The Prophet's Guidance in Umrah

Ibn al-Qayyim examines the Prophet's ﷺ Umrahs in this chapter, establishing how many Umrahs he performed, from where he assumed ihram each time, and what the detailed rites of Umrah entail. The Prophet ﷺ performed four Umrahs in his lifetime — all after the Hijra, all in the month of Dhul-Qa'dah except the last, which was combined with the Hajj.

The first Umrah was the Umrat al-Hudaybiyyah in the sixth year of Hijra, which was prevented when the Quraysh blocked the Muslims from entering Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ and his companions slaughtered their sacrificial animals at Hudaybiyyah and shaved or clipped their hair, completing the Umrah in a state of ihram without entering Makkah. This is known as the Umrah of Hudaybiyyah, and it was followed by the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

The second was the Umrat al-Qada in the seventh year, when the Muslims returned to Makkah under the treaty agreement. They entered, performed tawaf and sa'i, and departed after three days. The third was the Umrat al-Ji'irranah in the eighth year, after the Battle of Hunayn, when the Prophet ﷺ distributed the spoils at Ji'irranah and then assumed ihram from there to perform Umrah.

The fourth Umrah was the one incorporated into the Farewell Hajj, as the Prophet ﷺ performed Hajj Qiran, combining Umrah and Hajj in a single state of ihram. Scholars note that all four of his Umrahs were in Dhul-Qa'dah — even the Hajj Umrah began in Dhul-Qa'dah — signaling the honor of that month for Umrah.

The rites of Umrah as established from the Prophet's ﷺ practice are: assuming ihram at the designated miqat, reciting the talbiyah until reaching the Ka'bah, performing seven circuits of tawaf (with idtiba and raml for men), praying two rak'ahs behind the Maqam Ibrahim, drinking Zamzam water, performing sa'i seven times between Safa and Marwah, and then shaving (for men) or clipping the hair (for women), after which all restrictions of ihram are lifted.

Ibn al-Qayyim also addresses the question of performing multiple Umrahs in a single journey, noting that the Prophet ﷺ did not perform more than one Umrah per journey and that his companions did not do so either during his lifetime. This led some scholars to consider it disliked to repeat Umrahs consecutively in a single stay in Makkah, though others allow it. The Maliki position is the most stringent on this matter, while others take a broader view.