a view held by anyone. Hajj in its entirety cannot be compared to prayer, which is the pillar of the religion; how, then, can any of its individual rites be compared to it? Allah has prescribed Hajj for every Muslim only once in a lifetime and has not required any of its rites to be performed twice. Rather, He has prescribed only one circumambulation and one standing at ‘Arafah. The same applies to going between al-Safā and al-Marwah: according to the more explicit of the two reports from Ahmad, a pilgrim performing tamattu‘ is required to perform this rite only once, either before standing at ‘Arafah or afterwards, following circumambulation.

For this reason, most scholars hold that ‘umrah is not obligatory. This is the position of Mālik and Abū Hanīfah, and one of the two positions in the schools of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad. It is also the position more clearly supported by the evidence. Allah has required only pilgrimage to the House; He has not required ‘umrah. He has, however, required anyone who begins Hajj or ‘umrah to complete it, because ‘umrah is the lesser pilgrimage. It must therefore be completed, just as a voluntary Hajj must be completed.

Allah has required only what is denoted by the term Hajj; He has not required two pilgrimages, a greater and a lesser one. That requirement is fulfilled by the greater pilgrimage, which is what the term Hajj means when used without qualification. Nothing beyond that is therefore obligatory. Nor do the rites of ‘umrah contain anything additional to the rites of Hajj. If ‘umrah were obligatory, this would merely require the same rites to be performed twice, contrary to what Allah has prescribed for Hajj.

The point here is this: if Hajj is obligatory only once, how can it be compared to something obligatory five times every day and night?