Rites of Umrah العمرة

The rites without which the Umrah is not valid at all. Missing one cannot be repaired with a sacrifice — the pilgrim stays in ihram until it is performed.

• Ihram (entering the state of ritual consecration)الإحرامPillar (Rukn) according to the majority — Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali — being the entry-act into the rites, constituted by the niyyah (intention) to assume t…›
• Tawaf al-'Umrah (the circumambulation of 'Umrah)طواف العمرةRukn (Pillar) of 'Umrah — agreed upon by all four madhabs. It is the seven-circuit circumambulation of the Ka'bah performed after entering ihram for 'Umrah a…›
• Sa'i between Safa and Marwahالسعي بين الصفا والمروةRukn (Pillar) of 'Umrah according to the majority (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali); Wajib (obligatory duty) according to the Hanafi school. Category given as 'pill…›

Required acts that, if missed, are compensated with a dam (sacrifice) rather than invalidating the Umrah. Note that the Shafi'i school treats halq/taqsir as a pillar instead.

• Entering Ihram from the Miqatالإحرام من الميقاتWajib (obligatory duty). Note: the ihram/niyyah itself is a rukn (or condition) of the 'Umrah; performing it from the designated miqat boundary (i.e. not cro…›
• Shaving or trimming the hair (Halq or Taqsir)الحلق أو التقصيرMajority: Wajib (obligatory act) — Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali. The Shafi'i school (its dominant view) classifies it as a rukn (pillar/nusuk) of the 'Umrah. …›

Recommended acts carrying no penalty if omitted, but they are how the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed his own four Umrahs.

• Ghusl before Ihramالغسل للإحرامSunnah (mustahabb / recommended), not obligatory. All four madhabs agree it is a recommended act at the point of entering ihram, not a condition or pillar of…›
• Perfuming the body before Ihramالتطيب قبل الإحرامSunnah (mustahabb / recommended act of Ihram). It is not a pillar (rukn) or a wajib; the majority regard applying scent to the body before ihram as a recomme…›
• Two rak'ahs before Ihramركعتا الإحرامSunnah (mustahabb / recommended). All four schools agree it is recommended (mustahabb) to enter ihram immediately after a prayer; whether there is a prayer p…›
• Reciting the Talbiyah frequentlyالتلبية (الإكثار من التلبية)Reciting and renewing the Talbiyah frequently is Sunnah (mustahabb) by agreement of all four schools. The legal status of the Talbiyah itself, however, diver…›
• Etiquette of entering Makkah and Masjid al-Haram (ghusl before entering Makkah, entering the mosque with the right foot and its du'a, and du'a at the first sight of the Ka'bah)آداب دخول مكة والمسجد الحرامSunnah / mustahabb (recommended adab), agreed upon by the four madhabs. This bundles several recommended acts on arrival: (a) ghusl before entering Makkah; (…›
• Istilam of the Black Stone (touching, kissing, or pointing to al-Hajar al-Aswad)استلام الحجر الأسودSunnah, agreed upon by all four madhabs. Kissing, touching, or pointing to the Black Stone at the start of each of the seven circuits is a recommended act, n…›
• Raml and Idtiba' in Tawaf (brisk stepping in the first three circuits, and baring the right shoulder)الرمل والاضطباع في الطوافSunnah — two distinct recommended acts performed within a tawaf, for men only. Raml is walking briskly with short quick steps, chest out and shoulders moving…›
• Two rak'ahs behind Maqam Ibrahim (Prayer of Tawaf)ركعتا الطواف خلف مقام إبراهيمTwo units of prayer performed after completing the seven circuits of tawaf, ideally behind the Station of Ibrahim. Its ruling diverges by school: Shafi'i and…›
• Zamzam etiquette after Tawafآداب شرب ماء زمزم بعد الطوافSunnah (mustahabb) — a recommended act of etiquette. Drinking Zamzam is a confirmed Sunnah; the specific manner (facing the Qiblah, du'a) is recommended adab.›
• Clinging to the Multazam (iltizam al-Multazam)الالتزام بالملتزمSunnah / mustahabb (recommended). Standing at the Multazam — the stretch of the Ka'bah wall between the Black Stone and the door — and pressing one's chest, …›

Validity conditions, the single release from ihram, the ihram prohibitions and their expiations, and the rules specific to Umrah — when it may be performed, and where a pilgrim already inside Makkah enters ihram.

• Conditions for a valid Tawaf (Shurut sihhat al-Tawaf)شروط صحة الطوافRuling/Condition. This is not itself a pillar, wajib, or sunnah act; it is the itemized set of shurut (conditions) whose fulfilment makes a tawaf legally val…›
• Conditions for a valid Sa'i (Shurut sihhat al-Sa'i)شروط صحة السعي بين الصفا والمروةRuling/Condition. This is not itself a pillar, wajib, or sunnah act; it is the itemized set of shurut (conditions) whose fulfilment makes a sa'i legally vali…›
• Tahallul of 'Umrah (the single, complete release from ihram)التحلل من العمرةRuling/Condition. Not itself a rukn, wajib or sunnah act — it is the legal threshold at which the state of ihram for 'Umrah ends. 'Umrah has one tahallul: it…›
• Prohibitions of Ihram (Mahzurat al-Ihram)محظورات الإحرامRuling/Condition. This is not itself a pillar (rukn), wajib, or sunnah act; it is the itemized set of maḥẓūrāt — the restrictions that the state of iḥrām imp…›
• Sexual intercourse before the first tahallulالجماع قبل التحلل الأولRuling/Condition. This is a prohibition — one of the maḥẓūrāt al-iḥrām, specifically the rafath — but it is singled out as its own item because, uniquely amo…›
• Fidyat al-adha (expiation for shaving/removing hair during ihram out of illness or harm)فدية الأذىWajib fidyah (obligatory expiation) of the 'fidyah of choice' (fidyat al-takhyir) type: the person freely chooses among three options — fast three days, or f…›
• Dam (compensatory sacrifice) for omitting a wajib act of 'Umrah — dam jabr / dam al-jubranدم جبر (دم ترك واجب من واجبات الحج أو العمرة)Wajib expiation — a compensatory sacrifice (dam jabr / dam al-jubran) owed when a pilgrim leaves out one of the wajibat (obligatory acts) of the 'Umrah. It s…›
• Jaza' al-sayd (penalty / expiation for killing land game while in ihram)جزاء الصيدWajib kaffarah (obligatory expiation / penalty) for violating an ihram prohibition — not a rite that is performed, but a penalty incurred when the prohibitio…›
• Timing of 'Umrah (valid all year, and the virtue of 'Umrah in Ramadan)وقت العمرة وفضل عمرة رمضانRuling/Condition — a timing rule. 'Umrah has no season at all: the majority (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) hold it valid on every day of the year without excepti…›
• Declaring the type of pilgrimage (nusuk) in the Talbiyah at ihramتعيين النسك في التلبية (لبيك عمرة)Sunnah / mustahabb (recommended). Voicing the intended nusuk in the talbiyah when assuming ihram — for 'Umrah, 'Labbayka 'Umratan' ('Here I am for 'Umrah') —…›
• Ishtiraat (stipulating a condition of release when entering ihram)الاشتراط عند الإحرام (اللهم محلي حيث حبستني)A recommended concession (mustahabb), not obligatory — and its very validity is contested (see "Across the madhabs"). By consensus it is not wajib. Per the S…›
• Miqat for 'Umrah for one already inside the Haram (al-Tan'im, al-Ji'ranah)ميقات العمرة لمن كان داخل الحرم (التنعيم، الجعرانة)Ruling/Condition. A special-case miqat rule for 'Umrah. The five territorial mawaqit serve a person travelling in from outside; a person already in Makkah — …›
• Repeating 'Umrah, and the gap between two 'Umrahsتكرار العمرة والمدة بين عمرتينRuling/Condition — a frequency rule, and the companion to the Timing of 'Umrah record. Validity is not in dispute: a second 'Umrah begun the same day the fir…›
• Visiting Madinah is not a rite of 'Umrah (Ziyarah of the Prophet's (ﷺ) Mosque)زيارة المدينة المنورة والمسجد النبوي ليست من مناسك الحج والعمرةRuling / Scope-note (boundary clarification), not a ritual act of 'Umrah. Traveling to and praying in the Prophet's (ﷺ) Mosque in Madinah is an independently…›
• The ruling and virtue of 'Umrah (obligatory duty or emphasised sunnah?)حكم العمرة وفضلهاRuling/Condition — a scope note, not an act. 'Umrah is the 'lesser pilgrimage': its rites are ihram, tawaf, sa'i and halq/taqsir, all performed in Makkah and…›