themselves, do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.” This applies to the one who repents.
Moreover, standing at ‘Arafāt does not discharge a person’s obligations of prayer and zakat, by the consensus of the Muslims. Indeed, they agree that prayer is incomparably more binding than Hajj. Hajj is obligatory once in a lifetime for those able to undertake it, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed Hajj only once after the Hijrah. Prayer, by contrast, is obligatory upon every sane adult—except menstruating women and women experiencing postnatal bleeding—whether healthy or ill, safe or fearful, rich or poor, male or female. Over each day and night, there are some forty units of prayer: seventeen obligatory units, ten or twelve units of regular Sunnah prayers, and eleven or thirteen units of night prayer.
Likewise, people’s rights arising from sins, injustices and other matters are not discharged through Hajj, by the agreement of the imams. The report narrated from ‘Abbās ibn Mirdās concerning the discharge of injustices and other liabilities through Hajj is weak.
It is established in the Sahīh that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“The five daily prayers, from one Friday prayer to the next, and from one Ramadan to the next, expiate the sins committed between them, provided that major sins are avoided.”
These observances are greater than Hajj. Major sins, however, are expiated by repentance from them, according to the Quran, the Sunnah and the consensus of the Muslim community.