Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage which is performed by Muslims at any time of the year. Umrah is also known as ‘minor pilgrimage’ as Hajj is “greater pilgrimage.” There is a proper way to perform Umrah, it has also many benefits and great significance. Thus, via this blog, today, we will tell you about the performing, benefits & importance of Umrah.
There are four parts of performing Umrah namely: Ihram, tawaf, Saa’i between Safa and Marwah and shaving the head or cutting the hair.
Ihram is making the intention for Umrah which is the first step. To enter the fold of Ihram, Muslims should change the clothes and do ghusl (proper shower which cleans all impurities). Men should wear like two fabrics, Ridaa and Izaar while women can wear any attire that covers their whole body and head.
After cleaning, the Muslims should offer obligatory prayers or two rikaat of Sunnah prayer. Then they should face the Qibla’s direction and officially enter Ihram. Muslims should enter Ihram before leaving for Meeqat in Makkah. Using perfume is not allowed in Ihram. At Meeqat, the pilgrim should make intention for neeyat and recite the following words:
“Labbayk Allaahumma bi ‘Umrah”
Translation: “Here I am, O Allah, for ‘Umrah.”
Then, the pilgrim should recite the Talbiyah in line with Sunnah;
“Labbayka Allaahumma labbayk, labbayka laa shareeka laka labbayk. Inna al-hamd wa’l-ni’mata laka wa’l-mulk, laa shareeka lak”
Translation: “Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Verily all praise and blessings are Yours, and all sovereignty, You have no partner.”
Men should recite Talbiyah in loud voice. Women should recite it with such voice that person behind her can hear her as well until there is a man behind her who is not her mehram.
It is also advised to keep reciting Talbiyah from Ihram till tawaf.
After first step, the pilgrim should enter Masjid-al-Haram with his/her right foot and recite the following:
“Bismillaah wa’l-salaatu wa’l-salaam ‘ala Rasool-Allaah. Allaahumma ighfir li dhunoobi waftah li abwaab rahmatika. A’oodhu Billaah il-‘Azeem wa bi wajhih il-kareem wa bi sultaanih il-‘qadeem min al-Shaytaan il-rajeem”
Translation: “In the name of Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. O Allah, forgive me my sins and open to me the gates of Your mercy. I seek refuge with Allah the Almighty and in His noble Countenance and His eternal power from the accursed Satan.”
Then the pilgrim can touch Hajr e Aswad (the Black Stone) and initiate Tawaf. Also, the pilgrim should touch the Hajr e Aswad with his/her right hand and then kiss it. If kissing the stone is not possible directly then he/she should touch it and then kiss the hand. If touching the Hajr e Aswad is not possible even then the pilgrim should face his/her hand in the direction of Hajr e Aswad and say, “Allahu Akbar.”
After it the pilgrim should start doing Tawaf; he/she has to take the rounds around Ka’bah with the Ka’bah on their left and on reaching at Yemeni Corner (third corner of the Black Stone) he/she should touch it without kissing the hand and saying “Allahu Akbar”. If the pilgrim can’t touch it then he should move on. Between the Yemeni Corner and Hajr e Aswad, the pilgrim should say:
“Rabbanaa aatina fi’l-dunya hasanah wa fi’l-aakhirah hasanah wa qinna ‘adhaab al-Naar.”
Translation: “Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire).”
Every time when the pilgrim passes the Hajr e Aswad, he/she should face it and say, “Allahu Akbar.” In the rest of the Tawaf, the pilgrim should recite what he desires like from Quran, the ziker and dua.
It should be kept in mind that the pilgrim shouldn’t touch the cloth of Ka’bah during the time of Tawaf as it is perfumed and touching it might get some perfume on you which will make the Ihram void.
For men, it is necessary to keep the right shoulder uncovered by placing the Ridaa beneath the right armpit and then taking it upwards on the left shoulder in Tawaf.
Also, men should walk fast while taking small steps in first three rounds of Tawaf; this is called raml. However, men can walk with their normal speed in the remaining rounds. After finishing the seven rounds of Tawaf, the pilgrim should go to Maqaam e Ibrahim (the station of Ibrahim) and recite the following (translation of the words);
“And take you (people) the Maqaam (place) of Ibraaheem (Abraham) [or the stone on which Ibraaheem (Abraham) stood while he was building the Ka’bah] as a place of prayer (for some of your prayers, e.g. two Rak‘at after the Tawaaf of the Ka’bah at Makkah)” (Surah Baqarah, 2:125)
The pilgrim then must offer two rikaat prayer behind Maqaam e Ibrahim. If this is not possible or difficult to do then he/she should offer the prayers in any place of the mosque. In the first rikaat, Surah e Kafiroon should be recited and in second rikaat, Surah e Ikhlas should be recited by the pilgrim. After the prayers, the pilgrim should go to the Hajr e Aswad and touch it if it’s possible.
Then the pilgrim must go to the place of Saa’i (Masaa) and when he/she becomes close to the Safa hill, he/she should recite the following (translation of the words):
“Verily, As-Safa and Al-Marwah (two mountains in Mecca) are of the Symbols of Allah” (Surah Baqarah, 2:158)
And then the pilgrim should say:
“Nabda’u bima bada’a Allaah bihi”
Translation: “We start with that with which Allah started.”
After this, the pilgrim should then climb up on the hill of Safa till that point from where the Kaaba is seen. The pilgrim should then face the Ka’bah and raise his/her hands and praise Allah and make the dua he desires. As per the hadith, the Holy Prophet (SAWW) recited the following:
“Laa ilaaha ill-Allah wahdahu laa shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk, wa lahu’l-hamd, wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer. Laa ilaaha ill-Allah wahdah, anjaza wa’dah, wa nasara ‘abdah, wa hazamaa al-ahzaaba wahdah.”
Translation: “There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner or associate; His is the Dominion, all praise is due to Him, and He is able to do all things. There is no god but Allah alone; he fulfilled His promise, granted victory to His slave, and defeated the confederates alone.” (Sahih Muslim, 1218)
The pilgrim must recite this three times in a way that he makes the dua in between like he should recite this ziker and then make dua, then ziker and then dua and then recite this ziker for the third time and come down to al-Marwah and he/she shouldn’t make the dua for the third time.
He should then reach the green marker and run fast till the second green marker. Then he should walk in his normal speed to the Marwah hill and climb up and face the Qibla and recite what the pilgrim has said at the Safa. Then the pilgrim should come down and go towards Safa. When he/she reaches Safa, the pilgrim should say the same he/she should repeat what the pilgrim did the for the first time and then the same upon going back to Marwah till the seven circuits (From Safa to Marwah is one circuit).
The last step comes when the seven circuits are completed and the pilgrim has to cut his/her hair. The men should shave their heads or cut their hair from all over the heads. The women should cut their hair equal to the length of a fingertip.
Eventually, the Umrah is completed with this last step.
Umrah is a religious act of the Muslims and is of great rewards. As we have stated earlier to write about performing, benefits & importance of Umrah, thus, here are the benefits of Umrah;
It is a hadith that, “The guests of Allah are three: The Ghazi (the warrior who fights in Jihad just for the sake of Allah), the Hajji (the pilgrim who performs Hajj) and the Mu’tamir (the pilgrim who performs Umrah).”
Thus, the pilgrim who performs Umrah is the guest of Allah as per the above mentioned hadith which is a great honour for any Muslim.
Umrah is a great ibadat which gives peace to the mind and soul of the Muslims. They find solace in the House of Allah and all their worries are left behind.
Umrah removes our poverty and sins and thus, performing gives us both the benefits in this world and the Hereafter. It is a hadith that, “Perform Hajj and Umrah consecutively, for they remove poverty and sin as hollers remove impurity from iron.”
Umrah is beneficial for human body and health. It keeps the humans body health and saves it from different diseases.
Thus, there are great rewards and benefits of performing umrah.
After writing about how to perform Umrah and its benefits, now it’s time to write about the significance of Umrah. As we decided to write about performing, benefits & importance of Umrah, thus, following is the significance of the ibadat of Umrah in the light of Quran and Ahadees:
There is a mention of Umrah in Quran which shows us the importance of Umrah. Following are the Quranic verses about Umrah;
There are also various ahadees about Umrah which shows us the importance of Umrah. Following are some ahadees about Umrah;
Thus, there is great importance of Umrah which is clear from the different verses of Holy Quran and Ahadees. Umrah is a great ibadat and gives Muslims rewards and benefits. Hence, it is important for Muslims to know about performing, benefits & importance of Umrah.
