Is it permissible for the people of Makkah to perform 'Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) in Ramadan as a voluntary act?

The questioner : Honorable Shaykh! The questioner asks: Is it permissible for the people of Makkah to perform 'Umrah in Ramadan as a voluntary act, due to the virtue reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The Shaykh : What? And how from the Prophet?

The questioner : Due to the virtue reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : Yes, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether the people of Makkah have 'Umrah or not. The majority of scholars hold that they do have 'Umrah, while some scholars hold that there is no 'Umrah for the people of Makkah. Among those who held this view was Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. 'Ata ibn Abi Rabah (may Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the great scholars of Makkah in his time, used to say to those who went out from the people of Makkah and came back with 'Umrah: "I do not know whether these people are rewarded or whether they sin by doing so." By "sin," he means they commit a sin by it. This is because it was not known in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that people would go out from Makkah to perform 'Umrah; that was not known. If it was not known, then 'Umrah would not be prescribed (mashru'), because if it were prescribed, it would have been well-known in the time of the Companions. Furthermore, 'Umrah, as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, is a visit, and the owner of a house does not visit his own house. The visit is for those who are not from the people of Makkah, who come to Makkah to visit it by performing 'Umrah. As for the people of Makkah, it is not accurate to say they are people of 'Umrah, because it is not known that a person visits his own house and place. However, the majority of scholars say that the people of Makkah do have 'Umrah. But the thing that has no basis, and I have not known any scholar to say it, is what some people do today: they perform 'Umrah for themselves first when they arrive in Makkah, then after a day or two they go out to al-Tan'im or to another place in al-Hal, and perform 'Umrah for their mother. Then after a day or two they go to al-Tan'im or to another place in al-Hal and perform 'Umrah for their father. If the days are long, they perform 'Umrah for their grandmother, 'Umrah for their grandfather, 'Umrah for their maternal uncle, 'Umrah for their maternal aunt, 'Umrah for their sister's children, 'Umrah for their brother's children, and so on, as if they are dividing these 'Umrahs among the people. This, in reality, even if it comes from independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) and love for good, not every ijtihad is correct, and not every love for good leads to good. Religion is following, not desire, and not taste. So we look: Did the Companions, who were more eager than us for righteous deeds? My brothers, would you like me to descend from the pulpit and for you to ascend it? They see this first and ask, and they say yes. When the time is over, he asks with his tongue. So the Shari'ah is not just air that a person likes, or a taste that a person tastes. The Shari'ah is following. So whoever does a deed for which there is no command from Allah and His Messenger, it is rejected. And we used to tell people, when they asked us for a ruling in this place and elsewhere: Do not repeat 'Umrah. There is only one 'Umrah in one journey. Bring us one piece of evidence from the Companions that one of them performed 'Umrah twice in one journey. If you bring this from the Companions, the Companions are the best to follow, . But if that is not brought from the Companions, who are the role model and who are more eager than us for good and doing good, what is the matter with us, the later ones whom Allah has delayed, that we bring a religion that the Companions of the Messenger, the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), did not have? Some people started saying, "I will perform the first one for myself and the second for my mother." So the two 'Umrahs are not for one person. Did you see how the trick works? The first 'Umrah is for me, and the second is for my father, for example, or my mother. So the two 'Umrahs are not for one person, so you cannot say that you performed two 'Umrahs in one journey. We say that the criterion in the ritual is the doer, not the one for whom it is done.
The criterion is the doer. For this reason, the scholars said that the one who performs Tamattu' (combining 'Umrah and Hajj with a break between them)—and it is not hidden from many of you who the one who performs Tamattu' is? The one who performs 'Umrah in the months of Hajj and then performs Hajj in the same year. They said that if the one who performs Tamattu' makes the 'Umrah for himself and the Hajj for another person, the sacrificial animal of Tamattu' is still obligatory on him, even though the two rituals were not for one person, but the doer is one. This indicates that there is no consideration for the intention in such deeds. Then we also say that it is not from the way of the Companions that they perform deeds and make them for a deceased person, such as a mother, father, uncle, or maternal uncle. This is not from their way. The most that is there is that it was reported that Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said that he wanted to make his date palm grove a charity for his mother, who had died. What is a "makhraf"? It is the date palms that bear fruit, meaning the orchard. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted him to do so. And a man came to him and said, , so he permitted him. But was it legislated for the Ummah (the Muslim community) as a general law to encourage people to perform 'Umrah for their fathers and mothers, or to give charity for their fathers and mothers? This has not happened. And whoever has looked into something of that, let him help us with it, for we are submissive to it, if Allah wills, if it is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And based on this, we say: If you perform 'Umrah for yourself in this blessed month, stay in Makkah if you wish, or travel if you wish, but do not perform 'Umrah for your mother, or for your father, or for anyone else, because that is not from the way of your righteous predecessors. Okay, what do I do? I love to benefit my mother and father who have died. What do we say to him? We say: The best one who guides you to that is your Prophet. Do you know anyone who is more guiding than the Messenger of Allah, or more advising to the servants of Allah than the Messenger of Allah? No, by Allah, we do not know anyone more guiding to the servants of Allah than the Messenger of Allah, nor more advising to the servants of Allah than the Messenger of Allah, nor more showing the way to good than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And may He reward him for us with the best reward He has given a Prophet for his Ummah. And with that, it was narrated that the deceased person . , you? A continuous charity. Okay, pay attention: Did the Messenger say, "or a righteous son who performs 'Umrah for him in Ramadan"? Are you sure? Did you go back to the books of hadith? Who knows that in the books of hadith, or a righteous son comes to him with 'Umrah in Ramadan? Keep it secret. I do not know that in the hadiths, or a righteous son comes to him with 'Umrah in Ramadan.
My brothers, he prays for him, so he shifted from mentioning the deed, even though the context of the hadith is about the deed, to mentioning the supplication. He said, "or a righteous son who prays for him." Okay, this is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). If he knew that in righteous deeds there was something better than supplication, he would have guided us to it. Because we testify to Allah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) never shifts from what is better to what is less than it, ever. And we only emphasized that because we have seen, unfortunately, many people today performing 'Umrah, as we said, first for themselves, then for their fathers or their mothers, and so on. Okay, if someone says, "The 'Umrah is a supplication." The 'Umrah is a supplication. Does not the person circumambulate and supplicate and say, "Our Lord, give us good in this world"?
Yes, and no? Yes, yes, yes. If he says, "or a righteous son who prays for him," meaning he performs 'Umrah for him, we say this is an interpretation from your own mind. And 'Umrah is not called a supplication, and even if it includes supplication, it is not a supplication. For this reason, supplication is not a condition for it. If a person came and circumambulated and walked between al-Safa and al-Marwah, and made his circumambulation and walking a remembrance of Allah, and did not supplicate with a word of supplication, his 'Umrah would be valid and accepted. So it is not correct to say that 'Umrah is included in supplication.