Think! When the scholars said that spending on the poor is better than voluntary Hajj, then what about abandoning innovations like celebrations of Mawlid, URS, lights, and wasting millions, and instead giving that to the needy?
1. Al-Husain ibn ‘Ali may Allah be pleased with him❤️
2. al-Shaʿbī (Tabi`ee).
3. Imam Abu Hnaifa.
4. Maaliki opinion.
5. Shafi’ee view
6. Hanbali view
7. The teacher of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, Ibn ʿAqīl al-Ḥanbalī, and the Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Muflih.
8. Either make dome over the grave of Imam Ahmad or spend in Charity.
9. Conclusion
1. Al-Husain ibn ‘Ali may Allah be pleased with him❤️
He said:
“لأن أقوت أهلَ بيت بالمدينة صاعًا كل يوم، أو كل يوم صاعين شهرًا، أحب إليَّ من حجة في إثر حجة”
“To provide a sa’ (a measure) of food daily, or two sa’s every day for a month, to the people of household in Medina is more beloved to me than performing one Hajj after another.”
[Reported by Ibn Abi Shaybah in “Al-Musannaf” (13186)].2. al-Shaʿbī (Tabi`ee)
Some neighbors came to al-Shaʿbī (Tabi`ee) and said:
إني قد تهيأتُ للخروج، ولي جيران محتاجون متعففون، فما ترى إلى جعل كراي وجهازي فيهم، أو أمضي لوجهي للحج؟ فقال: والله إن الصدقة يعظم أجرها، وما تعدل عندي موقفًا من المواقف، أو شيئًا من الأشياء.
“We wish to go for ḥajj, but we have some chaste and needy neighbors. What is your opinion should we give our provisions and expenses to them, or should we set out for ḥajj?”
He replied: “By Allah, the reward of charity is very great, and in my view nothing can be equal to spending wealth on such occasions and in such circumstances.”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, Kitāb al-Ḥajj, ḥadīth no. 13659)
3. Imam Abu Hnaifa
Imam Al-Tahawi Al-Hanafi said:
[قال أبو حنيفة: الصدقة أفضل من حجة تطوع، وهو قول الثوري، وعبيد الله بن الحسن…قال: الصدقة منفعة لأهل الإسلام، والحج منفعة مقصورة عليه خاصة، والصدقة أفضل لعموم نفعهاAbu Hanifah said: Charity is better than a voluntary Hajj. This is also the opinion of Al-Thawri and ‘Ubaydullah ibn Al-Hasan…He said: Charity is a benefit for the people of Islam, while Hajj is a benefit confined to him specifically. Charity is superior due to its general benefit.] [Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf Al-‘Ulama (2/242)]
4. Maaliki opinion.
The great scholar al-Hattab al-Maliki said
[ويفهم منه أنها -أي الصدقة- لا تُقدَّم على الحج الفرض، وهو كذلك على القول بالفور، وعلى القول بالتراخي فتُقدَّم عليه، وهذا ما لم تتعين المواساة؛ بأن يجد محتاجًا يجب عليه مواساته بالقدر الذي يصرفه في حجه؛ فيُقدَّم ذلك على الحج؛ لوجوبه فورًا من غير خلاف، والحج مختلف فيه.Charity does not come before the obligatory Hajj if Hajj must be done immediately. But if Hajj can be delayed, then charity can be given priority over it.
However, if helping someone becomes obligatory for example, you find a very needy person who must be helped with the same money you would spend on Hajj then helping that person comes first. This is because helping the needy is required immediately, while the timing of Hajj is a matter of scholarly difference.
[Mawahib al-Jalil 2/537]5. Shafi’i view
Shafi‘i scholars mentioned the virtue of giving Hajj expenses to people in need instead of performing Hajj, as Imam ‘Izz al-Din ibn Jama‘ah wrote a whole chapter about it in his Manasik, titled: ‘The virtue of one who preferred helping the needy with Hajj expenses and did not perform Hajj’.
6. Hanbali view
Al-Bahūtī in Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt (1/236) says:
[(ثم) أفضل تطوع البدن بعد الصلاة (ما تعدى نفعه) من صدقة وعيادة مريض، وقضاء حاجة مسلم ونحوها (ويتفاوت) ما يتعدى نفعه في الفضل (فصدقة على قريب محتاج أفضل من عتق) أجنبي؛ لأنها صدقة وصلة (وهو) أي: العتق أفضل (منها) أي: من صدقة (على أجنبي)؛ لعظم نفعه بتخليصه من أسر الرق (إلا زمن غلاء وحاجة) فالصدقة مطلقًا أفضل منه؛ لدعاء الحاجة إليها إذن (ثم حج) لقصور نفعه عليه“After prayer, the most virtuous voluntary act of the body is what has benefit for others: charity, visiting the sick, fulfilling a Muslim’s need, etc.
Charity to a needy relative is better than freeing a slave who is not a relative, because it combines charity and maintaining kinship ties. Freeing a slave in general is better than charity to a stranger, because of the immense benefit of freeing someone from bondage. However, in times of famine or urgent need, general charity is better than freeing a slave, and better than voluntary Hajj, because Hajj’s benefit is limited to the performer.”
7. The teacher of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, Ibn ʿAqīl al-Ḥanbalī, and the Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Muflih expressed their stance regarding the annual gatherings of their time. In today’s context, this includes processions, celebrations, Mawlid, Urs, and the intermingling of men and women conducted in the name of Islam.
Ibn Aqil said about those who gather yearly in juloos, masajid, maqabir etc:
وصانوا الأهل اتباعا للنبي – صلى الله عليه وسلم – حيث « انسل من فراش عائشة – رضي الله عنها – إلى المسجد لا جموع ولا شموع ؟ , طوبى لمن سمع هذا الحديث فانزوى إلى زاوية بيته, فانتصب لقراءة جزء في ركعتين بتدبر وتفكر », فيالها من لحظة ما أصفاها من أكدار المخالطات, وأقذار الرياء، غدا يرى أهل الجموع أن المساجد تلعنهم، والمشاهد والمقابر تستغيث منهم.
يُبَكِّرُ أحدهم فيقول: أنا صائم، متى أفلح عُرْسُكَ حتى يكون له صبحة ؟ , قل لي: يا من أحيا في الجامع بأي قلب رجعت؟ , مات والله قلبك، وعابت نفسك، ما أخوفني على من فعل هذا الفعل في هذه الليالي أن يخاف في مواطن الأمن، ويظمأ في مقامات الري انتهى كلامه.
قال ابن مفلح : وإذا كان ذلك في زمنه فما ظنك بزمننا هذا الذي بينهما نحو ثلاثمائة سنة, وما يجري بالشام ومصر، والعراق وغيرها من بلاد الإسلام في أيام المواسم من المنكرات فإنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون.
The Prophet ﷺ would slip away from ‘Ā’ishah’s bed (may Allah be pleased with her) to the mosque no crowds, no lamps. Blessed is the one who hears this ḥadīth, goes to a quiet corner of his home, and prays two rak‘ahs while reflecting on the Qur’an. How pure and free from the distractions of crowds and the filth of showing off that moment is! Tomorrow, those who attend such gatherings will find that mosques reject them, and shrines and graves cry out to them. (i.e as if saying, “Go back, we do not need this.”)
.. Tell me, O you who spent the night in the mosque, with what heart did you return? By Allah, your heart is dead, and your soul is blameworthy. How fearful I am for anyone who does this in these nights that he may become afraid in safe places and thirsty in places of plenty.
Ibn Mufliḥ said: If this was already a problem in his time, then what do you think of our time about three hundred years later when in Sham, Egypt, Iraq, and other Islamic lands, these festive days of religious seasons are filled with evil innovations? Truly, to Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return.
Al-Adab al-Shar‘iyyah wal-Manah al-Mar‘iyyah (3/390)
8. Either make dome over the grave of Imam Ahmad or spend in Charity.
Ibn Abi Yala said:
قال أبو محمد التميمي: أنفذ الخليفة المطيع لله بمال عظيم ليبني على قبر أحمد بن حنبل قبة فقال له جدي وأبو بكر عبد العزيز: أليس تريد أن تتقرب إلى الله تعالى بذلك؟ فقال: بلى فقالا له: إن مذهبه أن لا يبنى عليه شيء فقال: تصدقوا بالمال على من ترونه فقالا له: بل تصدق به على من تريد أنت فتصدق به .
Abu Muhammad al-Tamimi said that Caliph Muti’ Allah asked: “What if I spend a lot of money to build a dome over the grave of Ahmad ibn Hanbal?”
His grandfather and Abu Bakr ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz replied: “Don’t you want to be closer to Allah?” The Caliph said: “Of course.” They told him: “Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s way (madhhab) was not to build anything over graves.”
Then the Caliph said: “Then I will spend it in charity wherever it is needed.” They agreed, and so the Caliph gave the money in charity instead of building over the grave.
[Tabqaat al Hanabila by Ibn Abi Yala 1/271]9. Conclusion:
Mawlid un-Nabi and Urs were not established practices until the 4th century among the Fatimid Rafidhis, and only later became prevalent among Sunnis in the 6th century. That is a separate debate. Teacher of Shaykh Abdul Qadir al Jilani, Ibn Aqīl al‑Hanbalī described ritualized gatherings, lamps, processions, etc., as harmful innovations that distract from sincere worship and turn religious occasions into cultural spectacles rather than genuine dhikr. Ibn al‑Muflih lamented the spread of these innovations in later periods, noting their moral and spiritual corruption. For this reason, some later scholars permitted only charity during the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal on Mawlid, without endorsing processions, lighting displays, or extravagant spending.
But the main point remains: If scholars stated that spending on the poor is better than voluntary Hajj, then why continue innovations like Mawlid, Urs, lights, and extravagance instead of giving that wealth to the needy?