Mut'ah of Hajj
Encyclopedia
- This is a sub-article of Ihram.
"Mut'ah of Hajj" or "hajj al-tamattu" (joy of Hajj), involves relaxation of the ihram between the Umrah
Umrah
The Umrah or is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place"...
and Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
, including the dress code and other prohibitions.
History
When planning a pilgrimage, one is expected to announce his intention to do so at the start of the journey. If one would start a pilgrimage with only the intention of doing a minor one, and after starting it he would decide that he also intends to do the major one, he needs to go a certain distance away from MeccaMecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, and then start a new pilgrimage, intending to do the greater one.
Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
had decreed that Umrah
Umrah
The Umrah or is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place"...
and Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
can be combined, ie: starting a pilgrimage with the intention of participating in both events.
However, Umar decided to ban this practice during his era as Sunni Caliph during a public announcement in which he forbade Mut'ah. This led to complaints from some of the citizens, as described in the hadith of the four advices to Umar.
The prohibition of this practice has since been voided, and the combination of both Umrah
Umrah
The Umrah or is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place"...
and Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
in the same month is permitted by both Shi'a and Sunnis.
Overview
There exists two form of pilgrimage, the "minor pilgrimage "(Arabic UmrahUmrah
The Umrah or is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place"...
) and the "major pilgrimage" (Arabic Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
). The major one contains more rules, and is obligatory upon all Muslims (if they can afford it financially, but if they can not afford it financially it is not obligatory) to perform once per life. While doing a pilgrimage, whether minor or major, the Muslim needs to adher to some very strict dress codes that also includes some other rules (Arabic: Ihram).
In pre-Islamic Arabia, if one would go to the minor pilgrimage a short period before the major one would commence, he was forbidden to go out of the dress code if he intended to follow it up with a Major pilgrimage.
This rule was abrogated by Muhammad, who said it was permissible to leave the state of Ihram if one intended to attend Hajj. and this relaxation became known as "joy" (Arabic: Mut'ah) or more distinctly, the "joy of pilgrimage", Mut'ah of Hajj or in Arabic :Hajj al-Tamattu. This is not mentioned in the Qur'an, rather it is a part of the Sunnah
Sunnah
The word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
.
History
This relaxation was a big change for the pre Islamic days of Arabia, but MuhammadMuhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
decreed the prohibitions of relaxation between the Umra and Hajj as void during the Farewell Pilgrimage
The Farewell Pilgrimage
The Farewell Pilgrimage was the last and only Hajj pilgrimage the Islamic prophet Muhammad participated in, in 632 CE .-Preparations:...
. At that point Umar
Umar
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death....
, the future second rightly guided Caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
, asked:
Kaaba
The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham, or Ibraheem, in Arabic, and his son Ishmael, or Ismaeel, as said in Arabic, after he had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque...
"?
Following Muhammad's decree, some people chose to cast off their Ihram after the Umrah
External sources
- http://www.islam-pure.de/imam/fatwas/manasik02.htm
- http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/026.sbt.html#002.026.635
- http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/007.smt.html#007.2803 - Search for "Ali".