Is عمرہ واجب (wajib) once in a lifetime or a مستحب Sunnah?

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

Sheikh Ibn Baz held the position that عمرہ is واجب once in a lifetime, following the Hanbali and Shafi'i position. He cited the hadith where a bedouin asked نبی کریم about عمرہ: 'Is عمرہ واجب?' and نبی کریم said: 'No, but if you perform عمرہ, it is better for you.' However, he noted that other narrations and قرآن مجید's command 'And complete the حج and عمرہ for Allah' support the obligation. He reconciled the evidence by concluding that عمرہ is واجب.

Sheikh Al-Fawzan similarly held عمرہ to be واجب, stating that the conjunction of عمرہ with حج in قرآن مجیدic verse — 'And complete the حج and عمرہ 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 عمرہ to be Sunnah note that نبی کریم's statement 'No' in response to 'Is it واجب?' is explicit, while those who hold it واجب interpret that hadith differently.