Rulings of 'Umrah.

The Shaykh : For 'Umrah, a person enters the state of ihram from the miqat. If he is coming via Ta'if, it is from Quarn al-Manazil, which is now called al-Sayl al-Kabir. If he is coming via Madinah, it is from Dhul-Hulaifah, which is now called Abi 'Ara. Upon entering ihram, it is recommended (sunnah) for a person to take a bath, even for a menstruating woman and a woman with post-natal bleeding. This is because Asma' bint Umayyis, the wife of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both), had post-natal bleeding at Dhul-Hulaifah, so she sent a message to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asking, "What should I do?" He said: . Therefore, taking a bath is recommended (sunnah) for men and women when intending to enter ihram, but it is not obligatory. If a person leaves it out, there is no sin on him and no expiation (fidyah) required, but it is better and more complete. Then the man wears an izar and a rida, which should be white, clean, or new. As for the woman, she does not have specific clothes for ihram; she wears whatever she wishes, except that she must not display her adornment, because she is forbidden from displaying her adornment. Then the man applies perfume that has a pleasant scent, and the woman applies perfume that has a pleasant color but not a strong scent, because the scent of perfume in a woman is a trial (fitnah), while the scent of perfume in a man is a recommended practice (sunnah). The man applies perfume by putting it on his head and his beard after he has taken a bath, then he wears the clothes of ihram. After this, should he pray two rak'ahs for ihram as is well known, or not? Our answer to this is that there is no recommended practice (sunnah) specifically for ihram; the recommended practice (sunnah) is for wudu'. However, if you are close to the time of an obligatory prayer, make your ihram after the obligatory prayer. For example, if you arrived at the miqat in the late morning (duha) and took a bath and applied perfume, and you do not intend to walk before Dhuhr, make your ihram before the Dhuhr prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered ihram after the obligatory prayer. When you have prayed, you recite the talbiyah for 'Umrah. What do you say? You say: "Labbaik 'Umrah, Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik, Labbaik la sharika laka Labbaik, innal hamda wan ni'mata laka wal mulk, la sharika laka." But should you make a condition, saying, "If something prevents me, my place of release is where I am prevented," or should you not make a condition? You enter ihram with certainty and rely on Allah, without assuming anything will prevent you. The answer is that it is better not to make a condition. Rely on Allah and do not make a condition, unless you fear that a preventer will occur that stops you from completing the rites. In that case, you should make a condition. For example, if a woman fears she will menstruate during the rites and not become pure before she travels, in this situation she should make a condition and say: "If something prevents me, my place of release is where I am prevented." Why? So that if she menstruates, she can exit the state of ihram and nothing is required of her. She then proceeds toward Makkah and increases her recitation of the talbiyah. When she reaches the Sacred Mosque and begins the tawaf, she stops the talbiyah. In this tawaf, it is recommended (sunnah) for the man to do two things: the first is idtiba', and the second is ramal. Idtiba' is to place the middle of his rida under his right armpit and its ends on his left shoulder. This idtiba' is not recommended (sunnah) except during the tawaf. Pay attention: many of the common people start doing idtiba' as soon as they enter ihram. This is a mistake and an innovation (bid'ah). Idtiba' is only during the tawaf. This is a recommended practice (sunnah) for the man. Does the woman do idtiba'? No, she does not do idtiba', because her clothes are her usual clothes. It is also recommended (sunnah) for him to do ramal, but ramal is only in the first three circuits, not in the entire tawaf. Ramal is to walk quickly without lengthening the stride, meaning the strides are close together and he walks quickly, without shaking his shoulders. We see some people during ramal walking but shaking their shoulders, like this. This is not correct. No shaking of the shoulders, only in the first three circuits. As for the remaining circuits, which are four, there is no ramal in them. With what does one begin the tawaf? One begins with the Black Stone. The government, may Allah guide them, has placed a brown line extending from the center of the Black Stone to the end of the tawaf path. This is the starting point of the tawaf. You face the stone and point to it, and say: "Bismillah, Allahu Akbar, Allahumma imanan bika wa tasdiquan bi kitabika wa wafa'an li 'ahdika wa ittibaa'an li sunnati nabiyyika Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." If you are able to reach the stone without hardship for yourself or others, and you touch it and kiss it, that is better. If you cannot kiss it, touch it with your hand and kiss your hand. If you cannot do that, point to it. This is the recommended practice (sunnah). It is not part of the recommended practice (sunnah) to push and shove. As for the rest of the tawaf, you say whatever you wish of dhikr, du'a', and Qur'an, except between the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone, where you say: and you follow the order. As for those who say, "And admit us to Paradise with the righteous," this addition is not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Does one do with the Yemeni Corner what is done with the Black Stone, such as kissing, touching, and pointing when there is crowding? No, the Yemeni Corner is for touching only. You touch it like this with the right hand, but you do not kiss it, and you do not point to it if touching is not possible. What about the Western Corner and the Northern Corner? Are they touched? No, they are not touched. Why? Because they are not on the foundations of Ibrahim. They are not on the foundations of Ibrahim. How so? Yes, they are not on the foundations of Ibrahim. The Ka'bah was longer than it is now toward the north, encompassing about six and a half cubits of the Hijr. But when it collapsed in the time of Quraysh in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), they said, "Do not build the Ka'bah except with lawful money." Look, my brothers, ignorant disbelievers said, "Do not build the Ka'bah except with lawful money." This is part of Allah's protection of the Ka'bah, meaning do not build it with usury (riba), gambling (maysir), or oppression. Do not build it except with lawful money. They agreed on this. When they began the construction, they found that the funds were not sufficient. They found that the funds were not sufficient. What did they do? They said, "Build part of the House. If the whole cannot be achieved, do not leave it all. Take part of it." Build part of the House. Build part of the House. From which side should the reduction be? They said, "From the northern side, which does not have the stone." The reduction cannot be from the side that has the stone. So they did it. They built the Ka'bah as it is now, and they placed a wall called the Hijr, also called al-Hatim, so that people could complete the tawaf. And the Ka'bah remained like this. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) conquered Makkah, he said to Aisha: But he left it (peace and blessings be upon him) to reconcile his companions so that they would not be repelled and say, "He has innovated in the House of Allah what was not there." But I tell you that it is from the grace and favor of Allah that what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended was achieved. It was achieved in meaning. Now the Ka'bah has two doors: a door for people to enter and a door for people to exit. Correct? How? The Hijr is part of the Ka'bah, and it has a door for people to enter and a door for people to exit, with open air. Have you seen what would happen if it were roofed and had two doors, one for entering and one for exiting? It would be destruction. It would be destruction. We see people dying in the crowding at the Jamarat even with open air, so how would it be with the Ka'bah? But it is from the grace of Allah and the fulfillment of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) intention that the building was made as it is now. When Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) took over the Hijaz, he demolished the Ka'bah and built it on the foundations of Ibrahim, based on what his aunt Aisha had told him. So he built it on the foundations of Ibrahim and made it have two doors. When the Umayyads took over and Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was killed by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi, al-Hajjaj restored it and built it as it was in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). And it remained as it is today. When al-Rashid took over, he wanted to demolish it and build it on the foundations of Ibrahim, so Malik ibn Anas (may Allah have mercy on him) advised him and said to him: "Do not make the House of Allah a plaything for kings, where every time a king takes over, he demolishes it and builds it on the basis of the previous construction." So he left it, and it has remained until now. We return to the beginning regarding the tawaf. When a person completes seven circuits, he moves forward to the Station of Ibrahim and recites the saying of Allah the Exalted: He then prays two rak'ahs there. Pay attention, he prays two rak'ahs there. These two rak'ahs are distinguished by being light; one does not lengthen them. The recommended practice (sunnah) is to keep them light. He recites in the first rak'ah with al-Fatihah, and in the second rak'ah with al-Fatihah. Then he turns away and does not make du'a' after them, heading toward the Mus'a. When he approaches al-Safa, he should recite the saying of Allah the Exalted: "I begin with what Allah began with," as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. When does he recite it? When he climbs al-Safa or when he approaches it? When he approaches it, before he climbs. He recites: and he does not repeat it a second time. He does not recite it at al-Marwah, and he does not recite it at al-Safa the second time. He does not recite it except once, when he first approaches al-Safa. For this is the way of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). When he climbs al-Safa, he faces the qiblah and raises his hands to make du'a'. But he says takbir three times before the du'a' and praises Allah, and says: "La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulku wa lahul hamdu wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir. La ilaha illa Allah wahdah, anjaza wa'dah, wa nasara 'abduh, wa hazamal ahzaab wahdah." Then he makes du'a' with whatever he wishes. Then he repeats the dhikr a second time, then makes du'a'. Then he repeats the dhikr a third time, then he descends heading toward al-Marwah, walking at a normal pace until he reaches the green marker. The green marker means the green pole. And now, praise be to Allah, there is a green pole and green lights. When he reaches that place, he should sa'y. Sa'y means to walk briskly. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to sa'y and walk briskly during the sa'y, so much so that his izar would turn around him from the intensity of the sa'y. And here, the sa'y here is not like the ramal in the tawaf. The ramal in the tawaf is not sa'y, but... just walking. But this is intense sa'y. He sa'ys intensely, unless there is crowding that would harm him or harm others, in which case he walks according to the crowding. When he reaches al-Marwah, he should climb it, face the qiblah, and do what he did at al-Safa. Does he say when he approaches al-Marwah ? No. When he completes seven circuits from al-Safa to al-Marwah, that is one circuit, and from al-Marwah back to al-Safa is another circuit, so will he end with al-Safa or al-Marwah? He will end with al-Marwah. If you end with al-Safa, know that you have made a mistake. It is not possible to end with al-Safa because it is seven circuits. Your ending must be with al-Marwah. When you have completed seven circuits, shave your head or shorten it. Both are permissible, but shaving is better. Shaving is better. As for the woman, there is no shaving for her; rather, she shortens the ends of her hair by the length of a finger. And with that, the 'Umrah is complete. She takes off the clothes of ihram and wears regular clothes, and she remains in a state of release (halal) until she returns to her country. It is not recommended (sunnah) for a person to repeat 'Umrah again, neither for himself nor for his parents, because that was not the way of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) nor the way of his Companions. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) remained in Makkah after the conquest for nineteen days and did not perform 'Umrah once, because he entered as a fighter, and when security was established, he did not go out to Tan'im to enter ihram from there. In the 'Umrah of al-Qada', he stayed for three days. He performed 'Umrah as soon as he arrived, and he did not repeat 'Umrah, and none of the Companions repeated 'Umrah except Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) for a specific reason. Aisha had entered ihram for 'Umrah and menstruated before she reached Makkah, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to combine Hajj with 'Umrah. When the people finished Hajj, she asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to come for a separate 'Umrah, so he permitted her. In Makkah, a person should strive to pray in the Sacred Mosque as much as he can, because prayer in it is worth a hundred thousand prayers. As for the woman, she prays in her house, as that is better for her.