Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates a hadith from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding Jibreel (peace be upon him). In response to the question of Jibreel (peace be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Islam is that you bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah. And that you establish prayer, pay zakat, perform Hajj and Umrah, perform ghusl due to major impurity, perform complete ablution, and fast in the blessed month of Ramadan." Jibreel (peace be upon him) asked, "If I do these things, will I be a Muslim?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "Yes." He said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has said this.

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that it is obligatory upon every person to perform one Hajj and one Umrah; it is necessary to fulfill both of them. Then, whoever performs more Hajj or Umrah, this is a matter of great goodness, blessing, and virtue.

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that performing one ‘Umrah is obligatory upon every servant of Allah.

Imam Abu Bakr, may Allah have mercy on him, says that this mawquf hadith of Sayyiduna Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, is evidence for the weakness of his following marfu’ hadith, which is narrated by Ibn al-Munkadir. It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked,“Is ‘Umrah obligatory?”He, peace and blessings be upon him, replied:“No, but if you perform ‘Umrah, it is a virtuous and superior act.”Imam Abu Bakr, may Allah have mercy on him, says that if Sayyiduna Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, had heard from the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that ‘Umrah is not obligatory, he would never have opposed the statement of the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him (and would not have given the fatwa of ‘Umrah being obligatory). In the story of Sayyiduna ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated from Dhammi bin Ma‘bad, there is evidence that Sayyiduna ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, also considered ‘Umrah to be obligatory. (That story is as follows.)

Hazrat Dammi bin Ma’bad narrates that I was a Bedouin Christian. Then I became a Muslim and I had a great desire for jihad. I found out that Hajj and Umrah were also obligatory upon me. Therefore, I went to a person from my family, Hadeem bin Abdullah, and said to him,“O respected one, I have a great desire to perform jihad and I have learned that Hajj and Umrah have also become obligatory upon me. How can I combine both?”He replied,“You can perform them together and then sacrifice whatever animal is available to you.”So I put on the ihram for both and recited the talbiyah. When I reached the place of ‘Udhaib, I met Sulaiman bin Rabee’ah and Zaid bin Suhan, and I was reciting the talbiyah for both Hajj and Umrah. One of them said to his companion,“This person is not even more intelligent than his camel.”Their words were so hard on me as if a mountain had fallen upon me, until I presented myself before Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said,“O Commander of the Faithful, I was a Bedouin Christian and now I am a Muslim, and I have a great desire for jihad, and I have found that Hajj and Umrah are obligatory upon me. Therefore, I went to a person from my family, Hadeem bin Abdullah, and said to him, ‘O respected one, I have a great desire to perform jihad and Hajj and Umrah have also become obligatory upon me. How can I perform both acts of worship together?’ He replied, ‘Perform both together, and if you find an animal, then sacrifice it.’ So I put on the ihram for both Hajj and Umrah, and when I reached the place of ‘Udhaib, I met Sulaiman bin Rabee’ah and Zaid bin Suhan, while I was in ihram for both and reciting the talbiyah. Hearing my talbiyah, one of them said to the other, ‘This person is even more foolish than his camel.’ So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, ‘You have been granted the ability to act upon the Sunnah of your Prophet.’ (Hajj Qiran is the Sunnah of the Prophet, so do not mind their wrong statement and continue your action.) Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did not refute the statement of Dammi bin Ma’bad that Hajj and Umrah are obligatory upon me. This is the clearest evidence that, according to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), Umrah is obligatory and its ruling is like that of Hajj. Because if Umrah was considered voluntary by him, he would have refuted the statement of Dammi bin Ma’bad and said,“We do not consider Umrah obligatory upon you. Rather, in my view, only Hajj is obligatory upon you.”The fact that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did not object to the fatwa of Hadeem bin Abdullah is clear evidence that, according to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), it is permissible to perform Hajj Qiran from the miqat without taking the sacrificial animal along from there. And in this is also evidence that the one performing Hajj Qiran can also slaughter whatever sacrificial animal is available, just as the one performing Hajj Tamattu’ does. The view of those scholars is not correct who say that for Hajj Qiran, it is necessary for the one entering ihram to take a camel or cow for sacrifice from the miqat.

Imam Mujahid narrates that I and Hazrat Urwah bin Zubair (may Allah have mercy on him) entered Masjid Nabawi, and we saw that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) was sitting leaning against the chamber of Ummul Momineen Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). Meanwhile, people were performing the Duha (forenoon) prayer in the mosque. We asked Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) about the prayer of those people, so he replied that this is an innovation (bid’ah). Then we asked how many Umrahs the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed? He replied that he performed four Umrahs.

Hazrat Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that I asked Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) how many ‘Umrahs the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed. He replied that he performed four ‘Umrahs and only one Hajj. One of his ‘Umrahs was along with his Hajj.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Umrah is an expiation for all the sins committed between the present Umrah and the previous Umrah, and the only reward for an accepted Hajj is Paradise."

Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One ‘Umrah is an expiation for the sins committed between it and the next ‘Umrah, and the reward for an accepted Hajj is nothing but Paradise."

According to my knowledge, this hadith also proves that just as Hajj is obligatory, Umrah is also obligatory, because the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has clarified that for women, just as performing Hajj is necessary, performing Umrah is also necessary.