Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that I asked,“O Messenger of Allah, is jihad also obligatory upon women?”He (peace and blessings be upon him) replied:“There is such a jihad obligatory upon them in which there is no fighting; that is Hajj and Umrah.”Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that in your statement that such a jihad is obligatory upon them in which there is no fighting, and you informed them that the obligatory jihad upon them is to perform Hajj and Umrah, there is evidence in this that Umrah is obligatory just like Hajj. Because the apparent meaning of your statement ‘alayhinna’ (upon them) is that it is obligatory upon them, because it is not correct to say this for a voluntary act of worship that it is ‘upon a person’. (This is only said when the obligation of something is intended to be conveyed.)

Hazrat Abu Bakr bin Abdur Rahman bin Harith narrates that Marwan sent a person to Sayyida Umm Ma’qil (may Allah be pleased with her) to ask about this hadith, so she stated that her husband had dedicated a camel for jihad in the way of Allah, and when Sayyida Umm Ma’qil (may Allah be pleased with her) intended to perform ‘Umrah, she asked her husband for that camel for the journey. Her husband refused to give her the camel, so Sayyida Umm Ma’qil (may Allah be pleased with her) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of this matter. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her husband to give her the camel and said:“Hajj and ‘Umrah are also included in the way of Allah, and indeed, ‘Umrah performed in the blessed month of Ramadan is equal to Hajj or suffices for Hajj.”Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that in my view, this narration is evidence against the stance of the one who says that if someone dedicates something in the way of Allah and then keeps it in his own possession and use, then this dedication is not valid. Whereas the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted Sayyiduna Abu Ma’qil (may Allah be pleased with him) to dedicate his camel in the way of Allah and not to remove it from his personal use. And this narration is proof of the correctness of the madhhab of Imam Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on him) that a waqf (endowment) is completed by verbal declaration, even if the one making the waqf does not remove the item from his own possession and use.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: (At the place of Sarif) the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me and I was crying. He asked: "What has happened to you?" Mother (Aisha) replied that I cannot pray (my menstrual period has started). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Menstruation is not a cause of harm for you. Surely, you are also one of the daughters of Adam (peace be upon him), and whatever Allah has made obligatory upon you, He has made obligatory upon all women." Then the complete hadith was narrated, and it is mentioned that when he (the Prophet) stayed in the valley of Muhassab, we also stayed there with him. Then he called Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) and instructed him: "Take your sister outside the boundaries of the Haram so that she may enter into the state of Ihram for Umrah (and perform Umrah)."

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to perform Hajj, a woman said to her husband, "Take me to perform Hajj with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." He replied, "I do not have a mount on which I can take you for Hajj." The woman said, "Take me for Hajj on your camel that you use to bring water." He said, "I and your son will ride on that." The woman said, "Take me for Hajj on such-and-such camel of yours." The husband replied, "That camel is dedicated in the way of Allah (for Jihad)." The wife said, "Sell your dates and take me for Hajj." The husband said, "That is our food, yours and mine."

Then, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from Makkah after performing Hajj, the woman sent her husband to the Prophet and said, "Convey my greetings to the Messenger of Allah and may Allah's mercy be upon him, and ask him which deed can be equal to performing Hajj with you?" So her husband presented himself before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, my wife conveys to you as-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. She had asked me to take her for Hajj with you, but I told her that I do not have a mount to take you. She said, 'Take me for Hajj on such-and-such camel.' I replied, 'That camel is dedicated in the way of Allah for Jihad.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Beware! If you had taken her for Hajj on that camel, that act would also have been counted as being in the way of Allah." The woman said, "Take me for Hajj on your water-carrying camel," and I said, "I and your son will ride on that." She then said, "Sell your dates (and take me for Hajj)," and I said, "That is our food, yours and mine." At this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled at the woman's eagerness to perform Hajj. And she asked me to ask you which deed can be equal to performing Hajj with you? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Convey my salam and Allah's mercy to her, and tell her that performing Umrah in Ramadan is equal to performing Hajj with me."

Hazrat Saeed bin Musayyib, while explaining the interpretation of Allah Almighty’s statement «‏‏‏‏بَرَاءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة التوبة: 1 ] , says that Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) departed from Hunayn, he performed ‘Umrah from Ji‘ranah, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) as the leader (amir) of that Hajj.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave an order to the people in the year of the Farewell Hajj and said: "Whoever wishes to return after performing only Umrah before Hajj may do so." Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that this narration is evidence for the correctness of Imam Shafi'i's (may Allah have mercy on him) opinion that the time for Hajj is broad. A person can perform Hajj after it becomes obligatory upon him, at any time before his death. Because if it were necessary to perform it in the same year it became obligatory, as some less knowledgeable people think, then the one who delays Hajj would be considered disobedient to Allah. However, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave his companions permission during the Farewell Hajj that whoever wishes to return to his homeland after performing only Umrah before Hajj may do so, and at that time only a few days were left for Hajj, because the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Makkah Mukarramah for the Farewell Hajj on the 4th of Dhul-Hijjah, and only five days were left for Hajj. But even then, he gave permission to those who wanted to return after performing Umrah that whoever wishes to return after performing Umrah before me may do so.