Is العمرة واجب (واجب) once in a lifetime or a مستحب السنة?

This is a well-known point of scholarly disagreement among the four schools. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools hold that العمرة is واجب (واجب) once in a lifetime for every Muslim who has the physical and financial ability — similar to الحج but without the specific time restriction. The Hanafi and Maliki schools consider العمرة to be a confirmed السنة (السنة mu'akkadah) that is highly مستحب but not واجب.

الشيخ ابن باز held the position that العمرة is واجب once in a lifetime, following the Hanbali and Shafi'i position. He cited the hadith where a bedouin asked النبي about العمرة: 'Is العمرة واجب?' and النبي said: 'No, but if you perform العمرة, it is better for you.' However, he noted that other narrations and القرآن's command 'And complete the الحج and العمرة for Allah' support the obligation. He reconciled the evidence by concluding that العمرة is واجب.

Sheikh الفوزان similarly held العمرة to be واجب, stating that the conjunction of العمرة with الحج in القرآنic verse — 'And complete the الحج and العمرة for Allah' (Al-Baqarah, 2:196) — indicates that they share the same ruling of obligation. He acknowledged the opposing view but considered the evidence for obligation to be stronger. Those who hold العمرة to be السنة note that النبي's statement 'No' in response to 'Is it واجب?' is explicit, while those who hold it واجب interpret that hadith differently.