Is ʿUmrah Obligatory for the Financially Able Like Ḥajj?

Like Ḥajj, ʿUmrah can also be performed, and performing it more than once is considered voluntary (nafl).


Narrated from Abū Hurayrah (RA): The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
العمرة إلى العمرة كفارة لما بينهما
"An ʿUmrah to the next ʿUmrah is an expiation for whatever occurred between them."
[Bukhārī: 1773; Muslim: 1349; Tirmidhī: 933; al-Nasāʾī: 5/115; Ibn Mājah: 2888; al-Muwaṭṭa’: 1/346; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 8798; Aḥmad: 2/246]

Scholarly Difference​

• Imām Aḥmad, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, and others: ʿUmrah is obligatory once in a lifetime for the financially able.
• Imām Mālik, Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, and others: ʿUmrah is Sunnah, not obligatory.

Stronger Opinion​

The stronger view is that ʿUmrah is Sunnah and not obligatory, because there is no sound, definitive evidence proving its obligation.

Evidence for Non-Obligation​

1. The hadith الحج والعمرة فريضتان is weak.
   [al-Kāmil: 4/1468; Naṣb al-Rāyah: 3/148; Ibn Ḥazm: al-Muḥallā: 7/37]
2. The Qurʾānic verse أَتِمُّوا الحَجَّ وَالْعُمْرَةَ (2:196) refers to completing Hajj or ʿUmrah for those who have already commenced them, not obligating them upon everyone.
3. The hadith commanding حج عن أبيك و اعتمر (Perform Hajj and ʿUmrah for your father) is for permission, not obligation — similar to other permissive commands in Sunnah.
4. Narrations stating العمرة تطوع ("ʿUmrah is voluntary") are also weak.

• Ibn Taymiyyah: The non-obligation view is stronger; Allah ﷻ only obligated Ḥajj.
  [Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 5/26]
• Shawkānī: No conclusive evidence for obligation; the principle of barāʾat al-aṣliyyah (original freedom from obligation) applies.
  [Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/276]
• Amīr al-Ṣanʿānī: No definitive proof of obligation; the default is non-obligation.
  [Subul al-Salām: 2/922]

Evidence for Obligation​

1. The hadith: حج عن أبيك و اعتمر — considered ṣaḥīḥ by some scholars.
   [Ibn Mājah: 2906; Abū Dāwūd: 1810; al-Nasāʾī: 5/111; Tirmidhī: 930; Aḥmad: 4/10]
2. In some versions of Ḥadīth Jibrīl, Islam is defined as: وتحج البيت و تعتمر.
   [Ibn Khuzaymah: 1; al-Dāraqutnī: 2/282; Ibn Ḥibbān: 173]
3. Statement of Ibn ʿUmar (RA): "Ḥajj and ʿUmrah are both obligatory upon every financially able person."
   [Bukhārī Muʿallaq: 3/698; al-Ḥākim: 1/471]

• Ibn Ḥazm: Both Ḥajj and ʿUmrah are obligatory.
  [al-Muḥallā: 5/8]
• ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī: Preferred the obligation view.
  [Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 3/813]

Conclusion: The preponderant opinion is that ʿUmrah is Sunnah and not an obligation, though performing it holds great virtue.