Introduction

Mamdouh N. Mohamed is an Egyptian-American author and Islamic studies educator whose work has focused on making the rulings of Islamic worship accessible to English-speaking Muslim communities in the West. Hajj and ʿUmrah: From A to Z represents one of the most systematic English-language treatments of the fifth pillar of Islam produced in the late twentieth century. Composed for Muslims who may have limited access to traditional Arabic scholarship, the work draws on the major books of Sunni fiqh across the four accepted legal schools, Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī, and presents their rulings in a clear and comparative format. The author's stated aim is that no pilgrim should complete Ḥajj or ʿUmrah in ignorance of what is obligatory, recommended, or prohibited during the rites.

The book covers every element of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah in strict sequential order. It begins with the prerequisites for the obligation of Ḥajj, the conditions that make it binding upon a Muslim adult, and the different types of Ḥajj, namely Ifrād, Qirān, and Tamattuʿ. It then proceeds through every act from the assumption of iḥrām to the farewell ṭawāf, with detailed coverage of each rite: the physical conditions of iḥrām and its prohibitions, the ṭawāf and its legal conditions, the saʿy, the journey to ʿArafah and the wuqūf, the night at Muzdalifah, the ramy al-jamarāt, the ḥady sacrifice, and the rites of ʿUmrah when performed separately. For each act the author distinguishes between rukn (pillar), wājib (obligation), and sunnah (recommended act), and notes the scholarly disagreements where they exist. Quranic verses and authenticated hadīth are cited throughout as the primary evidences.

The scholarly strength of this work is its insistence on grounding every ruling in its textual evidence. At a time when many popular hajj guides presented rulings without sources, Mohamed's approach of consistently citing chapter and verse from the Quran and the books of hadīth gave the work a credibility that attracted wide use in mosque education programs and university Islamic studies courses. The comparative treatment of the four madhāhib is handled with care, presenting differences as a mercy and a breadth within the tradition rather than as contradiction, and guiding the reader toward rulings that are agreed upon by the majority of scholars as the safest course of action.

Readers will benefit from treating this book as a study text before departure and a reference during the pilgrimage itself. The chapters on the prohibitions of iḥrām and the most common mistakes pilgrims make deserve particular attention, since many errors in Ḥajj arise not from neglect of the major rites but from unawareness of subsidiary rulings. Pilgrims should also read the sections on ʿUmrah independently if they intend to perform it outside of the Ḥajj season, as the author provides self-contained coverage for that purpose. Consulting this work alongside a knowledgeable scholar or a certified pre-Ḥajj course will ensure that the legal learning is reinforced by live instruction and the ability to ask questions about individual circumstances.