salam, currently m jobless n live with my wife n 1 son in qatar. i am survivng on my savings from my last job which too was only for 18 months and the 1st one.my question is :which thing has more priority:performing umrah(never done befor) OR visiting my parents in india (havent seen them last 15 months) jazakallahukhairan

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

We in Islamweb adopt the opinion that ‘Umrah is obligatory once in a lifetime while being able to perform it and this is the preponderant view according to the Shaafi’i School and the reliable view in the Hanbali School.

Imaam An-Nawawi said about Hajj: “Hajj is an obligation as well as ‘Umrah according to the preponderant opinion...”

Also, ‘Umrah is an immediate obligation exactly like Hajj according to the Hanbali School. Ibn Muflih from the Hanbali School said: “If a person is obligated to perform Hajj or ‘Umrah (i.e. able to perform it), it is not permissible for him to delay it; rather, he should perform it immediately, as stated by Imaam Ahmad…”

Hence, if you can combine between visiting your parents and going to ‘Umrah, then this is better, otherwise you should put in priority the ‘Umrah as it is an immediate obligation, and visiting the parents – even though it is an act of righteousness – comes after the obligatory ‘Umrah in priority unless not visiting the parents will harm them.

Allaah Knows best.