the sick person, the loss of a stray animal, and the occurrence of a need." Ahmad said: Al-Thawri and Waki' narrated it from Abu Isra'il, from Fudayl ibn 'Amr, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn 'Abbas, from his brother al-Fadl, from the Prophet (peace be upon him). From 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever possesses provisions and a mount that can convey him to the House of Allah, and yet does not perform Hajj, then it does not matter if he dies a Jew or a Christian." Al-Tirmidhi (7) said: We do not know it except from this chain, and there is criticism regarding its chain of narration (isnad). Sa'id ibn Mansur recorded, with his chain from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Sabit, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever dies without having performed the Hajj of Islam, and was not prevented by a hindering illness, an oppressive ruler, or an obvious necessity, then let him die in whatever state he wishes, as a Jew or a Christian" (8). Something similar in meaning is narrated from 'Umar in his statements, as well as from Ibn 'Umar and Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them. It is also because it is one of the pillars of Islam, so it is mandatory immediately, like fasting. Furthermore, if its obligation were interpreted as having latitude (tawassa'), it would remove it from the status of mandatory acts, for it would be delayed indefinitely, and one would not be sinful for dying before performing it, since he would have done what is permissible for him to do, and there is no sign regarding death after which he would be able to perform it. As for the Prophet (peace be upon him), he only conquered Mecca in the eighth year, and he delayed it until the ninth year; it is possible that he had an excuse, such as lack of ability, or he disliked seeing polytheists naked around the House, so he delayed the Hajj until he sent Abu Bakr to proclaim: "No polytheist shall perform Hajj after this year, and no one shall circumambulate the House naked" (9). It is also possible that he delayed it by the command of Allah Almighty so that his Hajj (10) would be the Farewell Pilgrimage in the year when time had completed its cycle to the state it was in when Allah created the heavens and the earth, and so that his stay (waqfah) (11) would coincide with Friday, and Allah would perfect His religion.