Our most fundamental need is imaan which we need every moment of our lives. Together with imaan we have various ibaadat to perform. Among them salaah is to be performed five times a day. Fasting and zakaat are compulsory duties carried out once a year. However, haj is compulsory only once in our lifetime. Thus the first haj that we perform will be our fardh (compulsory) haj. Thereafter even if we perform a hundred haj, it will all be nafl (optional). Thus this highlights the need to get our first haj right. Haj is unlike salaah and other compulsory duties where we have the chance of improving on our previous duty. We should therefore strive to perfect our first haj and get it accepted in the court of Allah Ta’ala. We cannot afford to have our first haj rejected due to our carelessness in as far as learning and preparing for the haj itself. The spiritual preparation is the most essential need of every Haaji so that together with haj of “Baitullah” (Ka’bah Shareef), when one returns, he returns as a true “Abdullah” (servant of Allah Ta’ala)
