The story of the Hajj of our Mother ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her.
The first steps in changing the customs of the Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era) regarding Hajj.
We may not fully grasp the magnitude of the difficulties the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, faced
in changing certain practices of the Jahiliyyah upon which people had been raised
and which had become firmly rooted in their souls.
This is because we were born into Islam,
and the teachings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, have become firmly established in the hearts of Muslims,
even if we fall short in implementing them.
Yet, we know that they are the truth.
Islam came to eradicate the Jahiliyyah from the hearts of people
and to cultivate souls in the worship of Allah alone, with no partner.
If we were to trace the verses and rulings in the Noble Qur’an
that were revealed to invalidate the practices of the Jahiliyyah,
we would find a great number of them.
Changing the issues and perceptions of the Jahiliyyah was not all at the same level;
some were more difficult than others.
By tracing the Prophetic biography,
we find that the major issues and beliefs of the Jahiliyyah,
which were deeply rooted in people’s souls and considered by them to be religion,
and whose violation or opposition was considered a grave matter,
we find that Allah entrusted their transformation during the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
to his personal life first,
then the people followed him.
Examples include the abolition of adoption
and the marriage to the divorced wife of an adopted son,
which was considered even more severe than adoption itself.
Allah the Almighty said:
“And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.” (33:37)
“And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.” (33:37)
"And fear Allah,"
“And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.” (33:37)
"and you feared the people,"
“And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.” (33:37)
“And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.” (33:37)
"We gave her to you in marriage,"
“And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.” (33:37)
“And when thou saidst unto him on whom Allah hath conferred favour and thou hast conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear Allah. And thou didst hide in thy mind that which Allah was to bring to light, and thou didst fear mankind whereas Allah hath a better right that thou shouldst fear Him. So when Zeyd had performed that necessary formality (of divorce) from her, We gave her unto thee in marriage, so that (henceforth) there may be no sin for believers in respect of wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have performed the necessary formality (of release) from them. The commandment of Allah must be fulfilled.” (33:37)
"And the command of Allah is ever performed."
Among these issues
was performing ‘Umrah alongside the Hajj rituals in a single journey during the months of Hajj,
which the people of the Jahiliyyah—the Arab disbelievers who venerated the Sacred House—considered
to be one of the most wicked of sins.
Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:
"This tribe of Quraysh and those who followed their religion
used to consider ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj to be the most wicked of sins on earth.
They would forbid ‘Umrah until Dhu al-Hijjah and Muharram had passed,
and they would designate Muharram as Safar.
They would say: 'When the camel’s back heals, the tracks are erased, and Safar passes,
‘Umrah becomes permissible for those who wish to perform it.'"
This difficulty in changing this perception is evident among those who embraced Islam from the Arabs
and lived with the Prophet, peace be upon him, and were raised under his guidance.
In the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both,
he said:
"They used to consider ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj to be the most wicked of sins on earth,
and they would designate Muharram as Safar,
and they would say: 'When the camel’s back heals, the tracks are erased, and Safar passes, ‘Umrah becomes permissible for those who wish to perform it.'"
The Prophet, peace be upon him, and his Companions arrived on the morning of the fourth [of Dhu al-Hijjah] having entered into the state of ihram for Hajj,
and he commanded them to turn it into an ‘Umrah.
They found this to be a grave matter.
They said, "O Messenger of Allah, what kind of release?"
He replied, "A complete release."
His statement in this agreed-upon hadith,
"They used to consider ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj to be the most wicked of sins on earth,"
and his use of the conjunction 'fa' (so/then) in his statement,
"So he commanded them to turn it into an ‘Umrah,"
makes it entirely clear that the reason that compelled him, peace be upon him,
to command them to turn their Hajj into an ‘Umrah
was to remove from their hearts their belief that ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj
was the most wicked of sins on earth.
This sense of gravity felt by the Companions,
who had previously been raised to oppose the customs of the Jahiliyyah in various matters,
illustrates for us the difficulty of changing what people are accustomed to and consider to be religion,
having lived by it for a period of time.
Therefore, the Prophet, peace be upon him, proceeded gradually in presenting the matter to them.
The beginning was by giving the Companions a choice regarding the types of rituals (nusuk)
while they were at the Miqat of Dhu al-Hulayfah.
Initially, they knew nothing but Hajj.
So the Prophet, peace be upon him, explained to them the forms of ihram,
and permitted them to perform ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj,
leaving it to them, peace be upon him, to make the decision according to their own will.
Some of the Companions responded to the request of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Our Mother ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"We went out with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, during the Farewell Hajj,
arriving at the new moon of Dhu al-Hijjah, and we intended nothing but Hajj.
When we were at Dhu al-Hulayfah, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
'Whoever among you wishes to enter into ihram for Hajj, let him do so,
and whoever wishes to enter into ihram for ‘Umrah, let him do so.'
As for me, I have entered into ihram for Hajj because I have the sacrificial animal with me;
for had I not brought the sacrificial animal, I would have entered into ihram for ‘Umrah."
So some of them entered into ihram for ‘Umrah, and some entered into ihram for Hajj,
and I was among those who entered into ihram for ‘Umrah.
Among the beautiful insights of the scholars on this issue,
commenting on the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas regarding the Arab disbelievers’ prohibition of ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj,
is the statement of Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, may Allah have mercy on him:
"This is one of their false arbitrary rulings, taken without any foundation."
It does not follow that every erroneous action in the Hajj of today must have a basis to which it refers;
rather, people may invent actions that are as far as possible from the guidance of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
From here, innovations (bid'ah) and deviations from the Sunnah arise.
Indeed, these invented matters may have a hidden motive that serves the interests of those who invented them.
This is among the remarkable things mentioned by one of the scholars on this subject,
where he said that people did not know of ‘Umrah during the months of Hajj;
rather, the Arabs in the Jahiliyyah considered it one of the most wicked of sins.
They would say, "It is impossible to come to Makkah for ‘Umrah and Hajj [in one trip];
rather, you must come for ‘Umrah in one journey and Hajj in another."
They viewed this from an economic perspective,
so that visitors and pilgrims would be more numerous and the markets would be more active.
In this, there is a reminder for the sisters regarding Hajj:
to be keen on following the guidance of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and to be extremely cautious of what has seeped into the manner of Hajj from the actions of the ancient Jahiliyyah,
or from the actions of people today that contradict the Prophetic Sunnah in Hajj,
especially what is issued by the management of Hajj campaigns,
which may have material interests in changing the course of Hajj away from the guidance of the Prophet, peace be upon him.