How Umrah is performed

This is a plain description of how Umrah is performed, written for someone reading it before their first journey. We arrange the travel; the rites are yours. Where scholars differ, we say so and send you to your own scholar rather than ruling on it.

Before you leave

You need a visa that permits Umrah, and, in busy periods, a time-slot permit for Umrah itself booked through Nusuk. If you are going on to Madinah, a Rawdah permit is issued separately, per person, with separate men's and ladies' slots. Install the app before you fly, keep the permits on your phone, and carry a printed backup because the gates scan the QR code.

Ihram

Ihram is entered before you cross the meeqat, the boundary at which the intention becomes binding. Pilgrims flying into Jeddah usually enter Ihram before boarding or during the flight, and the crew announce the meeqat as the aircraft approaches it. Pilgrims travelling from Madinah enter Ihram at Dhul Hulayfah, also called Abyar Ali.

Men wear two plain unstitched white cloths. Women wear ordinary modest clothing, without a face-covering niqab or gloves while in Ihram.

While in Ihram, avoid perfume and scented products, cutting hair or nails, hunting, marriage contracts and intimacy, and, for men, covering the head or wearing stitched garments. Unscented soap and unscented sunscreen are fine. An umbrella for shade is fine for everyone.

If a restriction is broken by mistake, no sin is intended, but a compensation (fidyah) may apply. Ask a scholar about your own case rather than working it out from a website.

Niyyah and the talbiyah

At or before the meeqat you make the intention for Umrah and begin the talbiyah, saying it as you travel on towards Makkah.

Tawaf

Tawaf is seven anticlockwise circuits of the Kaaba, each beginning and ending at the line of the Black Stone. Wudu is required for Tawaf. If space allows, pray two short rak'ahs behind Maqam Ibrahim afterwards.

There is no fixed script of dua for each circuit. Any sincere supplication, in any language, is valid throughout. Touching or kissing the Black Stone is sunnah when it is easy and never worth harming another person in a crush; pointing toward it from a distance is fully valid.

Masjid al-Haram has accessible upper levels for both the mataf and the mas'aa, and wheelchair or electric-cart services that can be arranged on site. The upper levels are calmer than the ground floor at peak times.

Sa'i

Sa'i is seven lengths between Safa and Marwah, walked inside the mas'aa. The same rule applies: any dua, in any language, and no need to hurry through a crowd.

Halq or taqsir

The Umrah is completed by shaving (halq) or trimming (taqsir) the hair. Shaving is for men only; women trim about a fingertip's length. Ihram then ends, with its restrictions.

Madinah and the Rawdah

Madinah is not a rite of Umrah, and it is where most pilgrims say the journey settles in them. You pray in Masjid an-Nabawi and send salam upon the Prophet, peace be upon him. The Rawdah, the area near the blessed grave, is entered on a Nusuk permit at the time slot you were given, and the slots for men and for ladies are separate.

Ziyarah

Around Makkah, guided visits usually take in Jabal al-Nour and the Cave of Hira, Jabal Thawr, and the plains of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, where the geography of Hajj is explained. Around Madinah, they take in Masjid Quba, Masjid Qiblatain, Mount Uhud and Jannat al-Baqi.

What Umrah is not

Ifrad, Tamattu and Qiran are the three forms of Hajj, not of Umrah. Ifrad is Hajj alone with no Umrah; Tamattu is Umrah first, leaving Ihram, then Hajj in the same season; Qiran is Umrah and Hajj together in one Ihram. An Umrah performed on its own, outside the Hajj days, is none of the three. We arrange Umrah only, and anything deeper belongs with your own scholar.

Heat, crowds and courtesy

Makkah is seriously hot for most of the year. Drink constantly, use the shaded levels for Tawaf and Sa'i in the middle of the day, and put outdoor rites in the early morning or after Isha. Keep walkways and emergency lanes clear, queue calmly at the gates, and follow the guards immediately when they direct you. Photography inside the Haramain is tolerated for personal use, but do not film worshippers close up, do not use flash or a tripod, and do not block the mataf. The emergency number in Saudi Arabia is 911, and the Haram has marked first-aid points and lost-pilgrim desks.

Where to take a question we have not answered

Anything about fiqh - a broken restriction, a difference of opinion, what is due from you - goes to a scholar or a trusted mufti you already rely on. Time-sensitive rules about visas, permits, vaccination and repeat Umrahs should be verified on Nusuk or the official channels when you book, because they change.

Start your plan

Tell us the city you fly from, how many of you are travelling, when you want to go and how many nights you have. That is the whole checklist, and the package is built from live prices while you wait.

Plan your Umrah with Ibrahim or write to support@umrahcompanions.com.