A Jurisprudential Study of Ihram Condition toRe-enter Mecca for an Umrah Performer Who Has Already Left the City

Since the pilgrims of the House of God need sometimes to leave Mecca for some affairs after performing Umrah, a question arises here that whether or not they need to become Muhrim to re-enter the city. Is the permission to enter Mecca without Ihram is reserved only for those who re-entered Mecca in the same month of becoming Muhrim, in the month of leaving Ihram, or in the month of leaving Mecca? By the month, does it mean a lunar month or a numerical one (30 days)? Does the type of the former Ihram (Umrah al-Tamattu, Umrah al-Mufradah, or Hajj) affect the said ruling? According to the present library-based descriptive-analytical study, whoever is out of Mecca must be in the state of Ihram to enter the city unless one lunar month has not passed since the end of his previous Umrah because the Arabic word “Shahr”(month) in the narrations refers to a lunar month and not a numerical one; and the criterion for leaving Mecca in this matter is leaving the area of the Haram. Also, it does not matter whether his previous Ihram was for Umrah al-Tamattu, Umrah al-Mufradah, or Hajj. To calculate the month, the time of leaving Ihram is the criterion, not the time of being Muhrim or the time of leaving Mecca.