This year’s hajj on Wednesday reached its final major rites with the symbolic stone pelting at Jamarat and animal sacrifice otherwise known as hadaya.
Upon the completion of this symbolic stoning, Muslim News saw male pilgrims proceeding to shave or trim their hair as their female counterparts cut fingertip-length of their locks.
While some licenced barbers in Saudi Arabia charged between 15 to 25 riyals, some pilgrims make business out of it by charging their fellow pilgrims 5 to 10 riyals.
But a Nigerian pilgrim, Imam Rafiu Akorede from Osun State, Southwest Nigeria, volunteered to cut as many as possible hair at no cost to fellow pilgrims.
Beneficiaries of his gesture were full of gratitude to him, saying, “despite the fact that he also went through the rigorous rites particularly the movement to Jamarat for stone pelting, this selfless man was still able to spend hours shaving our hair. He truly deserves accolades.”
When Muslim News inquired about his motivation for the gesture, Imam Akorede said his action was for the sake of Allah.
He said people need help, urging those with the means to support them in any capacity possible to do so.
“It is good to extend helping hands to people. So, for me, this is a way of assisting my brothers in Islam. There are so many ways to assist people. But I have chosen this path of cutting the hair of my brothers at hajj at no cost.
“I didn’t ask any of them for money because I’m only doing this for the sake of Allah and His messenger and for the progress of Islam,” he said.
“Whatever support we can offer to assist our Muslim brothers, it’s important to carry it out.”
Akorede, also a pilgrim, described hajj as a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), praying Allah to accept all their rites.
“My view is that all these hajj rites we are performing are a way of following in the steps of the Prophet (SAW). They are his traditions (sunnah). We have done some of them. May Allah accept our efforts.”
The Wisdom behind shaving hair during Hajj
The wisdom is that by shaving off one’s hair, one demonstrates one’s sincerity and humility to Allah without caring for one’s physical appearance.
Elaborating more on this, we cite what Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq states in his well-known book, Fiqh As-Sunnah:
“This practice of shaving or clipping the hair is affirmed by the Qur’an, the Sunnah of the Prophet, and the consensus of the Muslim scholars.
Almighty Allah says, (Truly did Allah fulfil the vision for His Messenger: ye shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, with minds secure, heads shaved, hair cut short, and without fear.) (Al-Fath 48:27)
Both Al-Bukhari and Muslim quote the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying, “May Allah bless those who shaved (their head during Hajj). “The Companions asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what about those who cut their hair short?” Thereupon, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “May Allah bless those who shaved. “They repeated their question the third time, and again the Prophet said, “May Allah bless those who shaved. “When they asked him for the fourth time, “O Messenger of Allah, what about those who clip their hair short?” He said, “And (may Allah bless) those who clip their hair short.”
Shaving here means removing hair of the head with a razor, etc., or plucking them out. It suffices one, however, to remove only as many as three hairs. And cutting the hair short means cutting the length of one fingertip of the head’s hair.
However, the issue of which one is obligatory, between shaving or cutting hair short, is controversial among jurists. Most scholars hold that shaving or cutting the hair short is obligatory, and one failing to do so is to slaughter an animal in order to atone for this omission. According to the Shafi`i school, it is an integral part of Hajj.
As for the second question about the reason why people go to Hajj more than one time, We should know that Hajj is only obligatory once in one’s lifetime, if he or she is physically able and can afford the journey. You can for Hajj after performing it for the first time, but this will be counted as a supererogatory act and not as an obligatory one.
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