Chapter: The Virtue of Hajj and the Preparations for It

Hajj possesses tremendous merit and an abundant reward.

Al-Tirmidhi narrates—grading it sound—a hadith traced back to Ibn Masʿūd: “Perform Hajj and ʿumrah successively, for they banish poverty and sins just as a bellows purges the dross of iron, gold, and silver; and the only reward for an accepted Hajj is Paradise.”

In the Ṣaḥīḥ it is reported from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said, “We regard fighting in Allah’s cause as the finest of deeds; should we not then go out and fight?” He replied, “Rather, the best jihad is an accepted Hajj.”

An accepted Hajj is one untainted by any sin, whose rites are carried out in full and in the most complete manner; others say it is the pilgrimage that Allah accepts.

When a person has firmly resolved to perform Hajj, he must repent of every sin and clear himself of any injustices by returning them to their rightful owners,