Umrah (Lesser Pilgrimage)
The lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, which can be performed at any time of the year.
Umrah is the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca, which unlike Hajj can be performed at any time of the year. It consists of four main rituals: ihram (entering the state of pilgrimage), tawaf (seven circumambulations of the Kaaba), sa'i (walking between Safa and Marwa), and halq/taqsir (shaving or shortening the hair).
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "An Umrah to the next is an expiation for what is between them, and the accepted Hajj has no reward other than Paradise" (Sahih al-Bukhari). Prayer at Masjid al-Haram during Umrah has a special virtue — the Prophet said: "One prayer in my mosque is better than a thousand prayers elsewhere, except Masjid al-Haram" (Sahih al-Bukhari).
The four Sunni schools of law disagree on whether Umrah is obligatory (wajib) or merely strongly recommended (sunnah mu'akkadah). The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools consider it obligatory at least once in a lifetime, while the Hanafi and Maliki schools regard it as strongly recommended.
Related terms
Masjid al-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque)
The Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina, the second holiest mosque in Islam.
Sunan Ibn Majah (Ibn Majah's Hadith Collection)
The sixth of the canonical hadith collections in Sunni Islam with unique narrations.
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)
The Islamic legal science that derives practical rules from the Quran and Sunnah.
Tilawah (Quran Recitation)
Recitation of the Quran, which is a central part of prayer and daily worship.
Tasbihat al-Zahra (Fatimah's Tasbih)
A special dhikr consisting of 34+33+33 repetitions, taught by the Prophet to his daughter Fatimah.
Wajib (Obligatory)
Actions that are obligatory in Islamic law, including the five daily prayers.