Hajj is required only once; any additional pilgrimages are voluntary. This is one of Allah’s favors: He has imposed it but a single time in a person’s life because, for most people, the journey to Mecca is arduous. The same wisdom appears in the other acts of worship. The five daily prayers are obligatory every day, while the Jumuʿah prayer is obligatory only once a week, for it must be held in a single mosque for the whole community; were the people commanded to gather in one place five times daily, the hardship would be severe. Therefore Jumuʿah was legislated just once each week.

Likewise, zakah is due only once a year, fasting is obligatory only once a year, and Hajj is obligatory only once in a lifetime. All of this reflects Allah’s wisdom and mercy in prescribing duties suited to the condition of His servants.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Had I said ‘Yes,’ it would have become obligatory, and you would not have been able to do it.” He then added, “Leave me so long as I leave you,” meaning: do not ask about matters on which I remain silent. As long as I have said nothing about an issue, refrain from questioning it, for the gravest offender is the one who asks about something lawful and it is then prohibited because of his question, or about something not obligatory and it is then made obligatory due to his inquiry.

After the Prophet’s death, however, there is no harm in people asking the scholars about their religious affairs, for the revelation has ended: nothing new can be declared lawful or unlawful, obligatory or otherwise. This is what the Messenger intended, so do not invoke the verse, “Do not ask about matters which, if disclosed to you, would distress you” (5:101) as a prohibition; rather, feel free to ask.

The Prophet ﷺ then clarified that what destroyed the communities before us was their excessive questioning and their dispute with their prophets: they kept asking and arguing until they were ruined. Consider