Umrah is a Pilgrimage to Makkah.
Essentially in a nutshell Umrah is,
- Paying a visit to the Kabah
- Performing Tawaaf around it
- Walking between the hills of Safaa and Marwah seven times,
- And then shaving one’s head or cutting one’s hair short
Furthermore,
- Linguistically – Umrah means ‘Visit‘ (it is derived from the Arabic word Al-I’timar of the same meaning)
- Legally – Visit to Makkah in performance of specific rites
Wait, you might be thinking isn’t that the same as Hajj? Yes & No – there are some key differences,
- Umrah can be performed anytime in the year
- Umrah’s physical performance is confined to the vicinity of the Masjid Al-Haram (in Makkah)
- Whereas Hajj can only be undertaken during a specific Islamic month and is performed over several days, in several geographical locations.
Umrah is sometimes referred to as the Minor Hajj
Related
Ref
- “My Hajj – Part 1 – Introduction”, By The Wahy Project, 2017
- “Getting the Best out of Al-Hajj (Pilgrimage)”, By Abu Muneer Ismail Davids, Published by Darussalam, Second Edition – August, 2006. [10004]
- “Getting the Best out of Al-Hajj Seminar Notes”, By Abu Muneer Ismail Davids, Published by AMID Inspirations, November, 2015.