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How to Earn the Reward of Hajj & Umrah Everyday

“Whoever prays Fajr in congregation then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two rak’ahs, will have a reward like that of Hajj and ‘Umrah, complete, complete, complete.” [Tirmidhi]

There’s no journey, no spiritual experience, nor such a chance to connect with Allah Almighty quite as powerful as Hajj.

Every year, Muslims from around the world gather their hard earned savings and make the epic journey towards Makkah to perform the rituals of Hajj we all know so well.

With such a journey comes plenty of sacrifice, strength, tears, joy, and of course an unimaginable amount of rewards. After all, as the Hadith says:

“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” [Bukhari, Muslim]

In part of another Hadith, the Blessed Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“…an accepted Hajj brings no reward but Paradise.” [Bukhari, Muslim]

Coming back sinless like the day we were born, or having a chance to attain guaranteed Paradise are both reasons why so many of us long for the opportunity to perform Hajj. For many of us however, the time for Allah’s call may not arrive for years or even decades.

In Allah’s (swt) infinite Mercy, He has given us the chance to earn such rewards even from the comfort of our own homes. Say what?! Yes! Although there is no substitute for performing Hajj in real life – as it is an obligation upon every able Muslim at least once per lifetime – Allah (swt) has given us the opportunity to earn rewards equivalent to performing Hajj each and every single day.

But how?!

Often times we think our Deen is very difficult, and we that have to perform lots of colossal deeds to get into Paradise. But there’re actually some deeds which are so easy to do, but have massive rewards.

The following Hadith is a perfect example of this. We are taught of an act so simple, yet the rewards are mind blowing:

“Whoever prays Fajr in congregation then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two rak’ahs, will have a reward like that of Hajj and ‘Umrah, complete, complete, complete.” [Tirmidhi]

How INCREDIBLE is that?!

Just by performing this one action, we can accumulate a huge number of deeds each day. It’s important to remember however, that performing this action is likened to one Hajj and one Umrah in terms of rewards, not in terms of fulfilling one’s obligation. If somebody is regular in performing this deed every day, it does not mean that they are no longer required to perform the blessed pilgrimage in real life. We must remember that Allah (swt) rewards us as He wills, and the physical acts of saving money, travelling long distances, bearing the hardships of travel and enduring the physical activities required during Hajj will carry their own mega rewards.

So… you may be thinking, “Well, it’s not so easy to stay awake after Fajr until sunrise. That could be hours long!”.

Here’s an easier way to carry it out:

Say for example sunrise (the time at which Fajr ends) is at 7am, you can simply delay your Fajr congregation until 6:40 or 6:45. This way, you now only have to wait 15 minutes until sunrise hits at 7am, plus an extra 15-20 minutes until the forbidden time of prayer passes. During this time you can recite the Qur’an, or recite Dhikr etc. At around 7:15-7:20am, the time of Ishraq will enter and you can now stand to pray the 2 rak’ahs.

Easy peasy – lemon squeezy!

May Allah (swt) grant us the ability to carry out this great deed every single day – Ameen!

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