argue, one group saying, “We are more correct,” and the other saying, “We are more correct.” Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said:

“For every community We have appointed rites which they observe. So do not let them dispute with you over this matter. Call to your Lord; you are indeed upon straight guidance.” [Al-Hajj: 67]

Section

The appointment of a season for hajj is not like the appointment of a time for prayer: it does not mean that entering ihram for hajj before the months of hajj is impermissible in the way that beginning a prayer before its time is impermissible. The underlying distinction is that the rites of hajj do not immediately follow entry into ihram; rather, they are deferred until their appointed time. Entering ihram early therefore does not invalidate hajj, since its rites can only be performed at their prescribed time. The acts of prayer, however, immediately follow its commencement, so someone who began it before its time might finish it before its time had even begun.

The basic rule would have required people to enter ihram for hajj from their homelands, even if they were a year’s journey—or several years’ journey—from Mecca, because Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“Proclaim the pilgrimage to the people; they will come to you on foot.” [Al-Hajj: 27]

But Allah eased this requirement for them, as He says in His Book:

“Hajj is in well-known months.” [Al-Baqara: 197]

Likewise, through His Messenger ﷺ, He relieved them of having to enter ihram before reaching their appointed entry points. If someone enters ihram for hajj before the months of hajj or before reaching his appointed entry point, he has acted wrongly by imposing hardship on himself and declining Allah’s concession. This, then, is the purpose of appointing the months of hajj as its season.

For this same reason, someone who is not a resident of Mecca must offer a sacrificial animal if he performs umrah during the months of hajj and then performs hajj before returning to his homeland, or if he combines hajj and umrah. This is because he has performed umrah during the months that Allah has designated for hajj in his case.

Some scholars hold that a person may not enter ihram for hajj before the months of hajj. If he does so, he comes out of ihram through umrah and is regarded as performing umrah followed by hajj; his entry into ihram does not count for hajj. Another view is that he is not obliged to end his ihram through umrah, just as someone who begins a prayer and then remembers that he has already performed it may discontinue it and need not complete two units of prayer. There is disagreement on this matter.