Umrah (Lesser Pilgrimage)
The lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, which can be performed at any time of the year.
Umrah is the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, which unlike Hajj can be performed at any time of the year. It consists of four main rituals: ihram (entering the state of pilgrimage), tawaf (seven circumambulations of the Kaaba), sa'i (walking between Safa and Marwa), and halq/taqsir (shaving or shortening the hair).
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "An Umrah to the next is an expiation for what is between them, and the accepted Hajj has no reward other than Paradise" (Sahih al-Bukhari). Prayer at Masjid al-Haram during Umrah has a special virtue — the Prophet said: "One prayer in my mosque is better than a thousand prayers elsewhere, except Masjid al-Haram" (Sahih al-Bukhari).
The four Sunni schools of law disagree on whether Umrah is obligatory (wajib) or merely strongly recommended (sunnah mu'akkadah). The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools consider it obligatory at least once in a lifetime, while the Hanafi and Maliki schools regard it as strongly recommended.
Related terms
Taqlid (Following a School of Law)
The practice of following a qualified scholar's legal opinions without necessarily knowing the evidence.
Adl (God's Justice)
The doctrine of God's absolute justice — the second article of faith in Shia Islam.
Salat al-Hajat (Prayer of Need)
A voluntary prayer performed when one has a specific need or wish.
Hajj (Pilgrimage)
The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam, obligatory for every Muslim with the ability.
Sunnah Mu'akkadah (Emphasized Sunnah)
Voluntary prayers that the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed regularly and rarely omitted.
Madhhab (School of Law)
An Islamic school of law with its own methodology for legal derivation from the sacred sources.