Book of Rites: Hajj and 'Umrah are Obligatory

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Book of Rites: Hajj and 'Umrah are obligatory upon the free, accountable Muslim who is able to perform them, once in his lifetime, immediately. If slavery, insanity, or childhood ceases during the Hajj at 'Arafah, or during the 'Umrah before its tawaf, the obligation is valid, and he performed them..."

The Shaykh : and performed them
The questioner: "And performing them by a child or a slave is voluntary. The one who is able is the one who can ride and has found sufficient provisions and a suitable mount for his like, after fulfilling the obligatory duties, the prescribed expenses, and the basic needs."

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Book of Rites". Al-Manasik is the plural of manasik. The original meaning of manasik is worship, as it is a verbal noun (masdar) meaning worship. Allah the Exalted said: meaning worshipping, they worship therein. The term manasik or nusuk is most commonly used to refer to the sacrificial animal. Allah the Exalted said: . They (may Allah have mercy on them) designated manasik as that which pertains to Hajj and 'Umrah, because they include the sacrificial animal (hady) and the expiation (fidyah), and these are part of the nusuk in the sense of slaughter. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "Hajj and 'Umrah are obligatory". Hajj is the subject, 'Umrah is conjoined to it, and "obligatory" is the predicate. Hajj is an obligatory duty (fard) by the consensus of the Muslims, based on the Book and the Sunnah. Its status in the religion is that it is one of the pillars of Islam. Linguistically, it means intention, and in the Shari'ah, it means worshipping Allah the Exalted by performing the rites as they came in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The statement of some jurists in defining it: "Intending Mecca for a specific act". This is undoubtedly deficient, because Hajj is more specific than what they said. If we took the apparent definition, "intending Mecca for a specific act," it would include one who intends Mecca for trade. However, it is better to mention worship in every definition of an act of worship. We do not say that prayer is known words and actions, but rather that it is worshipping Allah with known words and actions. Likewise for zakah, and likewise for fasting. It is necessary to mention worship, as long as we want to define an act of worship, let worship be the first thing mentioned in the definition. So Hajj is worshipping Allah the Exalted by performing the rites according to what came in the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is Hajj.
'Umrah linguistically means visiting, and in the Shari'ah, it means worshipping Allah by tawaf, sa'y, and shaving or shortening the hair. It is known that tawaf does not occur except at the House, and sa'y is between al-Safa and al-Marwah. Thus, this definition is comprehensive and exclusive; it is both inclusive and exclusive.
What is 'Umrah linguistically? Visiting. And in the Shari'ah, it is worshipping Allah the Exalted by tawaf around the House, and by al-Safa and al-Marwah, and shaving or shortening the hair.
The author says: "Obligatory", meaning each of them is obligatory, but the obligation of 'Umrah is not like the obligation of Hajj, neither in terms of emphasis nor in terms of universality and scope. As for emphasis, Hajj is a pillar of the pillars of Islam and an obligatory duty by the consensus of the Muslims, whereas 'Umrah is not a pillar of the pillars of Islam, nor an obligatory duty by the consensus of the Muslims. Also, 'Umrah is not like Hajj in scope, as many scholars say that 'Umrah is not obligatory upon the people of Mecca, and this is the explicit statement of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him). The scholars also differ regarding its original obligation: is it obligatory or a recommended practice (sunnah)? What appears is that it is obligatory, because the most authentic hadith that settles the dispute in this issue is the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) when she said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Is there jihad for women?" He said: . His statement "upon them" indicates obligation, because "upon" is a formulation of obligation, as mentioned by the scholars of the principles of jurisprudence. Thus, 'Umrah is obligatory. But is it obligatory upon the Meccan? There is disagreement in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad. Imam Ahmad explicitly stated that it is not obligatory upon the Meccan, and this is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). In fact, Shaykh al-Islam holds that 'Umrah is not prescribed for the people of Mecca at all, and that a person leaving Mecca to perform 'Umrah is not prescribed in the first place. However, there is something in the heart about this, because the original principle is that the indications of the Book and the Sunnah are general, and the general includes all people unless there is evidence indicating that some individuals are excluded from the general ruling. This disagreement we mentioned is only regarding 'Umrah, whereas regarding Hajj, the Muslims have agreed on its obligation upon all Muslims in any place. Thus, the obligation of 'Umrah differs from Hajj in two aspects: the first aspect is emphasis, and the second aspect is scope. Hajj is obligatory upon all Muslims, unlike 'Umrah, where there is the disagreement we hinted at. Some scholars argued for the obligation of 'Umrah by the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Is it permissible to accept this argument? The answer is no, it is not possible to accept this argument, because there is a difference between completing and starting. The verse indicates the obligation of completing for one who has started them. This is why this verse was revealed at Hudaybiyyah before Hajj was made obligatory, as Hajj was not made obligatory until the ninth year, and Hudaybiyyah was in the sixth year. And there is a difference between the command to complete and the command to start. Therefore, if a person starts Hajj and 'Umrah every year, we say: you must complete it if you have started Hajj, but starting is not obligatory for Hajj except... once. But in completing, it is obligatory for him to complete everything he starts, even if he performs Hajj every year, it is obligatory for him to complete everything he starts, and every time he starts 'Umrah, he must complete it. Thus, the argument with this verse for the obligation of 'Umrah is not established.