What is the Islamic ruling on swearing the oath for performing Hajj, and what is its origin in Sharia ?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah. May all his blessings and peace be upon Prophet Mohammad and upon his family and companions: It goes without saying that the number of pilgrims is on the rise, thanks to Allah for that, and amongst the reasons behind that are: the growth of religious awakening within the Muslim nation as well as the ease in reaching Mecca. Had there not been organizing for the acts of Hajj, the yards of the Haram wouldn`t have absorbed the large number of pilgrims, and consequently the financially and physically weak wouldn`t have been able to perform this great act of worship, and so it would have become restricted to those who are financially and physically strong. As a result, it was imperative to organize this matter; therefore, the Muslim states agreed that each of them will send a certain number of pilgrims in line with the number of its population, and that each state regulates this matter with its own citizens. In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, priority is given to the old and the people of special cases who haven`t performed Hajj before. These were given precedence so that their lives would end with a righteous deed, God`s willing. Mostly, they have passed sixty, and they are escorted by some young relatives of theirs to help them, and this way the total of pilgrims encompasses a variety of ages. Muslims` passion to perform Hajj is justifiable since the recompense for this act is great for the Prophet(PBUH) said in this regard: “Whoever performs Hajj for Allah's pleasure and does not have sexual relations with his wife, and does not do evil or sins then he will return (after Hajj free from all sins) as if he were born anew. “ {Bukhari&Muslim}. Therefore, we see that some Muslims opt for performing this great act of worship for several times, and seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that those who have never performed obligatory Hajj are more entitled to it than those who have already offered it. Some of them would even claim that they have never performed Hajj, although it isn`t true, thinking that Allah would forgive this sin once they perform it ! Such people seem to ignore that they are denying others their right because the number of those given the chance to perform Hajj is limited. Therefore, there had to be some mechanism for recognizing those who have performed Hajj and those who haven’t. One way was checking the names of those who offered Hajj through the computer and name lists. Yet, some aren`t registered on the computer and so there is no way to make sure, but through making them swear an oath, or checking the records . The ruler has the right to make a Muslim swear an oath if that achieves a legal benefit, and the benefit here is that the ones who have performed Hajj don`t deny those who haven`t their right in performing this act of worship. The same method is used by the judge with the plaintiff so as to protect the rights of people. And Allah knows best.