Does the Reward of an Accepted Hajj apply to Obligatory and Voluntary?

Question 175235

The Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told us in the Hadith: “Whoever performs Hajj and does not commit any obscenity or commit any evil will go back (free of) sin as on the day his mother bore him”; does this apply only to the obligatory Hajj? Or does it apply also to the one who does Hajj after the obligatory Hajj, i.e., a Sunnah Hajj? Will he also go back (free of sin) as his mother bore him? If his Hajj is accepted, will he have no reward except Paradise, or is that only for the obligatory Hajj?

Summary of answer:

The virtue of an accepted Hajj is applicable to both obligatory and voluntary Hajj because of the general meaning of the wording of the Hadiths.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

What Is the Reward for an Accepted Hajj?

There are a number of Hadiths that speak of the virtue of Hajj, including the following:

The Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari (1521) and Muslim (1350) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “Whoever performs Hajj and does not commit any obscenity or commit any evil will go back (free of) sin as on the day his mother bore him”
Al-Bukhari (1773) and Muslim (1349) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “…an accepted Hajj brings no reward but Paradise.”
At-Tirmidhi (738) and An-Nasa’i (2631) narrated that `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Make the Hajj and `Umrah follow each other closely, for they remove poverty and sins as the bellows removes the dross of iron, gold and silver, and an accepted Hajj brings no less a reward than Paradise.” (Classed as sound by Shaykh Al-Albani in Sahih Sunan At-Tirmidhi)

Is the Reward of Paradise for Both Obligatory and Voluntary Hajj?

The virtue of Hajj mentioned in the Hadiths quoted above includes both the obligatory Hajj and the optional Hajj, because of the general meaning of the wording.

What is an accepted Hajj?

Scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said, the accepted Hajj is that which is not mixed with sin.

Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The accepted Hajj is that in which a person does not commit any acts of disobedience towards Allah, as is indicated by the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in the report narrated from him by Abu Hurayrah: “Whoever performs Hajj and does not commit any obscenity or commit any evil will go back (free of) sin as on the day his mother bore him.” (End quote from Majmu` Fatawa Ibn Baz, 16/334)

And Allah knows best.

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