Hajj and Umrah: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, obligatory once in a lifetime on every adult Muslim of sound mind who has the physical and financial means to make the journey and to leave their dependants provided for. Umrah is the lesser pilgrimage, made up of the same opening rites but without the days in the plains outside Makkah, and it may be performed at any time of year. The four Sunni schools agree that Hajj is obligatory; on Umrah they differ, the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools holding it obligatory once in a lifetime and the Hanafi and Maliki schools holding it a confirmed sunnah.

This page describes what each rite is and where it happens. It is a map of the journey, not a ruling on it — questions about your own circumstances belong to a qualified scholar or to the guidance office of the group you travel with.

Entering Ihram

Ihram is not the cloth; it is the state a pilgrim enters by intention. The cloth is what marks it. Men wear two unstitched white sheets, one around the waist and one over the shoulder. Women wear their ordinary modest clothing, with the majority of scholars holding that the face and hands are left uncovered during the rites.

The state is entered at fixed boundary points called miqat, set by the Prophet for each direction of approach: Dhul Hulayfah for those coming from Madinah, Al-Juhfah from the direction of Syria and Egypt, Qarn al-Manazil from Najd, Yalamlam from Yemen, and Dhat Irq from the direction of Iraq. A pilgrim arriving by air enters ihram before the aircraft passes over the miqat, which is why many airlines announce it.

Once in ihram the pilgrim begins the talbiyah and repeats it often: Labbayk Allahumma labbayk, labbayka la sharika laka labbayk, inna'l-hamda wa'n-ni'mata laka wa'l-mulk, la sharika lak. Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Surely all praise and blessing is Yours, and all dominion. You have no partner.

Certain ordinary things are set aside while in ihram: cutting hair or nails, using perfume, hunting, and marital relations. Men do not cover the head or wear stitched garments.

The Three Ways of Performing Hajj

A pilgrim declares at the outset which of three forms they intend, and the choice changes the shape of the days that follow.

Tamattu is Umrah first, then release from ihram, then a fresh ihram for Hajj on the eighth of Dhul Hijjah. It is the form most pilgrims perform today and the one the Prophet instructed his companions to adopt in the Farewell Pilgrimage. Ifrad is Hajj alone, with no Umrah joined to it. Qiran is Umrah and Hajj joined in a single unbroken ihram. Tamattu and Qiran include an offering, the hady; Ifrad does not.

Tawaf

Tawaf is circling the Kaaba seven times, beginning and ending at the corner where the Black Stone is set, moving so the Kaaba stays on the pilgrim's left. Each circuit begins with the words Bismillah, Allahu akbar, and if the crowd allows, a gesture toward the Stone.

There is no prescribed formula to recite during the circuits. Pilgrims supplicate in whatever language they think in. The one supplication the Prophet is reported to have made between the Yemeni corner and the Black Stone is a verse of the Quran: Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.

Tawaf is followed by two units of prayer performed near the Maqam Ibrahim, and then, if it can be reached, water from the well of Zamzam.

Sa'i

Sa'i is the walk between the two small hills of Safa and Marwah, seven times, beginning at Safa and ending at Marwah. What is now an enclosed marble corridor was open ground when Hajar, left there with her infant son Ismail and no water, went back and forth between the two rises looking for help. The well that answered her is the one pilgrims still drink from.

The rite is a re-enactment of a mother's search. That is the whole of its meaning, and it is worth carrying while walking it.

Release from Ihram

After sa'i the pilgrim shaves the head or trims the hair. Men may do either, though shaving carries the greater merit in the reports; women trim a fingertip's length. For a pilgrim performing Umrah, this completes it and the state of ihram ends.

The Days of Hajj

The eighth of Dhul Hijjah is Yawm al-Tarwiyah. Pilgrims enter ihram again if they released it, and move out to the tent city of Mina, where they pray and pass the night.

The ninth is the Day of Arafah, and it is the pilgrimage. The Prophet said, Hajj is Arafah. Pilgrims stand on the plain from the sun's decline until sunset, praying and supplicating, and the standing is what makes a Hajj a Hajj. After sunset they move to Muzdalifah, where they pray Maghrib and Isha together, gather pebbles, and sleep under the open sky.

The tenth is Yawm al-Nahr, the day of sacrifice, and it is the busiest. Pilgrims stone the largest pillar at Mina with seven pebbles, offer the sacrifice, shave or trim, and return to Makkah for Tawaf al-Ifadah, the tawaf that is a pillar of the Hajj itself.

The eleventh, twelfth and for some the thirteenth are the days of Tashriq, spent at Mina stoning all three pillars each afternoon. A pilgrim may leave after the twelfth or stay for the thirteenth; both are recorded practice.

The journey closes with Tawaf al-Wada, the farewell circling, which is the last thing a pilgrim does in Makkah before leaving.

What the Pilgrimage Is For

Two reports frame the whole undertaking. Whoever performs Hajj and does not commit obscenity or wrongdoing returns as on the day his mother bore him. And: an accepted Hajj has no reward less than Paradise. Both are recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Everything on the ground works toward that. Two unstitched sheets erase the difference between a labourer and a head of state, and the Prophet's farewell sermon at Arafah said so plainly: no Arab has precedence over a non-Arab, nor a white person over a black person, except by God-consciousness. Pilgrims stand in the same dust in the same cloth, and for a few days the ordinary sorting of people simply stops working.

The lesson is meant to be portable. A pilgrimage that changes nothing after the flight home has been performed but not absorbed.