Short answer
Umrah is the lesser pilgrimage: ihram, tawaf of the Kaaba, sa'i between Safa and Marwah, then shaving or trimming the hair. It can be done any time of year. In the Hanafi school it is sunnah mu'akkadah (a stressed sunnah) once in a lifetime; the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools hold it is obligatory once.
Umrah is sunnah mu'akkadah once in a lifetime for someone who can afford it. It is makruh tahrimi to start an umrah on the day of Arafah, the day of Eid al-Adha and the three days after it (9 to 13 Dhul Hijjah) for anyone other than someone completing a Hajj qiran or tamattu.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Umrah is fard once in a lifetime, like Hajj, on whoever is able.
- Hanbali
- Umrah is wajib once in a lifetime on whoever is able.
Explanation
Umrah has four parts: putting on ihram at or before the miqat with the intention and the talbiyah, seven rounds of tawaf around the Kaaba, seven laps of sa'i between Safa and Marwah, and then shaving or trimming the hair, which releases you from ihram. Most people finish it in three to four hours. Our umrah guide walks through each step with the duas.
Hanafi jurists rank umrah as a stressed sunnah. They read the verse "complete the Hajj and umrah for Allah" as an order to finish both once you have started them, not as an order to begin them. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools read the same verse as making umrah obligatory once. The Maliki school agrees with the Hanafis. Whatever the ruling, a Muslim who can afford it should not leave it.
- Hajj before umrah? If Hajj is already fard on you, the priority is Hajj. Spending your Hajj savings on repeated umrahs while delaying a fard Hajj is a mistake.
- Does umrah count as Hajj? No. Umrah never replaces the fard Hajj.
- How often? There is no limit. Repeating umrah is a virtue, and in Ramadan its reward is especially great.
The rites of umrah are also the first half of a Hajj tamattu: the pilgrim does an umrah in the Hajj months, leaves ihram, and enters ihram again for Hajj on 8 Dhul Hijjah.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:196
وَأَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلْحَجَّ وَٱلْعُمْرَةَ لِلَّهِ ۚ فَإِنْ أُحْصِرْتُمْ فَمَا ٱسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ ٱلْهَدْىِ ۖ وَلَا تَحْلِقُوا۟ رُءُوسَكُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ ٱلْهَدْىُ مَحِلَّهُۥ ۚ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ بِهِۦٓ أَذًۭى مِّن رَّأْسِهِۦ فَفِدْيَةٌۭ مِّن صِيَامٍ أَوْ صَدَقَةٍ أَوْ نُسُكٍۢ ۚ فَإِذَآ أَمِنتُمْ فَمَن تَمَتَّعَ بِٱلْعُمْرَةِ إِلَى ٱلْحَجِّ فَمَا ٱسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ ٱلْهَدْىِ ۚ فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَٰثَةِ أَيَّامٍۢ فِى ٱلْحَجِّ وَسَبْعَةٍ إِذَا رَجَعْتُمْ ۗ تِلْكَ عَشَرَةٌۭ كَامِلَةٌۭ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن لَّمْ يَكُنْ أَهْلُهُۥ حَاضِرِى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ ﴿١٩٦﴾
And complete the Hajj and 'umrah for Allah. But if you are prevented, then [offer] what can be obtained with ease of sacrificial animals. And do not shave your heads until the sacrificial animal has reached its place of slaughter. And whoever among you is ill or has an ailment of the head [making shaving necessary must offer] a ransom of fasting [three days] or charity or sacrifice. And when you are secure, then whoever performs 'umrah [during the Hajj months] followed by Hajj [offers] what can be obtained with ease of sacrificial animals. And whoever cannot find [or afford such an animal] - then a fast of three days during Hajj and of seven when you have returned [home]. Those are ten complete [days]. This is for those whose family is not in the area of al-Masjid al-Haram. And fear Allah and know that Allah is severe in penalty.
Once started, Hajj and umrah must be completed.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1773
Sahih... العمرة إلى العمرة كفارة لما بينهما والحج المبرور ...
"One umrah to the next is an expiation for what is between them, and an accepted Hajj has no reward but Paradise."
Shows the great merit of umrah and of repeating it.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Hajj, chapter on umrah. States that umrah is sunnah and names the five days on which starting it is disliked.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Hajj, chapter on umrah. Explains the sunnah mu'akkadah ranking as the relied-upon view.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Hajj, on the obligation of umrah. The Hanbali view that umrah is obligatory once.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.