Why ‘Umar prohibited 'Umrah in the months of Hajj

8-2-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu 'alaykum. In a previous fatwa by yourselves, it was said "This is also supported by the fact that Ibn ‘Umar and his father, would order the people to perform Tamattu‘ Hajj and, when they said to him that his father forbade it, he would reply saying, "He did not mean that which you understood.” Could you please tell me where this statement of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is from? Is it from Fath ul Bari?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

At-Tirmithi and others reported that Saalim ibn ‘Abdullah (ibn ‘Umar) narrated that he heard a man from Ash-Shaam (i.e. the Levant - Greater Syria) asking ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar about Hajj Tamattu’, then ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar said: “It is lawful.” The man said: “Your father had forbidden it.” ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar said: “Well, if my father had forbidden it and the Messenger of Allaah did it, whom do we follow, the command of my father or the command of the Messenger of Allaah ?” The man said: “We follow the command of the Messenger of Allaah .” Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allaah did it.”

As regards the wording: “My father did not mean what you say,” then, in As-Sunan Al-Kubra, Al-Bayhaqi reported from Az-Zuhri from Saalim that he said: Ibn ‘Umar was asked about Hajj Tamattu’ and he commanded it, so he was told “you are opposing your father”, so he [Ibn ‘Umar] replied: “My father did not say what you are saying; rather, he said: “Perform ‘Umrah separately from Hajj, meaning that the ‘Umrah should not be done in the months of Hajj except by offering a sacrifice [Hady’], and my father meant that the House of Allaah should be visited during other months than the months of Hajj, and you have made it forbidden and punished the people for it, while Allaah permitted it and the Messenger of Allaah did it.” He said: When he [Ibn ‘Umar] was asked too much about it, he said: “Is it the Book of Allaah that is worthier of following or ‘Umar?”

Another Hadeeth, also in As-Sunan, reads: “Ibn ‘Umar said, “‘Umar did not tell you that ‘Umrah in the months of Hajj is forbidden, but he said that the complete ‘Umrah is that you make it separate from the months of Hajj.”

Many scholars reported this in their books, like Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr in his book Al-Istithkaar, Abul-Waleed Al-Baaji in Al-Muntaqa, and Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Al-Qayyim and others. Ibn Taymiyyah said in Minhaaj As-Sunnah: “ ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar used to order the people to perform Hajj  Tamattu’, and he was told ‘your father prohibited this,’ so he said: “My father did not mean what you say…”

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 33437.

Allaah Knows best.