Permissible to Complete Only Five Rounds of Sa`i in Umrah?

18 August, 2019

Q As-salamu `alaykum. Few days back I went for Umrah to Medinah/Makah from Riyadh. As there was very little time so I performed Sa`i hurriedly and completed Umrah and got my head shaved. When I came back to hotel room after Fajr prayer, I pondered on my Umrah and came to know I had only made 5 Sa`i turns between Safa and Marwah. I want to know whether it is a big mistake. If yes, what should I do now? Is there any kaffarah, etc.? Please, tell me as I am very worried.

Answer

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty

18 August, 2019

Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

In this fatwa:

You have to perform Umrah again as sa`i is essential in Umrah. So, if you can go to do Umrah again, that is the solution. If you are unable to do so, you just need to ask for Allah’s forgiveness.

In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states,

In this case, you need to redo your Umrah. Umrah is not complete without sa`i. There is no need for you to offer sacrifice, if it was done out of ignorance or forgetfulness. You can simply ask for Allah’s forgiveness.

If, therefore, you can go back and perform Umrah, you should do so. If you cannot do so, as you have no means, then you need to simply ask for Allah’s forgiveness, for Allah does not burden us with duties we have no strength to bear.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.