It is not obligatory upon the Hajj Pilgrim or the 'Umrah Pilgrim to pray the obligatory Prayers in the Haram (the Sacred Mosque)

Question :

Some people believe that if they go for 'Umrah, it is obligatory on them to pray the obligatory prayers in the Haram (the Sacred Mosque), and whoever does not do so, his 'Umrah is nullified. I hope that you can give us a beneficial answer concerning that. May Allâh reward you with good.

Answer:

This is an understanding that has no correct basis for it. It is not obligatory upon the Hajj pilgrim or the person performing 'Umrah to pray the obligatory prayers in the Sacred Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Haram). Rather, if he prays in the other Mosques of Makkah, there is no sin on him. There is no difference about this among the people of knowledge, and actually it is an issue in which there is a consensus (Ijma'), and all praise is due to Allâh.

It is only obligatory upon the person performing 'Umrah to perform Tawaf and Say, and to shave the head or cut the hair, and with this his 'Umrah is complete. Before that the person must assume Ihram from the Miqat that he passes upon his arrival to Makkah, if he was (coming from) outside of the Mawaqit. However, if he was within the Mawaqit places, like the people of Jeddah, Ummus-Salam, Bahrah, Luzaymah, Ash- Shara'i' and similar places, he is required to assume Thram from his place, from there he begins his intention to enter into Hajj or Umrah. This is due to what is confirmed from the Prophet ﷺ in the two authentic books (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas from the Prophet ﷺ that he designated the Miqat for the people of Al-Madinah as Thul- Hulayfah, for the people of Ash-Sham as Al-Juhfah, for the people of Najd as Qarnul-Manazil and for the people of Yemen as Yalamlam. Then he said:

"They are for them and for whoever passes them from other than their people, from whoever wants to perform Hajj and Umrah. And whoever is within that area (i.e., closer to Makkah), then his place of assuming Ihram is from wherever he set out from. Even the people of Makkah assume Ihram from Makkah."

When 'A'ishah wanted to perform 'Umrah during the last days of Mina, the Prophet ﷺ ordered her to assume Ihram for it from outside the Haram area. Therefore, she assumed Ihram for it from At-Tan'im, and then she entered Makkah, performed Tawaf and Say, and she cut some hair from her head. This authentic Hadith proves that whoever wants to perform 'Umra while he is inside the Haram area I mean the sacred area of Makkah - it is obligatory on him to go out to the area outside of the Sacred Area and assume Ihram from there. This is due to the Prophet's command to 'A'ishah to do that. Due to this, the mentioned Hadith of 'A'ishah is considered a particular specification (Mukhassas) for the Prophet's statement in the previously mentioned Hadith of Ibn 'Abbas:
"Even the people of Makkah assume Ihram from Makkah."

From this it becomes clear that the intent of this is assuming Ihram for Hajj and not 'Umrah. And Allâh is the Giver of success.

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