If Hajj is obligatory on someone, then it is his duty to perform Hajj quickly. Undue delay is not right. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said with special emphasis on this matter in the hadith:
مَنْ أَرَادَ الْحَجَّ فَلْيَتَعَجَّلْ فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ يَمْرَضُ الْمَرِيضُ وَتَضِلُّ الضَّالَّةُ وَتَعْرِضُ الْحَاجَةُ
Whoever decides to perform Hajj should perform it immediately. Because people sometimes get sick, sometimes essentials disappear and sometimes essential needs come to the fore. (Sunan Ibn Majah: 2883)
Many people continue to delay Hajj even after it becomes obligatory. Satan’s whispers come to my mind that if I trade for a few more days with the money I will spend for Hajj, I will get a lot of profit. Hajj will cost a lot of money.
In the hadith, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, Hajj does not make people poor but removes poverty. As Hajj removes sins, so does poverty. On the authority of Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud (RA), the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,
تَابِعُوا بَيْنَ الْحَجِّ وَالْعُمْرَةِ فَإِنَّهُمَا يَنْفِيَانِ الْفَقْرَ وَالذُّنُوبَ كَمَا يَنْفي الْكيرُ خَبَثَ الْحَدِيدِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَل َيْسَ لِلْحَجَّةِ الْمَبْرُورَةِ ثَوَابٌ إِلَّا الْجَنَّةَ
Continue to perform Hajj and Umrah consistently. Because these two remove poverty and sin, just as asthma removes dirt from iron and gold and silver. The reward for the Hajj of Mabrur (pure from all sins and obscenities) is nothing but Paradise. (Sunan Nasa’i: 2631, Sunan Tirmidhi: 810)
Jaber (may Allah be pleased with him) said, Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said,
مَا أَمْعَرَ حَاجٌّ قَطُّ
A person performing Hajj is never destitute.
When the audience asked Jaber (RA) what it means to be destitute, he said, Hajj pilgrims do not fall into poverty. (Musnad Bazzar: 1080, Tabrani Fil Awasat: 5209)
It is understood from these two hadiths that doing Hajj-Umrah increases wealth instead of decreasing it. Instead of coming lack, the lack is relieved. Hajj will reduce wealth or bring poverty, this is a trick of Satan.
There are also promises of reward in lieu of expenses for Hajj in various hadiths. On the authority of Anas (RA), the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,
الحَجُّ سَبيلُ اللهِ, النَّفَقةُ فيه: الدِّرْهَمُ بسَبْعِمِئةٍ
Hajj is the path of Allah. The reward of spending one dirham on Hajj increases up to seven hundred times. (Tabrani Fil Awasat: 5690)
OFF/GKS
