‘Umar's forbiddance of the Tamattu‘ Hajj

21/10/2012| IslamWeb

Question

How authentic is the Hadeeth narrated on the authority of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning the two things that existed at the time of the Prophet that he (i.e. ‘Umar) forbade (i.e. the Tamattu‘ Hajj and Mut‘ah (i.e., temporary) marriage)? What are the reasons for forbidding the Mut‘ah marriage in the Sunni doctrine? 

Fatwa

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is narrated on the authority of Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said, "We would contract Mut‘ah marriages of only a few days duration for a handful of dates and flour during the time of the Messenger of Allah and that of Abu Bakr until ‘Umar forbade it in the case of ‘Amr Ibn Hurayth." [Muslim]

An-Nawawi said, "This Hadeeth implies that those who practiced the Mut‘ah marriage at the time of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, did not know about the abrogation of such a marriage.”

Moreover, Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar said, "It is also understood that ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, did not forbid the Mut‘ah marriage based on his personal reasoning. Rather, he did so based on the forbiddance of the Messenger of Allah .”

Therefore, it is known that ‘Umar's forbiddance of the Mut‘ah marriage was for those who did not know about it being abrogated was not based on his personal reasoning but rather in compliance with the command of the Prophet .

As for Tamattu' Hajj, it is authentically attributed to ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he forbade it but such a forbiddance did not entail it being unlawful. Rather, it was meant to select for the people what is better for them, which is to perform ‘(lesser-Hajj) and Hajj, each on a separate journey. ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, believed that this was what is implied by the command of Allah The Almighty where He Says (what means): {And complete the Hajj and ‘Umrah for Allah.} [Quran 2:196]

This is so even though it is authentically attributed to ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said, "If I would perform Hajj, I would perform a Tamattu‘ Hajj. If I would perform Hajj , I would perform a Tamattu‘ Hajj." [Al-Athram] ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was also reported to have said, "If you intend both Hajj and ‘Umrah with your Ihraam, you have been guided to the Sunnah of your Prophet ." [An-Nasaa’i]

This is also supported by the fact that Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, would order the people to perform Tamattu‘ Hajj and, when they said to him that his father forbade it, he would reply saying, "He did not mean that which you understood.”

Allah Knows best.