Introduction

Umrah is a ritual performed by Muslims all over the world. It is a way by which Muslims can wash off their sins. It is advisable to do Umrah more than once in a lifetime to cleanse your soul. Umrah also helps to get rid of poverty. Umrah is a ritual performed in the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The act of Umrah is very dear to Allah. If one performs Umrah in the Holy month of Ramadan, he gets the reward equal to Hajj. If a person passes away while performing Umrah, he goes straight to Jannat. Depending on Umrah packages you avail from Umrah agents, you get the benefits and facilities accordingly. Book Umrah tickets carefully after making proper package selections.

There are various Umrah packages, which people can book through Umrah agents. Various hotels in Makkah can be booked through Umrah agents. The Umrah tickets are booked before everything except the package selection provided by Umrah agents to you.

Step by step Umrah

Before heading for Umrah, do ghusl. After that, offer two Rakat namaz nafl. Make Dua e Safar before heading towards the destination. The rites of Umrah are as follows;

•    Enter haram Shareef in the state of ihraam

•    Do tawaf e Kaaba

•    Make Sayee between the holy mountains of Safa and Marwa

•    Cutting hair or clipping them

All these you can perform after you reach in your hotels in Makkah and after getting refreshed and wearing necessary dress required.

Ihram

The actual meaning of ihram is forbidden stuff. Once a person performing Umrah wears two sheets of clothes on his body, certain halal things become haram on him. These are two sacred pieces of clothes. The person has to do Niyyat and say Talbiyah after wearing this cloth. It is included in all of the Umrah packages until or unless you take two cheap or less expensive of that. Most of them are provided in hotels in Makkah also for hotel guests at low costs or airports also.

For men

For men, ihram consists of two unsewn pieces of cloth wrapped around the body. The cloth is categorized into two parts; one is izar covering midriff to ankles. The other one is rida wrapped around the shoulders.

 For women

For women, ihram means any cloth that hides the shape of their body and only reveals the face of the woman. You can add it in any of Umrah packages you book, but it is not added complementary there.

For preparing for ihram one should comb their hair properly, trim nails, remove unwanted body hair and trim bear as well. You can take a bath with the intention of purification before ihram.

Declare the Talbiyah. It says

‘oh here I am lord, here I am. You have no partner. I am here Lord. All the praise and bounties are for you. So is the absolute reign. You have no partner. I am here my lord.’ Women can also do it at hotels in Makkah where they stay or at designated places.

Prohibitions while in Ihram

•    Cover head for men and covering of face for the men.

•    Covering of the middle bone of the upper part of the feet

•    Cutting nails or hair

•    Having sexual intercourse

•    Wearing stitched clothes in case of men

Starting the journey

While heading towards haram keep n reciting Talbiyah. Once in Haram Shareef,  keep on reciting it. One should be wearing ihram after entering the Haram Shareef. Enter from bab e salam keeping the right foot first.

First sight of Kaaba Shareef    

It is said that the first sight of Kaaba Shareef is the most important one. One should recite maximum duas when you first look at Kaaba Shareef. It is Allah’s house and the most sacred place for Muslims all over the world. Muslims make duas while gazing at this house. Kaaba has a black cover over it which is changed annually.

Tawaf

Tawaf is the next step in performing Umrah. It means circling anything. Here it means moving around Kaba Shareef. Tawaf is an important step of Umrah. Wazu is essential for tawaf. Do not recite Talbiyah when you reach Hajr e Aswad.

Stand straight in front of kabah Shareef facing Hajra Aswad (the sacred rock). Then make Niyyah for your Umrah without raising hands.

Istilam

Istilam is the next step. When you come towards Hajra e Aswad, kiss it or touch it with a stick. This is a sacred rock, but it has become black due to our bad deeds.

After doing Istilam, you should turn right and do tawaf counterclockwise.

Ramal

For the first three rounds, men are advised to take short steps for the tawaf which is called as Ramal. The rest of the four steps are normal. It is important and farz to move around the hatim. Again at Hajr e Aswad start the second round by kissing it or pointing towards it. After the completion of the seven rounds do istilam.

Multazim

Multazim is a very narrow place where prayers are accepted. In the next step, proceed to maqam e Ibraheem. Offer two rakat namaz nafl. Have complete faith that your prayers will be accepted. And ask Allah for anything you yearn for.

After the completion of Tawaf

Proceed to Zamzam. Zamzam is a well where best water is available for its healing and spiritual properties. A lot of people consume this water. People bring Zamzam for their relatives because it is sacred water.

Sa’yee

To be in the state of ablution is good for sayee. Climb Safa's hill and make niyyah for sayee. Raise hands in supplication. Move towards Marwah and keep on reciting the supplications. Sayee is an important part of the Umrah.

Shaving head

After Sayee, it is mustahib for people to either shave their head or cut some of the hair. Women should cut some of the hair though.

After this, people visit Madinah as well. People book hotels in Madinah to visit Masjid e Nabwi where they perform prayers. The hotels in Madina are very comfy. Thus in this way, Umrah can be performed with all the rites and rituals. All the steps of Umrah should be performed with great zeal and faith. There should be strong faith in Allah that he will accept the ibadat. Allah is the sole listener. Umrah can be done multiple times. Umrah helps to build a strong connection between the creator and the creation. Umrah is a religious obligation for those who can see Allah's house. When you book Umrah tickets for you, you will be guided about everything. Agents book Umrah tickets for you with all necessary credentials you ask for. May Allah give us the strength and resources to visit his house and ask him for the desires we long for Ameen.