Allah azza wa jal will say look to hula hoop off further Americana YAML right for
him all that he used to do in the best of manners go ahead and write it for him. Meaning the the
point of the Hadith is that suppose used to pray extra prayers, then you fell sick with a fever and
you weren't able to pray those prayers. Allah will say to the angels go ahead and write those
knuffle prayers and give him the maximum reward just because he had that intention to do but
something came in the way so here we have as well the intention to go for Hajj and circumstances you
know came between us and the Hajj, so called the Allahu wa Masha file. Allah decrees whatever he
		

			wills happens, we accept the decree of Allah subhanho wa Taala and we understand that this was a
decision that does make logistical sense there's no need to prolong this crisis as it is it has
created world havoc Why should we make it worse because you have 3 million people that are going to
come and these are all going to go back to their lands you are at it is a recipe for disaster
anybody who has gone for Hajj and I've been at hamdulillah to more than 15 hedges pilex up Danny,
them or even one of them but anybody who knows goes for Hajj you know you are congested, you're
living in tight cramped quarters you're going to be you know in crowds that you've never seen in
		

			your life you're in a tent with you know, 1520 people, you know the the restaurant facilities, I
mean, you are asking for disaster with that congestion. It does not make any sense. This is a global
pandemic, why do you want to prolong and delay the lifting of it? So I understand obviously we were
all saddened I was looking forward to it. I needed a break from all that is going on I needed to go
and make dua to Alon standing out of fact I was looking forward to it. Allah knows I was looking
forward to it. cadet Allahu Masha, Allah azza wa jal has decreed. So inshallah Tada, we are going to
go and Charlotte next year and all of you who wanted to go this year, you got the reward, and then
		

			try to go next year. Now the question that our sister had was that she had set aside some money, and
now most travel agents are able to return partially or fully and again, this is up to you and a
travel agent. If they're not able to return fully then again, that is their prerogative and business
and you need to go to them and find out what can or cannot be done. That's not to show that he, you
know, issue it's a logistical issue. But the question now comes that she was saying where she is
saying I was
		

			saying that she had this money saved up for hedge she had intended to spend it for hedge. Now, the
money is there, whether it was refunded or whether she didn't give it the full amount. Now she has
that money, but she needs that money because the COVID crisis has affected her or her husband's or
whatever financial situation. And now she's wondering, is it permissible to utilize that money for
her daily expenses. And the response is, there is absolutely no sin on you to utilize this money,
because circumstances have changed, because the money does not become earmarked and demarcated, that
you are no longer having access to it, rather, the circumstances change. And so the status of the
		

			money changes as well. Now, obviously, if you have saved up for this hedge, and you're able to keep
this amount for next year's hedge, then you should do that because hedge is obligatory as soon as
one is able to go this is the stronger position there are two positions in Islamic field that can
you delay hired you for no reason, or should you do hedge as soon as you're financially capable, you
know, there's a hesitancy that'll hold me slightly weak that somebody asked the Prophet system that
one is basically hygine you're supposed to go and he said Azad, we're rahila the Hadith is weak but
the some scientists from the Sahaba the concept is one of the Sahaba and it is something it makes
		

			sense zodwa rahila it means that you need to have enough money to take care of you on the way and on
the way back and you need to have an animal or a circumstance or transportation to take you there as
well. So what has happened now is that you had the money that you had paid for the raw hailer for
the for the the right but now you're saying you need this money. So if you need this money, and you
need to dip into it need to take all of it you cannot pay your rent or you're having problems with
your bills or whatnot, definitely there is no Howard's whatsoever. There's no sin whatsoever that
you take from this money. And if by next year, you are not able to save up enough to go for hedge
		

			the hedge has been forgiven for you until you are able to save up and there is no blame on you
whatsoever. Now you can live long enough sun illa saraha that the Sharia is not something that is so
difficult so dear sister do not feel any, any sense of blame or any sense of how to just call it an
Arabic Do not feel any sense of of issue. There's no sin on you to take advantage of your own money
for circumstances that have not occurred beyond your control. And if you're able to save up at
hamdulillah if not then whenever you can save up then Hydra will become obligatory upon you may
Allah subhanho wa Taala make it easy for all of us report from the Hajj inshallah tada soon