Hajj and Umra

“It is the duty of all mankind to come to the House, a pilgrim if he is able to make his way there”. Suratu Aali Imran 3:97

There are two types of visitations:

Umra can be performed at any time of the year.
Hajj can only be performed on specific days once a year in the Lunar month of Dhulhijja.

Hajj

Hajj is not an ordinary journey but one that has a special significance.

It consists of two parts:

  • Umra e Tamattu (for entering Makka) – (Anytime from 1st Shawwal to 8th Dhulhijjah)
  • Hajj e Tamattu – (9th-12th Dhulhijjah)

Umra  e Tamattu (Anytime from 1st Shawwal to 8th Dhulhijjah)

  1. Ihram (Niyya, wearing the clothes of Ihraam and recitation of Talbiyya)
  2. Tawaaf
  3. Salaat ut Tawaaf (2 units of Salaa near Maqame Ibrahim)
  4. Sa’ee (Walking 7x between the mountains of Safa and Marwa)
  5. Taqseer (Cutting some hair or nails)

Hajj e Tamattu (9th-12th Dhulhijjah)

  1. Ihram (in Makka)
  2. Wuquf (Pause) in Arafat
  3. Wuquf in Muzdalifa (Mash’ar al-haram)
  4. Stoning of Jamarat in Mina
  5. Sacrifice (Qurbani ) in Mina
  6. Taqseer or Halaq in Mina
  7. Tawaaf
  8. Salaat ut Tawaaf
  9. Sa’ee
  10. Tawaaf un Nisa
  11. Salaa ut Tawaf
  12. Staying in Mina on the nights of 11th & 12th Dhulhijja
  13. Stoning the Jamarats in Mina between sunrise and sunset of 11th & 12th Dhulhijja.

Apart from the social benefit of Hajj to the individual, it is a major social, cultural, and political market place of universal proportions. It is here that Muslims from all over the globe meet and interact. It links the whole of the Muslim world forming the hub of one of the greatest physical internets of the world all abandoning personal desires in pursuit of knowledge and closeness to God. Any person who has been for Hajj is addressed as ‘Haaji.

Umra Mufrada

Umra is a pilgrimage to Makka which unlike Hajj can be performed at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umra means “to visit a populated place”. It is sometimes called the ‘minor Hajj. Highly recommended unlike the Hajj which is obligatory at least once for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it.