Q650 :1. I went to Jeddah in connection with my
work. When I was preparing to go to Makkah for Umrah after finishing my
work, my friends advised me that since it was the month of Shawwal, no
one may offer the Umrah unless he is preparing to do the pilgrimage
later on. They told me to visit Makkah without ihraam. I took their
advice, but some people told me that I did wrong. Please clear this
confusion and tell me what I should do.
2. A person does more than one Umrah during the month of Shawwal, or
Thul-Qaadah or early in the month of Thul-Hajjah, without having
intention of performing the pilgrimage. Later on, he decides to go to
pilgrimage. What sort of pilgrimage applies to him?
A650 : I have answered both queries on several
occasions. There remains, however, an element of confusion which arises
out of innetplete information on both points of entering Makkah without
ihraam garments and doing the Umrah after the end of Ramadhan and
before the start of pilgrimage. Neither point is difficult to
understand. The Prophet has named the points of meeqat and made it
clear that anyone who wants to go to Makkah for doing either the Umrah
or the pilgrimage must enter into the state of consecration i.e. ihraam
at these points. The Hadith states clearly that this applies to the
people of the named areas and anyone else who passes through them
“intending to do the Umrah or the pilgrimage.” Therefore, a person who
does not intend to do either duty is not included in this restriction.
Such a person can go to Makkah in the normal way as he goes to any
other town or city. He need not enter into the state of consecration.
What this means in effect is that the ihraam, or consecration, is a
condition of performing a religious duty in Makkah. It is not meant for
entering the city at any time or for any purpose. It is the reason for
entry which counts. The other point is that of offering the Umrah in
Shawwal. There is no restriction on any person to offer the Umrah in
the month of Shawwal or Thul-Qaadah or Thul-Hajjah, which are the three
months of pilgrimage. Many people tend to think that if you offer the
Umrah in this period, you must follow it with pilgrimage. This is
terribly wrong. There is simply no time when Umrah cannot be offered.
The confusion arises in some people’s minds because they reverse the
conditions. The correct thing to say is that if you offer Umrah in
these months, even when not intending to do the pilgrimage, but you
then follow it with doing the pilgrimage, you are deemed to have done
the two duties in the tamattu method. This requires you to sacrifice a
sheep in gratitude to Allah for enabling you to do both duties. If one
does more than one Umrah in Shawwal or Thul-Qaadah, he is perfectly
entitled to do so. If he does not intend to do the pilgrimage, either
because he had done it, or because he does not meet the conditions of
ability, or for any reason, he is welnete to do the Umrah. If a change
in his circumstances takes place and he decides or benetes able to do
the pilgrimage later, he is deemed to do it in the tamattu method which
is the method preferred by the Prophet. Having said that, I must add
that if after he has done the Umrah in this period, and before he netes
back for pilgrimage, he leaves to any place beyond the point of Meeqat
and then netes back for his pilgrimage, the Umrah he had done does not
affect his pilgrimage in anyway. He can choose any method. In other
words, my reader from Riyadh could have done the Umrah in Shawwal and
left for Riyadh. If he then decides to nete back for pilgrimage, he can
do the pilgrimage in the ifraad method, because he traveled beyond the
point of meeqat.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )