- “Complete Hajj and Umrah for Allah. If you are prevented, then offer whatever sacrificial animal is affordable, and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches its appointed place. If any of you is ill or has an ailment of the scalp, then compensation must be made by fasting, charity, or sacrifice. When you are safe, whoever performs Umrah followed by Hajj must offer whatever sacrificial animal is affordable. But whoever cannot find one must fast three days during Hajj and seven when you return; those are ten complete days. This applies to anyone whose family does not reside near the Sacred Mosque. Fear Allah, and know that Allah is severe in punishment.”
His words [Exalted is He], “Complete Hajj and Umrah,” provide evidence for several matters:
First: Hajj and Umrah are obligatory and prescribed duties.
Second: Both must be completed with all their pillars and obligatory acts, as demonstrated by the Prophet’s practice and by his words—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“Learn your rites from me.”
Third: This provides evidence for those who hold that Umrah is obligatory.
Fourth: Once Hajj or Umrah has been commenced, it must be completed, even if it was undertaken voluntarily.
Fifth: They must be performed with precision and excellence, which goes beyond merely doing what is required for them.
Sixth: They must be devoted sincerely to Allah, Most High.
Seventh: A person who has entered ritual consecration for them may not leave that state for any reason until completing them, except in the case excluded by Allah: being prevented. He therefore said, “If you are prevented,” meaning: if you are prevented from reaching the Sacred House to complete them because of illness, becoming lost, an enemy, or any similar form of obstruction.
“Then offer whatever sacrificial animal is affordable,” means: slaughter whatever offering is affordable—one-seventh of a camel, one-seventh of a cow, or a sheep. The pilgrim who has been prevented slaughters it, shaves his head, and leaves ritual consecration because of that obstruction, as the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and his Companions did when they were barred ⦗91⦘ by the polytheists in the year of al-Hudaybiyya. If he cannot obtain an offering, he should instead fast ten days, as one performing Umrah followed by Hajj does, and then leave ritual consecration.
Allah, Most High, then said: “Do not shave your heads until the offering reaches its appointed place.” Removing hair, whether by shaving or otherwise, is one of the prohibitions of ritual consecration. The ruling is the same whether the hair is removed from the head or the body, because the purpose is for the pilgrim to remain unkempt and to refrain from the personal comfort gained by removing it; this applies equally to the rest of the body’s hair.
Many scholars analogized trimming the nails to removing hair because both provide personal comfort. The prohibition of the aforementioned acts continues until the offering reaches its appointed place, which is on the Day of Sacrifice. It is preferable to shave only after slaughtering, as the verse indicates.
This verse also provides evidence that if a pilgrim performing Umrah followed by Hajj has brought his sacrificial offering with him, he may not leave ritual consecration after Umrah before the Day of Sacrifice. Once he has performed the circumambulation and ritual walk for Umrah, he enters ritual consecration for Hajj and may not leave that state because he has brought the offering. Allah, Blessed and Exalted, prohibited him from doing so because it entails humbling and submitting himself to Allah, being broken before Him, and showing humility—which is precisely in the servant’s true interest—and no harm results from it. If harm does arise, however, because he has an illness for which shaving his head would be beneficial, sores, lice, or something similar, he may shave his head. He must nevertheless offer compensation by fasting three days, giving charity to six needy people (1), or sacrificing an animal that meets the requirements of a sacrificial offering. He may choose among these, though sacrifice is best, followed by charity and then fasting.
The same applies to analogous acts, such as trimming the nails, covering the head, wearing tailored clothing, or applying perfume. These are permitted when necessary, though the aforementioned compensation remains obligatory, because each of them serves to obtain personal comfort.
Allah, Most High, then said: “When you are safe,” meaning: when you are able to reach the Sacred House without being obstructed by an enemy or anything else. “Whoever performs Umrah followed by Hajj,” means: whoever performs Umrah before Hajj and enjoys release from ritual consecration after completing it.
“Then offer whatever sacrificial animal is affordable,” means that he must offer whatever sacrificial animal he can afford—an animal meeting the requirements of a standard sacrificial offering. This is an offering prescribed as a rite in return for his being able to perform both rites on a single journey and for Allah’s favor in allowing him to enjoy release from ritual consecration after completing Umrah and before commencing Hajj. The same applies to one who combines Hajj and Umrah, because he too performs both rites.
The implication of the verse is that one who performs Hajj alone owes no offering. The verse also indicates that performing Umrah followed by Hajj is permissible—indeed, meritorious—and that it may be undertaken during the months of Hajj.
“But whoever cannot find one”—meaning the offering or its price—“must fast three days during Hajj.” The earliest these may be fasted is upon entering ritual consecration for Umrah, and they may be observed as late as the three days following the Day of Sacrifice, which are the days of stoning the pillars and spending the nights at Minā. It is preferable, however, to fast on the seventh, eighth, and ninth. “And seven when you return,” means when you have completed the rites of Hajj. They may therefore be fasted in Mecca, on the journey home, or upon reaching one’s family.
“This”—the aforementioned obligation of an offering upon one who performs Umrah followed by Hajj—“applies to anyone whose family does not reside near the Sacred Mosque,” meaning one whose home is at least the distance at which shortening the prayer is permitted, or is considered far from it by customary standards. Such a person must offer the sacrifice because he has performed both rites on a single journey. As for one whose family resides near the Sacred Mosque, no offering is required of him because the reason requiring it is absent.
“Fear Allah,” in all your affairs by obeying His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. This includes complying with the commands and avoiding the prohibited acts mentioned in this verse.
“And know that Allah is severe in punishment,” toward those who disobey Him. This is what necessitates fear of Allah: whoever fears Allah’s punishment refrains from whatever incurs it, just as whoever hopes for Allah’s reward performs the deeds that lead to it. As for one who neither fears punishment nor hopes for reward, he plunges into prohibited acts and boldly neglects his obligations.