Manasik al-Hajj wal-Umra
- Author died
- 1420 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Maʿārif
Manasik al-Hajj wal-Umra fil-Kitab wal-Sunna wa-Athar al-Salaf (The Rites of Hajj and Umrah in the Book, the Sunnah, and the Traditions of the Salaf) is a concise jurisprudence guide on the Islamic pilgrimage by the hadith scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani (d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Al-Albani composed the treatise in Damascus, completing it on 21 Sha'ban 1395 AH . The work was written to make the legal rules of pilgrimage accessible to common readers by abridging the material from his larger study, Hujjat al-Nabi salla Allahu alayhi wa-sallam kama rawaha Jabir (The Prophet's Pilgrimage as Narrated by Jabir), which he refers to throughout as al-Asl ("the original text") . He modeled this abridgment on his earlier distillation work, Talkhis Sifat Salat al-Nabi .
To provide comprehensive practical guidance, al-Albani supplemented the foundational narrative of Jabir's hadith with additional rites and legal rulings that were omitted in that specific narration or its original commentary . For these additions, he provided concise hadith grading (takhrij) and references, frequently cross-referencing his other published and unpublished works for extensive source analyses .
Structure and Content
The treatise opens with preliminary counsel for prospective pilgrims (Nasa'ih bayna yaday al-Hajj), emphasizing sincere adherence to tawhid, warning against polytheistic practices (shirk) such as seeking aid from the deceased, and advising pilgrims to avoid contentious arguments . It highlights the principle of religious ease (taysir) and clarifies several permissible acts that some pilgrims mistakenly consider prohibited, such as bathing, scratching the head, undergoing cupping, seeking shade under tents, umbrellas, or motor vehicles, and wearing wristwatches, glasses, or money belts .
The book proceeds through the sequential rites of pilgrimage:
- Preparation for ihram, including washing, permissible clothing for men and women, donning ihram garments before reaching the miqat (especially for air travelers), and perfuming oneself prior to entering the state of ihram .
- Formulating the intention and reciting the talbiya, emphasizing the Tamattu' form of pilgrimage for those who have not brought sacrificial livestock (hady) .
- Entering Mecca, performing the arrival tawaf, praying behind the Station of Abraham, and running between al-Safa and al-Marwah (sa'i) before exiting ihram for Umrah .
- Commencing Hajj on the 8th of Dhu al-Hijjah (Yawm al-Tarwiya), overnighting at Mina, standing at Mount Arafat on the 9th, and proceeding to Muzdalifah .
- The rites of the Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Nahr), including stoning the Jamarat, slaughtering the sacrificial animal, shaving or trimming the hair, executing Tawaf al-Ifadah, staying at Mina during the days of Tashriq, and concluding with the farewell circumambulation (Tawaf al-Wada') .
Appendix on Innovations
Al-Albani appended an abridged catalog listing religious innovations (bida') that people introduced into the pilgrimage and the visitation of Medina and Jerusalem . Grounding his critique on the premise that acts of worship must conform strictly to textual transmission and prophetic practice, he systematically enumerates unwarranted practices associated with travel, circumambulation, Arafat, Muzdalifah, stoning the Jamarat, shaving, and visiting graves . Among the cited innovations are vocalizing specific unlegislated intentions or supplications for individual circuits of tawaf, climbing Jabal al-Rahma or entering domes constructed on it, and undertaking travel specifically to graves rather than to the Prophet's Mosque .
Publication History
The work has been published in multiple editions across several publishing houses, including Maktabat al-Ma'arif in Riyadh, al-Maktab al-Islami in Beirut, and al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya in Amman .
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