Umra for Others
Question:
I intend to perform Umra Inshallah. People do more than one Umra during one visit - like one in their name and one in their father or mother's name. What is recommended ?
Please advise.
Answer:
Based on verse 53:39 no one’s act of worship benefits others. Imagine that if it was the case that one could do umrah for others then we should have had plenty of hadiths reporting that the companions and in fact the prophet (pbuh) himself used to do umrah for others. In deed if this was the case then it would have been nearly an obligation for a person to do umrah for his deceased father and mother, as part of being good to them (Ihsan be al-waledayn).
The number of hadiths on doing umrah for others does not reach that many and the few that are available suggest something different. For instance look at this:
"Ibn `abbas says that once a woman from Juhainah came to the Prophet (pbuh) and asked: My mother had vowed to perform hajj but could not carry out her vow and died. Can I perform hajj on her behalf? The Prophet (pbuh) said: Yes, perform hajj on her behalf. If your mother owed a debt to someone, wouldn't you have paid it on her behalf? Pay her debt towards Allah, on her behalf. Allah deserves most that the debts owed to Him be repaid." (Bukhari, Kita'b al-Hajj)
Accordingly, if a person has promised himself or the Almighty to do hajj or umrah but dies or due to other circumstances does not manage to do it, then another person may do the hajj or umrah on his behalf. The person who does this will get his own reward, but since the motivation for his act of worship was the one who had promised to do hajj or umrah, therefore that person (i.e. one who promised) too will get reward insha’Allah. So if you know that your parents were determined to do umrah but they were not able to do it, then you may do additional umras on their behalf.
Disregarding the issue of doing Umrah for others, with regards to doing more than one Umrah in one journey, while we do not have any instructions in Shari'ah to forbid this, we also know that this was not practiced as a routine by the prophet (pbuh) and the companions. I personally believe that spiritual investment on one Umrah during a single journey is much more beneficial than spreading the spiritual energy and motivation on a number of Umrahs during a journey.
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July 2014
I intend to perform Umra Inshallah. People do more than one Umra during one visit - like one in their name and one in their father or mother's name. What is recommended ?
Please advise.
Answer:
Based on verse 53:39 no one’s act of worship benefits others. Imagine that if it was the case that one could do umrah for others then we should have had plenty of hadiths reporting that the companions and in fact the prophet (pbuh) himself used to do umrah for others. In deed if this was the case then it would have been nearly an obligation for a person to do umrah for his deceased father and mother, as part of being good to them (Ihsan be al-waledayn).
The number of hadiths on doing umrah for others does not reach that many and the few that are available suggest something different. For instance look at this:
"Ibn `abbas says that once a woman from Juhainah came to the Prophet (pbuh) and asked: My mother had vowed to perform hajj but could not carry out her vow and died. Can I perform hajj on her behalf? The Prophet (pbuh) said: Yes, perform hajj on her behalf. If your mother owed a debt to someone, wouldn't you have paid it on her behalf? Pay her debt towards Allah, on her behalf. Allah deserves most that the debts owed to Him be repaid." (Bukhari, Kita'b al-Hajj)
Accordingly, if a person has promised himself or the Almighty to do hajj or umrah but dies or due to other circumstances does not manage to do it, then another person may do the hajj or umrah on his behalf. The person who does this will get his own reward, but since the motivation for his act of worship was the one who had promised to do hajj or umrah, therefore that person (i.e. one who promised) too will get reward insha’Allah. So if you know that your parents were determined to do umrah but they were not able to do it, then you may do additional umras on their behalf.
Disregarding the issue of doing Umrah for others, with regards to doing more than one Umrah in one journey, while we do not have any instructions in Shari'ah to forbid this, we also know that this was not practiced as a routine by the prophet (pbuh) and the companions. I personally believe that spiritual investment on one Umrah during a single journey is much more beneficial than spreading the spiritual energy and motivation on a number of Umrahs during a journey.
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July 2014