“Lā ḥaraj, lā ḥaraj” (no blame, no blame).

One of the obligations upon the caller to Allah is to make matters easy for people in general and for pilgrims in particular, for facilitation is a foundational principle of this gracious sharia—as everyone knows—so long as no scriptural text exists to the contrary. If a text does exist, then it is not permissible to adopt leniency on the basis of personal opinion. This is the just, middle course that every preacher must uphold, and after that no weight is given to people’s remarks or objections when they ask, “Was he too strict, or too lenient?”

There are, moreover, certain lawful practices that some pilgrims have grown unduly wary of because of fatwas issued by certain individuals in conflict with the aforementioned principle. I wish to draw attention to them: