Scholarly disagreement:
The scholars are unanimously agreed that ʿumrah is legislatively prescribed and that it counts among the rituals of Allah; however, they differ over its legal status. The people of hadith, together with the two Imams al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad, maintain that it is obligatory once in a lifetime for anyone who is able, just like the hajj.
Its obligatoriness is likewise transmitted from a group of Companions and Successors, among them ʿUmar, ʿAlī, Zayd ibn Thābit, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar, ʿĀʾishah, Ṭāwūs, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Ibn Sīrīn, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Mujāhid, and ʿAṭāʾ.
In contrast, the two Imams Abū Ḥanīfah and Mālik and their followers regard it as merely recommended. This view is also reported from Ibn Masʿūd and in one narration from Imam Aḥmad—a position chosen by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him. Ibn Taymiyyah says in al-Ikhtiyārāt: “The opinion that ʿumrah is obligatory for the people of Mecca is exceedingly weak and contradicts the established Sunnah. For this reason, the sounder of the two paths reported from Aḥmad is that the people of Mecca are not required to perform ʿumrah at all, whereas for others there are two opinions.”
Ibn Qudāmah records this narration in al-Mughnī, stating: “There is no ʿumrah upon the people of Mecca”—a direct statement from Aḥmad. He further reports that Ibn ʿAbbās did not consider ʿumrah obligatory and would say: “O people of Mecca, ʿumrah is not incumbent upon you; your ʿumrah is your circumambulation of the House.” The reasoning is that the core pillar and visible emblem of ʿumrah is the circumambulation (ṭawāf) of the Kaʿbah, and since they already perform that, it suffices for them.
Those who unreservedly hold it to be obligatory cite, for example, the Almighty’s words: “Complete the hajj and the ʿumrah for Allah” ⦗2:196⦘—the imperative denotes obligation, and ʿumrah is coupled with hajj, so the default is that the conjunct shares the ruling of what it is joined to. They also argue from the report authenticated by al-Tirmidhī (852) in which the Prophet ﷺ told a questioner, “Perform hajj on behalf of your father and perform ʿumrah,” as well as from what al-Dāraqutnī records (2/284) from Zayd ibn Thābit: “Hajj and ʿumrah are both obligatory.”
As for those who deny its obligatoriness, they say that the default state is freedom from duty, and no