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What 'Umrah Is
'Umrah means a visit. In the Shari'ah it is a visit to the Ka'bah in a state of ihram, made up of four acts: entering ihram, the tawaf around the Ka'bah, the sa'i between al-Safa and al-Marwah, and shaving or shortening the hair. Unlike Hajj, it is not tied to the days of Dhul-Hijjah and can be performed through the year.
Allah says: ﴿وَأَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلْحَجَّ وَٱلْعُمْرَةَ لِلَّهِ﴾ (“And complete the Hajj and the 'Umrah for Allah”). Anas reported that the Prophet ﷺ performed 'Umrah four times, though he performed Hajj only once.
Its reward is great. The Prophet ﷺ said: "One 'Umrah to the next is an expiation for what is between them", and he told a woman of the Ansar that an 'Umrah in Ramadan is equal to a Hajj. The schools differ on whether 'Umrah is an obligation once in a lifetime, as set out below.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is 'Umrah obligatory once in a lifetime?
The schools are split two and two.
Show each school
- Stressed sunnah (mu'akkadah)Hanafi · Maliki
- Obligatory once in a lifetimeShafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- 'Umrah is a stressed sunnah, not an obligation; the command in the verse to "complete" it is understood as completing it once it has been begun.
- Maliki
- 'Umrah is a stressed sunnah once in a lifetime; the verse commands completing it after one has begun, not beginning it.
- Shafi'i
- In the school's more correct (later) view 'Umrah is obligatory once, like Hajj, based on the verse and on the Prophet's ﷺ command to Abu Razin to perform Hajj and 'Umrah for his father.
- Hanbali
- In the relied-upon view 'Umrah is obligatory once in a lifetime for one who is able, supported by the hadith of 'A'ishah that the jihad of women is Hajj and 'Umrah.
- Qur'an 2:196
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1778 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1773 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 1349Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1782 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud 1810Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 930Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
- Sunan Ibn Majah 2901Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Fouad Abd al-Baqi: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Sahih BukhariSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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