It is well known that pilgrimage earns the reward of complete forgiveness of past sins. A Muslim undertakes this difficult journey, hoping to wipe his slate clean and to shed the burden of sins and misdeeds he had accumulated in his life. Pilgrimage, therefore, comes as a result of a process which includes taking stock of what one may have done in the past, concluding that one needs to get rid of the burden of the past and make a fresh start. For a Muslim the best and the surest way of doing that is through pilgrimage. For this reason, a person who intends to go on pilgrimage should declare his repentance for what errors and slips he may have made, and resolve not to repeat these in future. When such a repentance is coupled with undertaking the journey of pilgrimage it ensures Allah's acceptance and forgiveness.

When we speak of repentance and forgiveness, we cannot but remember that Allah forgives any violation of limits He has imposed on us, as long as it represents an offense against Him. He does not forgive an offense which we may commit against other people, unless the aggrieved party forgoes his rights first. When Allah wants someone to be forgiven even that latter type of sins, He takes it upon Himself to satisfy the aggrieved party either by giving him much more than he would have taken from the offender or by increasing his reward. A person who earns his money in an illegitimate way must have earned it through wronging other people. If this is the case, then he cannot hope to be forgiven such an offense by using that money which he has earned through an illegitimate means to cover the expenses of his pilgrimage.

If one person takes the money of another in an illegitimate way and then prays to Allah to forgive him while using that money for his own benefits, then he is creating a very farcical situation and playing games with Islamic principles. There is one genuine way for him to be forgiven that offense. That involves repenting his offense, returning the money which he has taken unlawfully to its rightful owner, asking him to accept it and to pardon him. Then he should pray to Allah for forgiveness. If he does all that, his repentance is genuine.

The situation which you have mentioned is very similar to our farcical example. Imagine someone who has poured himself a glass of whisky. Holding the glass in his hand, he says: "My Lord forgive me," then he drinks that whisky. To us, such a situation seems ridiculous and we may tend to say that Allah will never forgive such a person, because he knows what he is doing and insists on doing it and he may be making fun of the Islamic principle of forgiveness. Yet, Allah may forgive such a person much sooner than one who undertakes the pilgrimage in the way you have described.

What such people actually do is to try to deal with Allah in the same way as they deal with their fellow human beings. A person may try to evade payment of income tax by a variety of tricks he may play on the tax inspector. He may get away with that because he knows that the tax inspector is a human being and he can only act on the basis of the information he has. That information is never complete. If a person tries to deal with Allah in the same way, he runs the risk of incurring Allah's displeasure. That is something which none of us can afford.

Let us examine the two ways you have mentioned as being employed as a "purifying process." The first one is a straightforward loan. It is true that the money you have in hand as a result of borrowing is lawful. When you pay that money for your pilgrimage expenses, you are using legitimate money. But how is the loan to be settled? Obviously from the money earned illegitimately. It needs neither a mathematician nor a philosopher to say that the pilgrimage expenses were paid from illegitimate money. Illegitimacy is not a stain which is placed on the currency itself. It is something attached to the whole transaction which resulted in illegitimate earnings. That process of borrowing and settling a loan is superfluous. It does not change the facts.

The same applies to the other method. By paying one's wife her dower and getting it back as a gift, as a result of either an explicit or implicit agreement, one does not change the position in any way. Why has he chosen this time in particular to make these arrangements? It is only to try to convince himself that he is going on pilgrimage using legitimate funds. He only deceives himself by doing so. He cannot deceive Allah.

There are two Hadiths which are particularly relevant to this whole affair. The first says: "Allah does not look at your shapes and forms, but he looks at your deeds." This means that a genuinely good deed is rewarded, while a bad one is punishable. Either method of "purification" of earnings has no motive other than giving a false disguise. Allah knows that and knows the reality of the intention behind every action. He evaluates such actions on the basis of the intentions behind them. This is what is meant by the Prophet's Hadith: "Actions are only by intention. Every human being shall have only what he has intended." So, a person who seeks to play a trick on Allah will get only what such an action merits. He simply deceives himself and he spends his money to no avail. We must remember what the Prophet, peace be upon him, says: "Allah is good and He accepts only what is good." Playing a trick is certainly not good. An action which involves any such trick is simply rejected by Allah.

In the case of a pilgrimage paid for by money earned unlawfully, we have to remember the Hadith which states: "When a man sets on pilgrimage, having good money earned legitimately and declares his intention saying: "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik" (which means: I respond to your call, my Lord), the angels will answer him: "Your response is welcome, so be happy: You have food paid for by good money, and your expenses are paid by legitimately earned money and your pilgrimage is accepted." On the other hand, when a man sets out on pilgrimage with money unlawfully earned, then as he makes his declaration that he is responding to Allah's call, the angels will say to him: "No response is accepted from you, and no happiness is given to you: Your food is unlawfully earned and your expenses are paid with illegitimately earned money, and your pilgrimage is unacceptable."

As I have explained, pilgrimage is an individual duty. If a person meets the conditions of ability to offer the pilgrimage, then it is a duty incumbent on him. If he is unable to offer the pilgrimage, that duty does not apply to him. An Islamic duty is not made dependent upon someone else. Otherwise, we will be accountable to Allah for that over which we have no control. Allah is too merciful to put us in such a difficult position.

Let me first explain that we use the expression "the worship of graves" to denote the practices of some people who visit graves of some dead persons whom they consider to have been saints or blessed people and ask them to accomplish certain needs of their own. They may do this at the Prophet's grave in Madinah, but they do it more often in their own towns and villages, having elevated certain people to a saintly grade. All this is unacceptable in Islam. In fact it runs contrary to the very concept of the Oneness of Allah on which Islam and all divine religions are based. It is not possible for any human being to remain within the fold of Islam while at the same time believing that a certain person, whether dead or alive, can be of any benefit to him in the hereafter. If he also believes that a dead person can answer any request or prayer, he is making a god of him. That is polytheism, or, to use the Islamic term, shirk. It is needless to say that there is no offense more serious or more grave than this.

It is unfortunate that in many Muslim areas, people tend to think that pirs, who get their position merely through belonging to a family of pirs, should be obeyed in all matters. A person who has that rank may have very little knowledge of Islam, its beliefs, worship, systems, practices and values. Nevertheless, he does not hesitate to give guidance to all those who look up to him to provide such guidance. They give him money and gifts and humble themselves before him. They consider that if he is pleased with them, they are ensured salvation in the hereafter. This is again a form of shirk, which is totally unacceptable.

Whether such thoughts, beliefs and practices are forgiven on the performance of the pilgrimage or not is a matter which needs clarification. The Prophet teaches us that pilgrimage offered with sincerity and dedication ensures the forgiveness of all sins. But when he says that, he only refers to sinful practices. He does not include false beliefs. Forgiveness is granted by Allah to people who do not associate any partners with Him, or, in other words, are not guilty of shirk. Allah states clearly in the Qur'an a rule which must remain with us as part of our beliefs: "Allah never forgives that partners should be associated with Him, but He is ready to forgive whomsoever He wills anything other than that." This means that when it comes to belief, we must be absolutely clear. No trace of polytheism may be allowed to creep into our minds. When we have reached this stage, the forgiveness of any sins is obtainable, with Allah's grace. But once our beliefs involve polytheism in any shape or form, forgiveness is absolutely denied.

On this basis, I can tell you without hesitation that if a person is guilty of entertaining such beliefs or following this line or practice which elevates a pir to a position of godhead, the offering of pilgrimage will not bring him any forgiveness. Not even if he offers that pilgrimage every year. First he has to eradicate any trace of polytheism from his beliefs. It is only then that he can hope for forgiveness.

In fact the forgiveness of such practices does not require pilgrimage. What it requires is for the person concerned to examine his beliefs in the light of Islam. He must first of all clearly understand the meaning of the declaration which brings a person into the fold of Islam, i.e. the Kalimah which can be stated in translation as: "I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is His messenger." He should understand what godhead means and what the concept of the Oneness of Allah actually means in beliefs and in practices. He should also be fully aware of what the declaration that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is Allah's messenger entails. I can tell you very briefly that it means that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the only person through whom we receive Allah's instructions on how to conduct our lives, what principles to follow, what values to observe and what practices to adopt.

When we have understood that very clearly, we should mold our lives in accordance with this basic and fundamental aspect. We should always be keen to learn more about Islam so that our understanding of it is very clear. When someone suggests to us that a certain practice will improve our standing with Allah, we do not accept his statement without question. We look at it in the light of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. If we find it in accordance with those teachings, we accept it; if not, we reject it off hand.

If a person who has been guilty of the practices and beliefs you have mentioned follows this course and examines his beliefs and practices in the light of the guiding principles included in the declaration of belonging to Islam, and then repents of what he had done in the past, gives it all up and starts to conduct his life according to the Prophet's teachings, he is sure to earn Allah's forgiveness. He should then go to pilgrimage as part of his duties as a Muslim. When he offers the pilgrimage with sincerity and dedication, he is forgiven all his past sins. As you realize, pilgrimage is a duty of all Muslims who can afford to undertake the journey, physically and financially. What this means is that forgiveness of the aforementioned beliefs and practices can be earned through repentance and the rectification of one's beliefs. Pilgrimage brings about the forgiveness of lesser sins.