Umrah Rituals

Umrah Rituals

Table of contents

  1. Umrah in the holy month of Ramadan
  2. Umrah Rituals
  3. Prohibitions during the state of ihram until the end of the rituals

Umrah is one of the great acts of worship that can be performed at any time, in the holy month of Ramadan, it is equivalent to Hajj, Umrah has special rituals that must be followed, otherwise it is invalidated.

Umrah in the holy month of Ramadan

The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said (the Umrah during Ramadan is equal to the performance of Hajj), this honorable hadith means that the Umrah of Ramadan is equal to the Hajj in reward only, but it does not waive the obligation of Hajj on the Muslim, as the rituals of Hajj itself greatly exceed the rituals of Umrah.

Umrah Rituals

Umrah can be performed at any time of the year, its rituals consist of 3 pillars in some doctrines and 4 pillars in others, which are the ihram from the Miqats set by the Prophet Muhammad, circumambulation of the Holy Kaaba starting from the Black Stone seven times, Walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah, and shaving or shortening the head hair.

Ihram: The word Ihram, means refraining from forbidden things while entering into the state of rituals. Ihram begins from the five Miqats set by the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, and they are:

  • Dhu al-Hulayfah (Abyar ‘Ali): It is the Miqat of those who come from or pass through Medina, it is 450 km away from Mecca.
  • al-Juhfa: It is the Miqat of those who come from Egypt, the Levant or the Maghreb, or those who go to Mecca passing through them, it is about 200 km away from Makkah Al-Mukarramah.
  • Dhat Irq (Irq al-Iraq): the Miqat of the people of Iraq or those who pass through it on the way to Mecca, it is 100 km away from Makkah al-Mukarramah in the northeastern side.
  • Al-Sayl al-Kabeer (Qarn al-Manazil): the Miqat of the people of Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or for those who come from the eastern side heading towards Mecca, it is 100 km away from Mecca.
  • Al-Saadiya (Yalamlam): the Miqat of the people of Yemen or those who go to Mecca passing through it.

For those who live in Mecca, their Miqat is their place of residence, it is desirable to perform Ihram from Jirana or Tanim, and for those who come through airlines, their Miqat is one of those five areas previously mentioned when passing through one of them, the pilgrims can also perform ihram before boarding the plane.

Then the pilgrim takes a complete ablution as he does from impurity completely, it is desirable to shave the pubic hair, the armpit hair, and trim the nails, because these things are not permissible while performing the rituals. If a woman is menstruating or postpartum, it is desirable for her to also wash, then wear the ihram clothes, which are a loincloth and a white robe for men and regular clothes for women, provided that they follow the Islamic dress code, and gloves and the niqab, if any, must be removed. Then, the pilgrim performs one of the five obligations, the ihram, which takes place at one of its Miqats, the Duha prayer, or two rak’ahs, through which the intention is held, and upon completion of performing the prayer, the Muslim intends from his heart and says: “Here I am at Your service. You have no partners. Yours alone is all praise and all bounty, and Yours alone is sovereignty. You have no partners”.

Tawaf: Tawaf begins upon arriving to the Sacred House, Tawaf starts from the Yemeni Corner where the Black Stone is located. The Kaaba and the Black Stone are to the left of the pilgrim, so that he passes the first Shami corner, then the second Shami corner, then the second Yamani corner, they are the four corners of the honorable Kaaba, the round ends when he reaches the first Yemeni Corner in which the Black Stone is located, the circumambulation consists of seven rounds. One of the Sunnahs of Tawaf is that the pilgrim who performs Umrah kisses the Black Stone and places his forehead on it and touches the Yemeni Corner with the right hand, provided that doing so would not cause noise or crowding, as it is not an obligation. During the circumambulation, the pilgrim recites some of the Qur’an, dhikr, and supplications, it is desirable to say, “O Allah, our Lord! Give us that which is good in this life, that which is good in the Hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire”. After completing the circumambulation, the pilgrim prays two rak’ahs behind the shrine of Abraham, peace be upon him, and it is Sunnah to drink Zamzam water also after the circumambulation, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said: “The best water on the face of the earth is Zamzam water. In it is food for nourishment and healing for illness.”

Safa and Marwa: The first person to perform Sa’i between Safa and Marwah was Hajar, the wife of Abraham, peace be upon him, when she was looking for water to give it to her son Ishmael, peace be upon him, so she kept running and jogging from Jabal Al-Safa to Jabal Al-Marwah and returned to Al-Safa again, she did that seven times, while praying to God to find something to quench the thirst of her son who was crying and hitting the ground with his feet, at that time the water came out abundantly around her son, so she gave him water and kept praising God. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah are among the rituals of Hajj and Umrah, and The Zamzam water well is located there, in the same place from which the water came out for Ishmael.

The pilgrim performs the Sa’i between Safa and Marwah after completing the two rak’ahs of circumambulation behind the shrine of Abraham, then he ascends Safa until he sees the Sacred House, if he can, without causing noise or crowding. It is also Sunnah, at the beginning of the first round only, to start reciting the noble verse, “Indeed, the hills of Ṣafa and Marwah are among the symbols of Allah. So whoever performs the pilgrimage or minor pilgrimage, let them walk between the two hills. And whoever does good willingly, Allah is truly Appreciative, All-Knowing”, then saying, “I begin with what God began with,” and performs takbir, tahlil, and praise by saying, “There is no god but Allah, alone without partners. To Him belongs all dominion and praise. He gives life and gives death, and He is over all things powerful. There is no god but God alone. He fulfilled His promise, helped His servant, and defeated the parties alone”, another supplication that is desirable to say: “Oh God, you said (Call upon Me and I will respond to you) and indeed, Allah does not break His promise, therefore I ask You, as You guided me to Islam, take my soul while I am Muslim. Oh God, protect us with Your religion, Your obedience, and the obedience of Your Messenger, and keep us away from Your boundaries. Oh God, make us love You, Your angels, Your prophets and Your messengers, and Your righteous servants. Oh God, make us beloved by You, Your angels, Your prophets and messengers, and Your righteous servants. O God, make our affairs easy and spare us hardship, forgive us in this world and in the hereafter, and make us among the righteous imams”, it is the supplication that Abdullah bin Omar used to say. The pilgrim says supplications and other dhikr as much as possible, then walks from al-Safa until reaches the green flag, then he jogs or speeds up a little without causing any chaos, and continues jogging until he reaches the other green flag, he walks normally again until he reaches Al-Marwah, and returns again to Al-Safa on foot, except for the area between the two green flags (jogging in this distance), until he completes seven rounds, the distance from Al-Safa to Al-Marwah is counted as a full round, and the return from Al-Marwah to Al-Safa is counted as a full round as well.

After completing the seven rounds, men shave or shorten their head hair, and women cut their head hair as long as a fingertip, the fingertip is the knuckle of the finger, and the pilgrim breaks his Ihram at that time.

Prohibitions during the state of ihram until the end of the rituals

  • shaving or shortening head hair
  • Cutting nails.
  • Perfume.
  • Conducting a marriage contract
  • Sexual intercourse and all matters leading to it
  • Hunting.
  • wearing sewn garments by men
  • Covering the head with something sticking to it (for men only).
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