Hajj and ‘Umrah are among the most rewarding acts of worship that the Messenger of Allah ﷺwas keen on. He ﷺappreciated the ‘Umrah so much that he performed it multiple times. In this hadeeth, the Taab’iee Qataadah ibn Di’aamah reports that he asked the Companion, Anas ibn Maalik, (may Allah be pleased with him) about the number of the ‘Umrahs of the Prophet ﷺ. ‘Umrah: is a devotional act of worship for the sake of Allah by entering into the state of Ihraam from the Meeqaat, doing the Tawaaf around the House and the ritual walking between the Safaa and Marwah, and exiting it by shaving the head or cutting the hair short. It is an act of worship that does not have any limited time during the year. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) answered that he ﷺperformed four ‘Umrahs. The first one was the ‘Umrah of al-Hudaibiyyah in Thoo al-Qa’dah in the sixth year of the Hijrah when the polytheists prevented him from performing it, thus he and his Companions could not reach the House. Hence, they exited their Ihraam and this was considered an ‘Umrah for them. It is reported on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺwas encircled. He shaved his head and had a sexual relationship with his wives, and he slaughtered his sacrificial animals until he performed the ‘Umrah in the following year. [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree]. Al-Hudaibiyyah is a big town closer to Makkah towards the side of Al-Madeenah. The place has been called after the name of the well there. Now, it is a valley at a distance of 22km from Makkah on the way to Jeddah. The name al-Hudaibiyyah became famous in the Sunnah for the treaty which was made between the Prophet and Quraysh. The second one was ‘Umrah al-Qadaa, which was based upon the reconciliation and agreement the Prophet ﷺmade with the polytheists that he will head back from al-Hudaibiyyah and will return the following year. The return happened in Thoo al-Qa’dah in the seventh year of the Hijrah. It is also known as ‘Umrah al-Qadiyyah, and the reason why it was named as ‘Umrah al-Qadaa’ and al-Qadiyyah is that the Prophet ﷺmade a pact with Quraysh and not because it happened as a Qadaa’ (makeup) of the ‘Umrah which the Prophet was prevented from performing. Had that been the case, then both would have been classified as a single ‘Umrah. The third ‘one was the ‘Umrah of al-Ji’irraanah, which happened in a place called al-Ji’irraanah, located between Makkah and at-Taaif, seven miles (11km) away from Makkah. The Prophet ﷺhalted at it when he was returning to Al-Madeenah from the battle of Hunayn wherein he distributed the spoils of Hunayn – that is a valley three miles away from Makkah. Then, he entered into the state of Ihraam from there and entered Makkah at night. He ﷺ performed the rites of ‘Umrah. Then, he returned to al-Ji’irraanah. Thus, he became a night-spender there. Hence, it was named as ‘Umrah al-Ji’irraanah. This happened in the eighth year of the Hijrah. The fourth ‘one was dropped out from this narration; however, it was mentioned in another narration by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim. This is the ‘Umrah that was done with his Hajj – the Farewell Hajj – in the tenth year of the Hijrah. He ﷺperformed Hajj al-Qiraan where ‘Umrah and Hajj were done with one Ihraam. It was said: the fourth ‘Umrah is indirectly mentioned in this hadeeth when he mentioned that he performed the Hajj only once, given that the Prophet ﷺwas a Qaarin (the performer of the Qiraan-kind of Hajj). Qataadah happened to ask Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), “How many times did the Prophetﷺ perform the Hajj?” He (may Allah be pleased with him) replied that the Prophet ﷺonly performed Hajj once and that was in the tenth year of the Hijrah. It is well-known as the Farewell Hajj..