How difficult this third level truly is, however the rewards are just as great!

How difficult this third level truly is, however the rewards are just as great! مَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا “And whoever keeps (one person) alive, it is as though he kept alive all of mankind.” [^7] The one thing that a man and woman who have returned from Hajj must always keep in mind at the third stage is that the Hajjis accountability before Allah , the Ahl al‑Bait (as) and the people is much different than that of the accountability that the `common people' have.

For the Hajji, Allah and the Ahl al‑Bait (as) open another `book of accounts' in the same way that the common people look at the one who has returned from Hajj in a different light.

Prophet Adam (as), did nothing more than a tark‑e‑Awla (not performing something that was better, rather performing something good' in its place), but since he was one of the `chosen' people and this tark-e-Awla was not appropriate for one with such a holy spirit, thus he was addressed as such: اهْبِطُوا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ “Get down from here (you two), one of you being an enemy to the other.” [^8] He was expelled from that high status (Jannah) to the lower status (this world).

Even with the status and position that Prophet Yusuf the Truthful (as) held, and with all the high marks that he scored in his tests, still he spent close to ten extra years in prison just for seeking help from other than Allah (swt).

فَلَبِثَ فِي السِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ “So then he spent some more years in the prison.” [^9] Prophet Yusuf (as) did not commit a sin, since he was immune from committing sins (ma`sum), but it was this tark‑e‑Awla that he performed which was not befitting for one at his status, and thus he was forced to spend an ten extra years in prison. There are many more stories like this in the Qur'an that are examples for the men and women who have returned from Hajj.

If a woman who has returned from Hajj ‑ through her actions and the way she carries herself or by not wearing the hijab or not observing it in the proper way, lowers the (value of the) Hajj amongst the people, then her sin is so great, that it is beyond our comprehension whether repentance can absolve her (of her sin) or not.

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