STAGE ONE: PURE INTENTION
Ø¥Ùذا أرَدتَ الØجَّ ÙجَرّÙدْ قَلبَكَ لله٠تَعالى Ù…ÙÙ† ÙƒÙلّ٠شاغÙÙ„Ù.
?When you intend for Hajj, purify your heart from what keeps you away from Allah.?1
Men of heart and pilgrims of the House of God, after getting to know the meaning of Hajj and before taking provisions with them, purify their hearts and see whether their motivation in this journey is godly or not. The aim of Hajj is to express the submission to God.
Hence, a pilgrim must keep away from physical desires and aims at obeying God, obtaining the rewards of the Hereafter, and escaping from the punishment of the Hereafter. If Hajj is made for fun, amusement, business, social prestige, and escape from people's blame, its true aim?devotion is lost. To test his pure intention, a pilgrim should see whether he wants to perform Hajj for the above-mentioned purposes or he goes on Hajj for sake of God alone. If, for instance, a jurisprudent dissuades him from going on Hajj by telling that the
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1 See Misbah ul-Shariah; chapter 21
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money should be spent on a more urgent case, it should not be painful for him. But if he sees that not going on Hajj is painful for him; that he feels ashamed before people, then his intention of Hajj in not pure, and he must ask forgiveness for the same.