Book of Hajj: Restrictions and Permitted Acts in Ihram

1. Three broad restrictions after entering iḥrām

فَلْيَتَّقِ مَا نَهَى اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ مِنَ الرَّفَثِ، وَالْفُسُوقِ، وَالْجِدَالِ.
Translation: The pilgrim must avoid what Allah has forbidden: rafath, fusūq and jidāl.

Rafath covers sexual conduct and indecent sexual speech in the pilgrimage context; fusūq is disobedience; and jidāl is contentious quarrelling.

These requirements reach beyond pilgrim clothing. The ethical obligations remain important outside iḥrām too, and pilgrimage places them in special focus.

2. Distinguishing rafath, fusūq and jidāl

Rafath concerns prohibited sexual behaviour and speech; fusūq disobedience; and jidāl argumentation marked by quarrelling.

A courteous clarification or necessary question is not automatically the same as the condemned contentious dispute. The prohibition targets wrongful contention.

3. Game animals: no killing or directing hunters

وَلَا يَقْتُلْ صَيْدًا، وَلَا يُشِرْ إِلَيْهِ، وَلَا يَدُلَّ عَلَيْهِ.
Translation: The pilgrim must not kill game, point it out, or direct someone to it.

Ṣayd here means game covered by the iḥrām restrictions, particularly wild land game. The passage prohibits not only directly killing it but also pointing it out or guiding a hunter toward it.

It does not mean that slaughtering ordinary domestic livestock or dealing with dangerous creatures must always be treated like unlawful hunting; separate rulings apply.

4. Indirect participation in a hunt

Consider a pilgrim who does not shoot a deer but intentionally tells a hunter where it is hiding so it can be taken. Al-Quduri’s wa-lā yadulla ʿalayh addresses such direction.

Simply seeing an animal and deliberately assisting its capture are distinct situations. Read both the action and purpose of a case.

5. Male pilgrim: ordinary fitted garments

وَلَا يَلْبَسْ قَمِيصًا، وَلَا سَرَاوِيلَ، وَلَا عِمَامَةً، وَلَا قَلَنْسُوَةً، وَلَا قَبَاءً.
Translation: The pilgrim must not wear a shirt, trousers, turban, cap or fitted outer coat.

This passage concerns the specific male clothing restrictions. The named items are a shirt, trousers, wrapped headwear, a cap, and a fitted outer coat.

Women do not have to adopt the two-wrap male outfit. Their modest clothing and face-covering rules require their own treatment.

6. Sewing versus tailored, body-fitting clothing

In Hanafi usage, prohibited makhīṭ for a male pilgrim concerns clothes shaped and worn as garments fitted around body parts. It is not a ban on every piece of cloth that happens to have a stitch.

A repaired wrap does not become the same as a worn shirt merely because it contains stitching. The garment’s form and manner of wearing are relevant.

7. Important limitation about women's clothing

The preceding male garment list must not be converted into a universal dress code for both sexes. A woman ordinarily enters iḥrām in suitable modest, tailored clothing, and does not have the male rule to uncover her hair.

There are further details distinguishing fitted face veils from other methods of maintaining modesty. The short passage alone does not settle every case.

8. Footwear and the classical exception for khuffs

وَلَا خُفَّيْنِ، إِلَّا أَنْ لَا يَجِدَ النَّعْلَيْنِ، فَيَقْطَعَهُمَا أَسْفَلَ مِنَ الْكَعْبَيْنِ.
Translation: Nor should the pilgrim wear leather khuffs, unless suitable sandals are unavailable; then the khuffs are cut below the ankles.

Khuffayn are traditional leather foot-coverings, while naʿlayn indicates sandals. Al-Quduri states an exception when sandals cannot be obtained: the khuffs are cut below ankle level.

This is the classical text’s formulation. Particular modern footwear, medical needs, or contemporary applied fatwas call for separate assessment.

9. The exception depends on a stated condition

Illā an lā yajida al-naʿlayn sets the condition of the exception. In fa-yaqṭaʿahumā, the dual pronoun refers back to the two khuffs.

The exception must not be turned into an unrestricted personal choice to wear any closed footwear during iḥrām.

10. Covering the head and face

وَلَا يُغَطِّي رَأْسَهُ، وَلَا وَجْهَهُ.
Translation: The pilgrim must not cover the head or the face.

Read this as al-Quduri’s concise discussion of the classical Hanafi restrictions relevant to the male pilgrim’s head and face. Yughaṭṭī means to cover.

Shade overhead and directly covering the head or face are not identical acts. The text later expressly permits shade from a structure or covered mount.

11. Direct covering and shade are different

Putting a turban directly on a male pilgrim's head is covering the head. Sitting beneath a building roof is sheltering in shade.

This distinction is the key lesson. Medical necessities, protective equipment, and women's face coverings involve separate applications and are not resolved by this simple comparison.

12. Applying perfume after entry into iḥrām

وَلَا يَمَسَّ طِيبًا.
Translation: And the pilgrim must not apply perfume.

Level 079 mentioned perfume as pre-iḥrām preparation. This sentence prohibits new perfume application after entering iḥrām. The difference is temporal and legal.

Do not derive the exact expiation for every amount of scent from this single statement. Quantity and excuse are addressed later in the chapter on violations.

13. The same scent before and after entry

Perfume applied before legal entry belongs to the preparatory stage; applying fresh fragrance afterward invokes the prohibition.

A correct scenario therefore specifies when the intention and talbiyah established the state of iḥrām.

14. Hair, beard and nails

وَلَا يَحْلِقْ رَأْسَهُ، وَلَا شَعْرَ بَدَنِهِ، وَلَا يَقُصَّ مِنْ لِحْيَتِهِ، وَلَا مِنْ ظُفْرِهِ.
Translation: The pilgrim must not shave the head or body hair, nor trim the beard or nails.

Yaḥliq means to shave; yaquṣṣ to cut or trim. Al-Quduri mentions head hair, body hair, the beard and nails explicitly.

Deliberately removing hair or clipping nails during iḥrām is a different legal situation from an unavoidable loose hair falling away. Detailed liability belongs in later rulings.

15. Prohibition is not itself the penalty schedule

This portion enumerates forbidden acts; it is not yet a uniform penalty table. The amount removed and circumstances can affect the later consequences.

Trimming a little hair, shaving a substantial part of the head and medically necessary removal are addressed in different later subcases. Learn the underlying prohibition first.

16. Garments dyed with particular substances

وَلَا يَلْبَسْ ثَوْبًا مَصْبُوغًا بِوَرْسٍ، وَلَا بِزَعْفَرَانٍ، وَلَا بِعُصْفُرٍ، إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ غَسِيلًا لَا يَنْفُضُ.
Translation: Nor may the pilgrim wear a garment dyed with wars, saffron or safflower, unless it has been washed so that it no longer sheds the relevant dyed residue.

Wars, zaʿfarān and ʿuṣfur are named plant-based dye or scent substances. The wording should not be expanded into a ban on every coloured piece of cloth; it concerns particular dyed garments and remaining effects.

Lā yanfuḍu negates the shedding or transfer of the relevant residue. Other male garment restrictions remain separate.

17. Specific dyeing versus ordinary colour

Al-Quduri explicitly names three substances. The issue of remaining dye or scent effects should not be collapsed into a general rule that any piece of coloured fabric is unlawful.

The male garment’s shape and manner of wearing are an independent consideration. Colour alone does not establish a violation of this specific quoted sentence.

18. Bathing, bathhouses and shade are permitted

وَلَا بَأْسَ أَنْ يَغْتَسِلَ، وَيَدْخُلَ الْحَمَّامَ، وَيَسْتَظِلَّ بِالْبَيْتِ وَالْمَحْمِلِ.
Translation: There is no objection to the pilgrim bathing, entering a bathhouse, and taking shade from a building or a covered litter.

Iḥrām does not ban cleanliness or ordinary bathing. Al-ḥammām refers to a bathhouse, and al-maḥmal a sheltered litter historically carried on a riding animal.

Permission to bathe does not in itself license hair removal, perfume application or other prohibited acts. Those conditions remain relevant.

19. Practical care while washing

The pilgrim may bathe using plain water. However, removing hair and using prohibited scented products involve independent rules.

Al-Quduri soon singles out washing the head and beard with khiṭmī. Bathing permission therefore must be read alongside the specific restrictions.

20. Tying a money belt at the waist

وَيَشُدَّ فِي وَسَطِهِ الْهِمْيَانَ.
Translation: And the pilgrim may fasten a money belt around the waist.

A himyān is a pouch or belt tied at the waist to secure money or valuables. The text mentions it among permitted arrangements.

Using a waist pouch is distinct from putting on a fitted shirt or trousers. A modern travel money belt illustrates the purpose of the classical item.

21. Why a belt is not a fitted garment

The himyān secures belongings rather than functioning as a fitted full-body garment. The garment restriction must not automatically be applied to the belt.

Conversely, its permission does not extend to unrelated prohibited acts such as new perfume use or head covering.

22. Washing hair or beard with khiṭmī

وَلَا يَغْسِلَ رَأْسَهُ، وَلَا لِحْيَتَهُ بِالْخِطْمِيِّ.
Translation: And the pilgrim must not wash the head or beard with khiṭmī.

Khiṭmī was a plant-based cleansing substance. Washing the head or beard with it has a separate classical legal treatment, including its effect on hair, and should not be equated with plain-water washing.

This qualifies the earlier bathing permission: cleanliness is allowed, while particular cleansing agents remain restricted.

23. Plain water versus a specified cleanser

Gently washing the head with plain water falls under the basic permission to bathe. Washing with the substance explicitly named by al-Quduri falls under the special restriction regarding khiṭmī.

The sentence should not automatically be applied unchanged to every contemporary soap or shampoo; ingredient and practical details require separate assessment.

24. Frequent talbiyah at meaningful occasions

وَيُكْثِرُ مِنَ التَّلْبِيَةِ عَقِبَ الصَّلَوَاتِ، وَكُلَّمَا عَلَا شَرَفًا، أَوْ هَبَطَ وَادِيًا، أَوْ لَقِيَ رُكْبَانًا، وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ.
Translation: The pilgrim should frequently recite talbiyah after prayers, on ascending high ground, descending a valley, meeting fellow riders, and in the pre-dawn hours.

Yukthiru means to increase or frequently repeat. These situations are recommended occasions for remembrance, not an exhaustive list of the only permissible moments.

Asḥār means late-night or pre-dawn periods; sharaf is high ground and wādī a valley.

25. Talbiyah alongside disciplined conduct

Al-Quduri moves from prohibited conduct to permitted actions and finally to frequent talbiyah. Iḥrām is a state of worship and discipline, not merely a change of clothes.

The repeated talbiyah belongs to the relevant period of iḥrām. Its ending and the progression of pilgrimage rites require their later context.

26. Key vocabulary: the forbidden acts

Rafath: prohibited sexual speech or conduct.
Fusūq: disobedience.
Jidāl: contentious quarrelling.
Ṣayd: game animal subject to restriction.
Sarāwīl: trousers.
Qalansuwah: cap.
Khuffān: two leather foot-coverings; naʿlān: two sandals.

27. Morphology of the prohibitive verbs

Fa-l-yattaqi: command from ittaqā, to take care and avoid.
Lā yaqtul: prohibitive lā plus imperfect jussive, do not kill.
Lā yalbas: do not wear.
Lā yughaṭṭi: Form II, do not cover.
Lā yaḥliq: do not shave.
Lā yaquṣṣ: from the doubled root q-ṣ-ṣ, do not trim.
Yukthiru: Form IV, to repeat frequently.

28. Syntax: the prohibition on hunting

وَلَا يَقْتُلْ صَيْدًا، وَلَا يُشِرْ إِلَيْهِ، وَلَا يَدُلَّ عَلَيْهِ
Translation: The pilgrim must neither kill game, point to it, nor direct another to it.

Lā is prohibitive in each clause; yaqtul is jussive; ṣaydan is the accusative direct object; ilayhi modifies yushir, and ʿalayhi relates to yadulla.

29. Syntax: permission to bathe

وَلَا بَأْسَ أَنْ يَغْتَسِلَ
Translation: There is no objection to bathing.

Here lā negates the genus, baʾsa is its noun, and an yaghtasila is an infinitival clause relating to bathing. Unlike the preceding prohibitions, it expresses permission.

30. Review: prohibited and permitted actions

Prohibited: sexual misconduct, sin and quarrelling; game hunting or assisting a hunter; specified male fitted clothing and direct head covering; new perfume; hair or nail removal; named dyed clothing and khiṭmī issues.

Permitted: appropriate bathing, visiting a bathhouse, overhead shade and a money belt.

Recommended remembrance: frequent talbiyah after prayers, at changes of terrain and before dawn. Penalties and the entry into Mecca are later subjects.