“For those who are able to make the journey” — A Call for Understanding Before Compliance
By: Bassam Odeh
Arab Affairs
During the Hajj season, longing is renewed and hands are raised toward the heavens as millions yearn for the honor of circumambulating the Holy Kaaba. It is a magnificent obligation—one that represents the peak of worship, the ultimate aspiration, and a means of purification and detachment from worldly burdens. Yet the Quranic verse, “And pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to Allah by people who are able to undertake it” (Aal-E-Imran: 97), leaves no room for emotional interpretation; rather, it establishes a precise obligation conditioned upon ability—including physical and financial capacity, as well as psychological and social readiness, all within a framework of understanding, awareness, and intent.
Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) once said: “Understand what has been presented to you, for judgment is a decisive matter.” Understanding here is the key to proper worship and the essential guarantee of balanced compliance. Just as judicial rulings are not governed by emotion, Hajj is not fulfilled by mere desire—it requires merit, qualification, and adherence to the ordained time.
Personally, I had requested to perform Hajj on several occasions, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Tunisia would always reply with a familiar and courteous phrase: “Insha’Allah, when one is able to do so.” At first, it seemed like a diplomatic pleasantry, but over time it became a key to understanding. It was not simply polite speech—it was an expression of a firm, unyielding religious condition. Ability is not a slogan; it is a standard and a methodology upon which the decision to perform Hajj must be based.
Today, as the desire to perform Hajj becomes more widespread—sometimes to the extent that people neglect to ask whether they are truly prepared—it is essential that we reshape our religious and social discourse around this sacred obligation. Not everyone who wishes to go to Hajj is necessarily ready for it. And not everyone who pays for it necessarily fulfills it as it should be. In Islam, worship is tied to intention, but also to conditions and higher objectives.
Hajj is not a spiritual luxury—it is a duty that demands full readiness. How many pilgrims have burdened their families, drowned in debt, or gone through the motions of Hajj physically without achieving its emotional and spiritual purpose—simply because they rushed into it without reflection? When understanding is absent, the path is lost.
Hence, the call today is not merely to perform Hajj, but to pause until its pillars and circumstances are complete. To understand before setting out. To realize that “for those who are able to make the journey” is not a restriction designed to limit numbers, but a principle meant to protect souls, preserve objectives, and fulfill the act of worship as Allah intended.
