We mentioned last week that both Umrah and pilgrimage are duties required of every Muslim, once in a lifetime. We also made it clear that both may be offered as many times as one wishes, but when the duty is fulfilled, the next time either Umrah or pilgrimage is done, it is a voluntary act of worship that ensures generous reward from God. Now we will look at the methods of doing the two duties.
Since most pilgrims do both duties on the same journey, it is important to know how the two duties may be combined. There are three methods:
1. Ifraad. The word means, ‘doing something alone, or doing a single thing.’ Hence, it is not a method of combining two duties, but doing them separately. In fact, it is a method of doing the pilgrimage alone, without involving the other duty of Umrah. Umrah is done by pilgrims who choose this method after the pilgrimage has been completed.
2. Qiran. The term means, ‘joining together.’ This involves doing both the Umrah and the pilgrimage at the same time, with rites and rituals counting for both.
3. Tamattu’. The term means, ‘relaxed enjoyment.’ It is derived from the Qur’anic reference to a pilgrim who does the Umrah and waits for pilgrimage without having to observe the restrictions of ihraam.
The choice of any of these methods is made at the time when one enters into the state of consecration, or ihraam, at the point of the meeqat. He declares his intention verbally, by saying that he is responding to God’s call on mankind to do the pilgrimage, and states whether he wants to do the Umrah or the pilgrimage or the two together. If he says he is doing the pilgrimage, he opts for the ifraad method, and if he declares his ihraam for Umrah, he is opting for the tamattu’ method, while opting for the qiran method requires a declaration that he is making the two duties together.
When one chooses the ifraad method, one proceeds to do the pilgrimage duties, starting with the tawaf of arrival. The qiran method follows exactly the same procedure, doing the same duties at the same time, without any addition, and it counts as Umrah and pilgrimage, but it requires the slaughter of one sheep, as a duty, on the day of the Eid. Such a sacrifice is only recommended for a pilgrim doing the ifraad method. The tamattu’ method involves doing the complete Umrah on arrival in Makkah, and releasing oneself from consecration immediately. On the eighth of Dul Hijjah, a pilgrim doing this method re-enters into the state of consecration to perform the rituals of the pilgrimage. This method also requires the sacrifice as a duty.
The question arises here about which method is preferable. The answer is clearly the tamattu’ method, without any doubt. This is because the Prophet ordered his companions who chose either of the other two methods to do their Umrah and to release themselves from consecration. He told them that this is the preferable method, and that Umrah and pilgrimage have become intertwined for the rest of life. Only in one situation such a change cannot be done. That is the case of a pilgrim who chooses the qiran method, having brought his sacrificial animal with him. That was the condition of the Prophet when he did his pilgrimage. He said that had he had the choice again, he would have done the tamattu’ method.
On arrival in Makkah, a pilgrim doing either the ifraad or the qiran method should do his tawaf of arrival. He follows that with doing the sa’ie, walking seven times between the two hills of As-Safa and Al-Marwah, if he prefers. He may delay doing his sa’ie until after he has done the tawaf of ifaadhah. He then waits in Makkah until the eighth of Dul Hijjah when he departs for Mina and Arafat to complete his pilgrimage. During this time he remains in consecration, which means that he should continue to observe all the restrictions of ihraam. Of course all this applies to women in the same way as it applies to men. This is true for all the duties of pilgrimage. If there are any differences, we will point them out as we discuss the duties of pilgrimage.
A person who has opted for the tamattu’ method begins by doing the Umrah, which consists of four duties: ihraam, tawaf, sa’ie, and shaving one’s head or trimming one’s hair. A woman is required to cut only a little bit of a small part of her hair. He then releases himself from ihraam completely, and enjoys normal life until the eighth of Dul Hijjah, when he enters into consecration again to begin his pilgrimage duties.
Both the tamattu’ and the qiran methods require the sacrifice of a sheep. If one sacrifices more than one sheep, it is all the better. Partaking of the meat of the sacrifice is strongly recommended, as mentioned in the Qur’an.
Neither of these two methods, i.e. the qiran and the tamattu’, is available to those who live in Makkah. They may go on pilgrimage only, without combining it with the Umrah in either method.
It has been the common practice of people who come from outside the Haram area and opt for the ifraad method to do the Umrah after they have finished their pilgrimage. However, this was not a normal practice in the early days of Islam. People realized that in order to earn the great reward of either the Umrah or the pilgrimage, one should initiate a special journey for it. When one combines both on the same journey, one should follow either the tamattu’ and the qiran methods. Some people feel that if they do that they do not add to the problem of wasted sacrificial meat. A person who follows the ifraad method does not have to offer a sacrifice. This may have been true until recently, but the problem has now been solved by the facility of sending the sacrificial meat to areas of famine and food shortage in the Muslim world.
The practice of doing the ifraad method and following it with the Umrah is taken from the fact that when Aishah did the pilgrimage with the Prophet she could not do the Umrah at the beginning like the rest of the Prophet’s wives and companions who did not bring their sacrificial animals with them. This was due to the fact that she was in her period when she arrived in Makkah. Hence, she could not do the tawaf. The Prophet told her to revert back to pilgrimage. When she finished her pilgrimage she felt sad. She said to the Prophet: “Messenger of God, would people go back home having done both the Umrah and the pilgrimage while I go back with only the pilgrimage?” He said: “Have you not done the tawaf when we arrived in Makkah?” She answered in the negative. He then said to her: “Go out with your brother to Al-Tan’eem and enter into the state of consecration, resolving to do the Umrah.” He appointed a place where he would meet her after she had finished.
Most scholars agree that the Prophet allowed her to do that in order that she would not feel sorry for herself for failing to do the Umrah as the rest of the Prophet’s companions and his other wives. Neither she nor the Prophet would have chosen this method in the first place. It was a compensation for something which was out of her hands. To opt for this method from the start does not seem to be a proper choice, although it is certainly permissible. As I have already stated, in the early days of Islam people took it for granted that both the Umrah and the pilgrimage required a special journey to Makkah. If a person chooses to do each one of them on a special journey in the same year, then the ifraad method is perfectly in order for him. It is in no way less preferable than the other two methods. If one wants to make a single journey, then either the tamattu’ or the qiran method is preferable.
There remains the point of offering the Umrah in the pilgrimage months without offering the pilgrimage later on. Many people think that this is not permissible. This is a mistaken idea. The Prophet himself did three Umrahs in the month of Dul Qaada without doing the pilgrimage in the same year. If a person does the Umrah in Shawwal or in Dul Qaada not intending to do the pilgrimage in the first place, but then finds himself doing the pilgrimage in the same year, he is considered to have opted for the tamattu’ method, and he is required to slaughter a sheep in gratitude to God for enabling him to do both duties in the same year.
Arab News Islam 13 January 2003
