H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, participated in the 48th edition of the “Grand Hajj Symposium” in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, which was held on Monday 4 Dhul Hijjah 1445, corresponding to 10 June 2024, under the title “Observing Sharia Exemptions and Adhering to the Regulations of Hajj”, with the participation of around 500 guests, including ministers, scholars and intellectuals from the Muslim world; with the aim of unifying and optimizing efforts in educating pilgrims about the facilitation of performing hajj rituals.

The symposium was opened by the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, who delivered a keynote speech during the opening session in which he welcomed their Excellencies, dignitaries, and experts participating in the symposium.

The Secretary General made a scientific intervention in the second main session, which was titled: “The Jurisprudence of Exemptions and its Impact on Facilitating the Rite of Hajj”, in which he spoke about the importance of distinguishing between Shari’ah exemptions and jurisprudential exemptions in the rite of Hajj: “It seems to me that there is confusion between what is known as Shari’ah exemptions and jurisprudential exemptions, and the tracking of exemptions in its fundamental concept is meant to track jurisprudential exemptions, not legal exemptions, because legal exemptions should be tracked, acted upon, and adhered to, in accordance with the Prophet’s hadith (PBUH): (Allah loves that His exemptions be taken as He loves that His ordinances be taken), meaning that just as we abide by the ordinances and comply with them, we should also abide by the Sharia exemptions, which are the exemptions which are based on the Quran and the Sunnah.

As for the jurisprudential exemptions, these are the jurisprudential rulings that scholars have weaved around several different jurisprudential issues, and by looking at them, one finds that the evidence relied upon by some of these scholars is not strong, but rather, it is weighty evidence, and these exemptions are often known as the slips of the scholars, which is why it was said in the old days: “Whoever follows the slips of the scholars, his religion becomes thin, and it is said that he is a heretic, as told by a number of Imams of jurisprudence, such as Imam Sufyan al-Thawri, and Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah quoted a number of previous scholars.

His Excellency stressed that Sharia exemptions must be followed in matters of Hajj, and as for the jurisprudential exemptions, there is a need to refer to the jurisprudential councils and Sharia bodies when choosing from those exemptions, considering that these are general issues in which the collective jurisprudence represented in the Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Muslim World League, and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, pointing out that these bodies and councils gather the Ummah’s best scholars and jurists who meet to state Sharia rulings in these issues and developments and should be referred to.

It is worth mentioning that the Grand Hajj Symposium is one of the most prominent scientific events organized by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah annually since 1390, corresponding to 1970, aiming to discuss issues related to Hajj and serving pilgrims.