a complete period of ease between the ʿumrah and the Hajj. The pilgrim performing qirān is not in that position, for he remains in ihram from the moment he enters it until the Day of Eid. If that is so, then the analogy is invalid.
Thus, according to the apparent meaning of the Quran and the view of al-Zahiri, the sacrificial offering is obligatory upon the pilgrim performing tamattuʿ, but not upon one performing either ifrād or qirān.
Nevertheless, we say: what is more prudent for a person, and more complete for his pilgrimage rites, is to offer a sacrificial animal. The Prophet’s sunnah included voluntary sacrificial offerings, so what then of an offering concerning whose obligation the scholars have differed?! The majority of scholars hold that it is obligatory, and this is undoubtedly preferable, more effective in discharging one’s liability, and more prudent.
If it was in fact obligatory, then you have discharged your obligation; and if it was not obligatory, then you have drawn nearer to Allah through it.
A condition for the sacrificial offering to be obligatory is that one does not travel between the two—that is, between the ʿumrah and the Hajj. This may be inferred from the apparent wording of the author’s statement: “He completes it, then enters ihram for Hajj”: namely, that there is no travel in between, although this is not a particularly strong implication. Thus, if he performs ʿumrah and then travels, for example, to Madinah, and returns from Madinah in ihram for Hajj, he has travelled between them. Does the sacrificial offering then cease to be required? The apparent wording of the author indicates that it does cease to be required, because he said, “He completes it, then enters ihram,” which apparently indicates immediate succession; he did not say, “even if he travels.” The scholars have differed over this issue into three views:
The first view is that travelling to the pilgrim’s hometown or elsewhere does not waive the sacrificial offering, whether the journey is long or short. Accordingly, if a man performs ʿumrah during the months of Hajj, having resolved to perform Hajj in that same year,