Is there any harm in staying in Makkah for a long time after 'Umrah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question : Is there any harm, Shaykh, in staying for a long time after 'Umrah in Makkah, Shaykh?
Answer : There is no harm in it. Staying in Makkah after 'Umrah is not harmful, except if it causes a person to miss out on his interests in his homeland. In that case, he should return to his homeland and not stay in Makkah. For example, if a head of a family performs 'Umrah, and if he stays in Makkah, his family is neglected, then we say: return to your family to stay with them and raise them. Although staying with his family to raise and guide them is better than 'Umrah, but in our current time, and praise be to Allah, 'Umrah is easy for those inside the Kingdom. He can perform 'Umrah within one day if there is an airport in his city and flights are available at the beginning and end of the day; he can perform 'Umrah and return in one day. In any case, a person must not be emotional in his worship, but rather follow the Shari'ah in his worship. I say "emotional" because some people have a strong emotion regarding Hajj and 'Umrah, so they go and leave behind things that are obligatory upon them. Among these is what some imams, mu'adhdhins, and employees do, where they go to perform 'Umrah and leave their job, which is obligatory upon them. Let him know that an employee performing his job is fulfilling an obligation, and fulfilling an obligation is more beloved to Allah the Exalted than voluntary acts.
Allah the Exalted said in the Qudsi Hadith:
Answer : There is no harm in it. Staying in Makkah after 'Umrah is not harmful, except if it causes a person to miss out on his interests in his homeland. In that case, he should return to his homeland and not stay in Makkah. For example, if a head of a family performs 'Umrah, and if he stays in Makkah, his family is neglected, then we say: return to your family to stay with them and raise them. Although staying with his family to raise and guide them is better than 'Umrah, but in our current time, and praise be to Allah, 'Umrah is easy for those inside the Kingdom. He can perform 'Umrah within one day if there is an airport in his city and flights are available at the beginning and end of the day; he can perform 'Umrah and return in one day. In any case, a person must not be emotional in his worship, but rather follow the Shari'ah in his worship. I say "emotional" because some people have a strong emotion regarding Hajj and 'Umrah, so they go and leave behind things that are obligatory upon them. Among these is what some imams, mu'adhdhins, and employees do, where they go to perform 'Umrah and leave their job, which is obligatory upon them. Let him know that an employee performing his job is fulfilling an obligation, and fulfilling an obligation is more beloved to Allah the Exalted than voluntary acts.
Allah the Exalted said in the Qudsi Hadith:
My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory for him. And my servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts until I love him.
ما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضت عليه ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه،
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 1609- هل الجلوس في مكة لمدة طويلة بعد العمرة حرج؟/سؤال على الهاتف 📞 /ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.