by Asma bint Shameem
QUESTION
Why are certain specific things prohibited in ihraam, like not wearing stitched clothing or using perfume, not covering the head (for men), not cutting hair, etc?
What’s the PURPOSE of all that?
ANSWER
1. First of all, as Muslims, we believe that Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala is al-Aleem, al-Hakeem, the All Knowing, the All Wise.
There is Perfect WISDOM in everything that He has ordered us to do or prohibited us from doing.
So we have FIRM BELIEF that whatever Allaah has ordered us to do or forbidden for us, it’s all for OUR own good and betterment EVEN if we don’t understand it.
So there MUST be SOME Khair, SOME Hikmah behind all of the prohibitions during Ihraam.
After all, isn’t that what FAITH is all about?
2. Secondly we are supposed to FOLLOW the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam in ALL matters of ibaadah.
And staying away from certain specific things in ihraam is PART of that ibaadah.
So we stay away from the things forbidden during ihraam because that’s what the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam did himself and told us to do the same.
🍃 He Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said:
"Take your rituals from me, for I do not know whether I will perform Hajj after this one.” (Muslim)
And we’re supposed to perform ALL acts of ibaadah EXACTLY the way he
Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam performed them.
Otherwise those ibaadaat will be REJECTED.
🍃 The Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said:
“Whoever does an action not in accordance with our matter (Deen), it will be rejected." (al-Bukhaari, Muslim)
The Sahabah understood this concept very well.
🍃 That’s why Umar radhi Allaahu anhu said when he kissed the black stone:
"By Allaah, I know that you are a stone, you neither bring harm nor benefit, and if I had not seen the Messenger of Allaah Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam kiss you, I would NEVER have kissed you."
(al-Bukhaari)
Belief in Allaah and His Messenger Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam means that we have to OBEY the commands given to us by them.
🍃 Allaah says:
“The ONLY saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allaah (His Words, the Qur’aan) and His Messenger, to judge between them, is that they say: ‘We HEAR and we OBEY.’
And such are the SUCCESSFUL (who will live forever in Paradise)”
[al-Noor 24:51]
🍃 And Allaah also said:
“It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision.
And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed into a plain error”
[al-Ahzaab 33:36]
So it’s part of the OBEDIENCE to Allaah and His Messenger sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam that we perform Hajj the way they’ve ordered it and stay away from certain specific things in ihraam, EVEN if we don’t know the reason or logic behind it etc.
3. So what is the wisdom behind all the prohibitions during ihraam?
Allaah, our Master, has legislated certain prohibitions in ihraam because this Hajj journey is actually supposed to be a PRACTICE session for the day when we will REALLY leave everything behind, and go meet our Rabb.
It’s a REMINDER of that Ultimate Journey we ALL have to make sooner or later.
Just as we leave our jobs, our families, our cars and houses back home and head towards the Ka’bah, so similarly one day, not so far off, we will be leaving our jobs and families and houses and cars behind.
Only this time, there won’t be any going back!
Just as we gather on the plains of Arafah, so similarly we will be gathered on a plain where there will be no shade except the shade of Allaah’s Throne.
There will be nowhere to hide and nowhere to run except to Him.
The standing of Arafah is representative of Standing on a Day 50,000 years long, when the sun will be brought so close and people will be sweating and DROWNING in their own sweat, depending on the severity of their sins.
And our Master will ask us what we did on this earth.
The two sheets of ihraam clothes is symbolic of the SHROUD that we will be wrapped in.
The sandals are symbolic of how we will be resurrected BAREFOOT AND NAKED.
Not wearing proper clothes and shoes, not using fragrance, not being intimate with our spouses reminds us that these are only TEMPORARY pleasures of this world and we will LEAVE all of it BEHIND.
We LEAVE off grooming ourselves, cutting our nails, combing our hair because it reminds us that our LOOKS do not count.
NOTHING will count EXCEPT our DEEDS.
The prohibitions of Ihraam REMIND us that it’s NOT the EXTERNAL appearances that matter with Allaah.
Rather it’s the INTERNAL BEAUTY that counts.
THAT’S the real purpose of Hajj.
THAT’S the crux of the matter.
وَتَزَوَّدُوا فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَىٰ
"And take sustenance (with you) for the journey; verily the best sustenance is Taqwa (piety and righteousness)." (Al Baqarah :197)
So keep this lesson in mind, when you put on your ihraam.
Understand the wisdom behind the restrictions and its purpose.
Connect it to your heart so you have khushoo’ when performing Hajj.
Remember it when you stand humbly in Arafah, making duaa,
And then remember it some more....
Let us turn back to our Rabb while we still have the chance.
Let’s go back from hajj after having made sincere Taubah to Allaah from ALL disobedience and ALL transgression.
Let us RESOLVE to turn our lives around and live a life of OBEDIENCE and SUBMISSION to Allaah, our Master, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.
May Allaah forgive us and grant us Hajj Mabroor Ameen
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