How to Perform Umrah

Categories: Religious tour, Tours & TripsTags: Madina, Mecca, Tour, travel tips, Umrah

As per the Verdicts of Ayatullah Seyyid Ali Al-Husaini As-Seestani

This content has been thoroughly reviewed and approved by Maulana Aamir Raza Yasoobi
and Maulana Jawad Yasoobi ensuring its authenticity and alignment with Islamic teachings.

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Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (a.s.)

“For Allah, the Noble and Grand, there are 120 parts of Mercy around the Ka’aba.
From these, sixty are for those performing the Tawaaf around the Ka’aba; forty are for those performing the prayers; and twenty are for those just looking (at the Ka’aba).”

(Biharul Anwar, Vol. 96, Page 202)

It is forbidden to enter the Holy city of Mecca without Ehram. The Ehram can be of Hajj, or Umrah (be it Umrah Tamattu or Umrah Mufrada). If one has performed an Umrah in a particular lunar month (i.e., if one has performed an Umrah on the first day of a lunar month, then his Umrah is sufficient till the last day of the month; but if he performed Umrah on the last day, then his Umrah wouldn’t be sufficient from the first day of the next month).

Rituals of Umrah Mufrada

There are seven obligatory rituals in Umrah Mufrada:

Ehram
Tawaf
Namaz-e-Tawaf
Saee
Taqseer or Halaq
Tawaf-un-Nisa
Namaz-e-Tawaf-un-Nisa

Ehram

Ehram is to be worn only on Meeqat, neither before reaching Meeqat nor after it. Although, the Ehram can be worn from any spot before reaching Meeqat if one vows to wear it at that particular place.

The Ehram for men constitutes of two unstitched clothes; one is the Lungi (piece of cloth worn around the waist) and the other is a sheet that is worn around both the shoulders. For women, their own garment itself can be considered as their Ehram.

Meeqat for those living outside Mecca

Masjid-e-Shajarah – It is also known as Dhul Hulaifah. This Meeqat is for the people of Madinah and for those who wish to perform Umrah travelling from Madinah to Mecca.
(As a matter of precaution, it is preferred to wear Ehram within the Masjid-e-Shajarah, but those women who have their menstruation period should wear the Ehram outside the mosque and renewal of Ehram is also not necessary.)
Johfa – is the Meeqaat for the pilgrims going to Makkah from Jeddah. It is not only the Mosque there that is considered to be a Meeqaat but the place itself is also a Meeqaat.

Obligations of Ehram

There are three obligations in Ehram

Niyyah (Intention)
Wearing Ehram garments
Talbiyah

NIYYAH: I AM WEARING IHRAM FOR ‘UMRAH MUFRADAH MUSTAHAB QUBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA.

NIYYAH on behalf of someone else: I AM WEARING IHRAM FOR ‘UMRAH MUFRADAH ON BEHALF OF ……………… (NAME THE PERSON) MUSTAHAB QURBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA.

TALBIYAH IN ROMAN ENGLISH

LABBAIK, ALLAHUMMA LABBAIK, LABBAIK LA SHARIKA LAKA LABBAIK.
And it is highly preferable to add the following:
INNAL HAMDA WANNI’AMATA LAKA WAL MULK, LA SHARIKA LAKA.

TALBIYAH IN ARABIC

لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ، لَبَّيْكَ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ
And it is highly preferable to add the following:
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ، وَالنِّعْمَةَ، لَكَ وَالْمُلْكَ، لاَ شَرِيكَ لَكَ

RECOMMENDED ACTS IN IHRAM:
Before wearing Ihram one must clean the body, cut one’s nails, trim the moustache and remove the hair under the armpits and below the navel. The Ihram be worn after the noon prayers. If this is not possible, it be worn after any daily prayers or after the recitation of six or two Raka’ats of prayers.

Prohibitions during Ehram

Following acts are prohibited in the state of Ehram, and for most of them, there is no penalty if a person has committed them ignorantly and unintentionally.

Hunting	Reciting Nikah	Wearing Shoes or Socks	Removing Hair from the Body
Sexual Intercourse	Use of any Scented items	Lying and Abusing	Covering the Head by Males
Kissing a Woman	Hold your nose to avoid the bad smell	Quarrelling and Swearing	Immersing in Water even by Females
Touching a Woman with lustful intent	Wearing Sewn Clothes by Men	Killing Lice or other Insects found on the Body	Covering of the face by Females
Looking at a Woman and flirting with her	Applying Collyrium (Surma)	Beautifying oneself	Being under Shade by Males
Masturbating	Looking in a Mirror	Applying Oil	Taking out Blood from the Body
Cutting Nails	Extracting Tooth	Carrying Arms

Keeping any kind of Physical relation with your wife, wearing stitched garments for men, covering the face for women, covering the head for men, travelling under shade in daytime, covering (shoe or sock) the upper region of foot, using perfumes or good smelling substances, looking in the mirror, wearing any kind of substance for beautification etc. are strictly forbidden.

It is mustahab to perform 360 tawaafs if time permits. If that is not possible than 52 tawaafs. If this to is not possible than as much as possible tawaafs.

Tawaf

For those who have worn the Ahram with the intention of Umrah-e-Mufrada, the first obligation is to perform Tawaf, i.e., to revolve around the Holy Kabah 7 times. Tawaf means to circle around the Holy Kabah, thus, it can be performed anywhere in the courtyard but not on an upper level of Kabah. Tawaf means circling the Kabah 7 times, each circle is called Shawt; thus Tawaf is a set of 7 ‘Shawt’.

Circle the Holy Kabah beginning from Hajar-e-Aswad (The Black Stone) and ending there itself; such that our left shoulder is towards the Kabah, under the normal circumstances it is Mustahab that the circles should be performed within the Maqaam-e-Ibrahim, including Hijr-e-Ismail and the conditions of Namaaz are applicable on Tawaf also.

NIYYAH: I AM PERFORMING TAWAAF AROUND THE KA’ABA SEVEN ROUNDS FOR ‘UMRAH MUFRADAH WAJIB QURBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA

CONDITIONS FOR TAWAAF

Intention (Niyyah)
To refrain from Hadas-e-Akbar and Hadas-e-
Asghar
Formal purification, which is being in Wudhu, or Ghusl when applicable. If one performs Tawaaf without Wudhu whether deliberately, out of ignorance or by oversight, the Tawaaf is invalid.
If in the course of the Tawaaf a pilgrim’s Wudhu breaks, then:
1. If he does so before completing the fourth round, the whole Tawaaf is invalid and he must repeat it after performing Wudhu;
2. if it occurs involuntarily after completing the fourth round, he must interrupt the Tawaaf, perform Wudhu and complete the Tawaaf from where he had interrupted it;
3. If it is done deliberately after completing the fourth round, then, as a matter of caution, he must complete the remaining Tawaaf after performing Wudhu and repeat the whole Tawaaf.
It is forbidden to enter the Masjidul Haraam intentionally whilst in the state of Janabat, Haydh or Nifaas).
Body and clothes must be clean from impurities
Circumcision (for men)
To cover the Private Parts

Namaz-e-Tawaf

Namaz-e-Tawaf is 2 Rak’at similar to Namaz-e-Fajr with all its conditions applicable. Namaz-e-Tawaf must be offered after Tawaf and before Saee, and must be performed behind the Maqaam-e-Ibrahim at the nearest spot.

As per obligatory precaution, there must not be much gap between Tawaf and Namaz-e-Tawaf, for example, one should not recite Namaz-e-Qadha between them; although one can relax and find a suitable place to offer the prayer and a gap of 10 minutes between the Tawaf and its prayer has no objection.

If a person forgets to offer Namaz-e-Tawaf and begins to perform Saee, then he must discontinue the Saee whenever he realizes this and perform the Saee again. And if one forgets the Namaz-e-Tawaaf and exits Mecca, then he should come back to the Masjidul Haram and offer this prayer near & behind the Maqaame-Ibrahim whenever he realizes this omission. If it is difficult for him to come back to Mecca again, then he must offer this prayer wherever he can. Even if it is possible for him to return, it is not compulsory to return only for the sake of offering this prayer.

NIYYAH: I AM PRAYING TWO RAKA’ATS NAMAZ OF TAWAAF FOR ‘UMRAH MUFRADAH WAJIB QURBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA.

Saee

Saee is to be performed after the Tawaaf and the prayers of Tawaaf. Saee consists of seven rounds.
The starting point for Saee is Safaa and from there to proceed to Marwah. This is counted as the first round. Then one must return to Safaa. This would be counted as the second round and so on. The process must be repeated until seven rounds are completed at Marwah.

Saee is an inevitable part of Hajj and Umrah which invalidates the Hajj and Umrah if not performed. Purification is not necessary in this ritual; that means one with Haydh and without Wuzu can also perform it.

NIYYAH: I AM PERFORMING SA’Y FOR ‘UMRAH MUFRIDAH WAJIB QURBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA.

It is necessary to face Marwa and Safa while walking towards them; although, there is no objection in looking left or right or even behind for some reason.
Saee can be delayed till the fajar after performing Tawaf and Namaz-e-Tawaf for the purpose of relaxing, sleeping or drinking water etc. This is because both these rituals should not be necessarily performed together.
Although, this ritual cannot be delayed till the next day, and if someone delays it till the next day without any convincing reason, he should perform Tawaf and Namaz-e-Tawaf again.

Taqseer or Halaq

The only prescribed way to become Muhil (to be relieved of Ihram) is Taqseer or Halaq. Taqseer means to cut some hair from the head or beard or moustache and it is not enough merely to pluck out hair. One can also perform Halaq which means shaving the head.

The female pilgrims are only required to do Taqseer in order to free themselves from the Ihram; they are not allowed to do Halaq.

NIYYAH: I AM PERFORMING TAQSEER (OR HALAQ) TO BE RELIEVED OF IHRAM FOR ‘UMRAH MUFAIDAH WAJIB QURBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA

Taqseer is also an inevitable part of Hajj and Umrah, which if skipped, invalidates the entire act. There is no condition of being pure for performing this act; one can perform this even in the state of Haydh or without Wuzu.
Taqseer can be performed anywhere and if one forgets to perform this act in Mecca, it can be performed even at home; after which, one should represent the pilgrim for performing Tawaf un Nisa and its Prayer for the purpose of legalizing the act of seeking pleasure with women.
It is an obligatory act after which those acts that are forbidden in the state of Ehram are permissible for a pilgrim; except for seeking pleasure with woman.

Tawaf-un-Nisa

After performing Taqseer, it is obligatory to perform Tawaf un Nisa and its prayer, after which, it would be legal for a pilgrim to seek pleasure from his spouse.

All those conditions that have been mentioned for Tawaf of Umrah, are applicable in this Tawaf also.

NIYYAH: I AM PERFORMING TAWAAFUN-NISAA AROUND THE KA’ABA SEVEN ROUNDS FOR ‘UMRAH MUFRADAH WAJIB QURBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA

Tawaafun-Nisaa is obligatory on both males and females. If the male fails to perform it, any woman becomes unlawful for him and if the woman omits to perform it, any man becomes unlawful for her.
If a man fails to perform the Tawaafun-Nisaa, whether knowingly and deliberately or out of ignorance of the rule or through oversight, then any woman is forbidden to him until it is performed. If there is a problem for him to perform it personally, it is permissible for him to appoint an agent to do so on his behalf and when the agent has performed it on his behalf, his lawful women become permissible.

Namaz-e-Tawaf-un-Nisa

This is the SEVENTH and final obligation in ‘Umrah Mufradah, offer 2 Rakah prayer behind Maqam-e-Ibrahim at the nearest spot.

NIYYAH: I AM PRAYING TWO RAKA’ATS NAMAZ FOR TAWAAFUNNISAA FOR ‘UMRAH MUFRADAH WAJIB QURBATAN ILALLAHI TA’ALA.

Salutation To The Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W.)
And His Pure Progeny (A.S.)

It is very strongly recommended that the pilgrim should go to Madinah and visit the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.), his pure and truthful daughter (a.s.) and the Imams (a.s.) in the Baqii’.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad
(s.a.w.w.): “The water of Zamzam is a cure for whatever (ailment) it is taken for.” Biharul Anwar, Vol. 96, Page 245

Imam Muhammad Al-Baquir[a.s.]: “As long as a person is looking at the Ka’aba, good deeds will be written (in his record) and one’s evil deeds will be erased until one turn’s away one’s glance (from the Ka’aba).”
Biharul Anwar, Vol. 96, Page 65

Imam Ja’ffar As-Sadiq (a.s.): “Ismail (a.s.) buried his mother (Hajrah) in the (area) of the Hijr and than built a semicircle shaped wall over it so that people would not step upon her grave.” Biharul Anwar, Vol. 96, Page 204

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