(F 263) An Egyptian woman with limited education went for ῾Umrah. There, she experienced something similar to urinary incontinence, which made her fear going to the Ḥaram in that condition, and she was too embarrassed to ask anyone. She stayed in the hotel for six days without performing the ῾Umrah, then left Mecca for Medina and eventually returned to Egypt. She has been crying since she returned, lamenting the missed opportunity for ῾Umrah, and she asks if she has committed a sin and if she needs to offer a sacrifice or something similar, knowing that she is poor, and her son has a daily paid work and had difficulty saving for the expenses of her ῾Umrah. What should she do, and what is your message to her? – International Institute of Islamic Studies

(F 263) An Egyptian woman with limited education went for ῾Umrah. There, she experienced something similar to urinary incontinence, which made her fear going to the Ḥaram in that condition, and she was too embarrassed to ask anyone. She stayed in the hotel for six days without performing the ῾Umrah, then left Mecca for Medina and eventually returned to Egypt. She has been crying since she returned, lamenting the missed opportunity for ῾Umrah, and she asks if she has committed a sin and if she needs to offer a sacrifice or something similar, knowing that she is poor, and her son has a daily paid work and had difficulty saving for the expenses of her ῾Umrah. What should she do, and what is your message to her?

The default principle is that anyone who enters the state of ᾽Iḥrām for ῾Umrah is obligated to complete it through intention and commencement, and it is not permissible to abandon the rituals except for a valid reason, in which case a fidya (compensation) is required, as stated in the verse: “And complete the Ḥajj and ῾Umrah for Allāh.” [Al-Baqarah: 196].

However, if someone is unable to complete ῾Umrah due to illness, they are considered to be in the state of prevention, and they may exit ᾽Iḥrām, but they must offer a fidya for exiting ᾽Iḥrām, which is to slaughter a sheep in the Ḥaram.

If this woman, assuming she did not do anything that contradicts the state of ᾽Iḥrām during her stay in Mecca, left without performing ῾Umrah, and exited ᾽Iḥrām by shaving a little part of her hair upon her return, she is required to offer a sacrifice, as stated in the verse: “But if you are prevented, then [offer] what can be obtained with ease of sacrificial animals.” [Al-Baqarah: 196].

However, if she is poor and unable to afford the sacrifice, it is waived due to her inability, and nothing is required of her.

Fatwa issued by Dr. Khālid Naṣr