Ruling on Uprooting Trees for a Person in Ihram During Hajj

Question: Your Eminence! This message was received by the program from Syria. Its sender says: My mother went to Hajj last year, and during her state of ihram, she forgot and uprooted some shrubs. Is her Hajj valid? And what must she do now? Please inform us about this matter, may Allah guide you.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and whoever follows his guidance. As for what follows:
Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has forbidden uprooting the trees of the Haram, for the person in ihram and the one not in ihram alike. Whatever is within the boundaries—the boundaries of the Haram—its trees are not to be uprooted and its grass is not to be mowed, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. If the matter asked about involved uprooting from the Haram itself, within the boundaries, then this is not permissible. She must repent to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and seek forgiveness. In the most correct of the scholars' opinions, she owes nothing; there is no expiation upon her. Rather, she must repent and seek forgiveness if she did it intentionally. As for if she was ignorant or forgetful, then she owes nothing.
As for if the uprooting of trees was from 'Arafah, for example on the Day of 'Arafah, then 'Arafah is not a Haram; rather, it is a place of permissibility. There is no harm in cutting its trees. The Haram is: Muzdalifah, Mina, and Makkah. These are the Haram. Its trees are not to be cut, its green grass is not to be mowed, its game is not to be driven away, and its game is not to be killed.
As for what is in 'Arafah, this is not a Haram. It is permissible to uproot trees from 'Arafah for both the person in ihram and the one not in ihram. Likewise, the person in ihram is allowed to cut trees in places other than the Haram; in 'Arafah, in Jeddah, in Bahrah, in any place other than the Haram, even if he is in ihram. What is forbidden for him is hunting. As for trees, they are not forbidden; they are not game. The person in ihram is allowed to cut trees if he stops at a camp in the desert after entering ihram. He is allowed to cut any trees in his camp that bother him, or grass that bothers him; there is no harm. What is forbidden for him is hunting, such as gazelles, rabbits, and partridges. Hunting, in its nature, is not permissible for the person in ihram to hunt or drive away game as long as he is in ihram, even if he is outside the Haram, even if he is outside the boundaries of the Haram.
As for if he is inside the Haram, hunting is forbidden for him for the sake of the Haram and for the sake of the ihram alike. Hunting while in ihram is forbidden for two reasons: for the Haram and for the ihram alike. As for trees in the Haram, they are forbidden for both the person in ihram and the one not in ihram. The trees of the Haram are forbidden for the person in ihram and forbidden for the one not in ihram alike. One does not cut the trees and does not mow the grass; meaning: the green grass, whether one is in ihram or not. And by this, the answer to the questioner regarding the woman who cut shrubs is known. If that was in the Haram, she must repent and seek forgiveness, and she owes nothing. She is most likely ignorant or forgetful, so it does not harm her. And she owes no expiation in the most correct of the scholars' opinions. As for if the shrubs she cut were from 'Arafah or before 'Arafah in a place that is not a Haram, then she owes nothing. Yes.