We explained in the last five articles how the pilgrimage is conducted, outlining the various duties, the time and location of each one of them, and the compensation for any omission. Besides, we explained the three methods of pilgrimage and its combination with Umrah. It is hoped that readers who wish to do the pilgrimage have gathered a fair idea of what is necessary to do as well as how and when to do it. In this article we are giving an account of the journey of pilgrimage step by step. This serves as a summary and outline of what to do in order to complete the pilgrimage. We wish all our readers who are doing the pilgrimage this year an easy, comfortable and properly completed pilgrimage.
The journey of pilgrimage starts at the point of meeqat. Wherever you are coming from, you should be aware of the point of meeqat that applies to you and enter into the state of consecration, or ihraam, at that point. This you do by wearing your ihraam garments, which are two pieces of cloth for men, one wrapped round the waist and covering the body from the waistline to well below the knees. The other is thrown over one’s shoulder and covering the upper part of the body.
For a woman, ihraam means that she wears her normal clothes except that she must uncover her face and her hands up to her wrists. When you have done that, pray two rakaahs which are the Sunnah of ihraam, and declare your intention, making clear what method you are choosing. The three methods are: 1) tamattu’, which starts with Umrah, a release from consecration and re-entry into consecration on 8th Thul-Hijjah to do the pilgrimage; 2) qiran, which means doing both the Umrah and pilgrimage jointly, with tawaf and sa’ie counting for both at the same time; and 3) ifraad which means doing the pilgrimage only, without joining the Umrah with it until it is completed. The first two methods require a sacrifice of one sheep for each pilgrim as a duty. The sacrifice is only recommended in the third method.
When you have made your intention clear, in the proper wording, you repeat the phrases of talbiyah as often as you can together with glorification of God and praising Him. The best form of talbiyah is: “Labbaika Allahumma labbaik. Labbaika laa shareeka laka labbaik. Innal-hamda wan-nimata laka wal-mulk. Laa shareka lak.” We repeat this as often as we can while we are in consecration. For Umrah we stop when we begin to do the tawaf. In pilgrimage we continue to repeat them as frequently as possible until we arrive at the grand Jamrah to do the stoning on the day of sacrifice, i.e. 10 Thul-Hijjah.
When you arrive at Makkah, go directly to the Sacred Mosque, or the Haram, and do your tawaf of arrival, walking around the Kaabah seven times in an anti-clockwise movement, starting at the Black Stone and finishing at the same spot. If you are doing the tamattu’ method, proceed to do the sa’ie after you have completed your tawaf. You may also do the sa’ie if you are doing either of the other two methods. This is perhaps more convenient because it reduces the duties you have to do later on. When you have finished your sa’ie, you may release yourself from consecration by trimming a part of your hair or shaving your head. This applies if you are doing the tamattu’ method or if you wish to change from either of the other two methods to tamattu’, which is the preferable method. If you wish to continue with either the ifraad or qiran methods, you continue to observe the restrictions of ihraam until you complete the necessary duties of pilgrimage.
8th Thul-Hijjah: It is recommended for all pilgrims to go to Mina and stay the night there, before proceeding to Arafat on the following day. It is recommended to offer five prayers in Mina, starting with zuhr and finishing with fajr, but each 4-rakaah prayer is shortened to two rakaahs. If this is not possible for you, then you may go directly to Arafat where you are due to arrive on the following day.
9th Thul-Hijjah: Try to be at Arafat early, where attendance begins at midday. Whatever you do, try as hard as you can to arrive there before sunset so as to combine both day and night in your attendance at Arafat. If you cannot make it, then remember that presence at Arafat for a brief period at any time from noon till dawn on the following night is sufficient. Pray zuhr and asr together, shortening each of these prayers to two rakaahs only. Busy yourself throughout the day with talbiyah, glorification and praises of God, reading the Qur’an, and supplication remembering always that this is the most sacred day of your life and that you may not be able to come again. Therefore, make your presence richly rewarding by earnest prayer and glorification of God.
After sunset, proceed from Arafat to Muzdalifah. Do not offer your maghrib prayer until you have reached Muzdalifah, when you should offer it in combination with isha, shortening the latter to two rakaahs only. Stay the night in Muzdalifah until shortly before sunrise. Needless to say, you should pray fajr there, and after you have offered your prayer, you pray God for forgiveness and for anything you wish, whether related to this world or to the life to come.
10th Thul-Hijjah: Having completed the duty of staying in Muzdalifah, you should proceed to Mina where you need to do your first stoning at the Jamrah of Aqabah, which is known as the Grand Jamrah. This is done at any time from dawn until sunset. When you arrive at the Jamrah for stoning, you stop your talbiyah and do not resume it again for the rest of the duties. That is because the main part of the pilgrimage has been completed. If you have chosen either the tamattu’ or the qiran methods you are required to do the sacrifice. You may do this nowadays through the voucher system operated by a bank. This is preferable because it ensures maximum use of the sacrificial meat.
Shave your head, or shorten your hair. Women are required to trim only a portion of their hair by an inch. When you have done that, you may wear your ordinary clothes. That is the first release which cancels all restrictions of ihraam except for sexual activity, which continues to be restricted until you have done the tawaf of ifaadhah.
You may now go to Makkah to do the tawaf of ifaadhah. This visit may be done at any time during your stay in Mina. Try to choose a convenient time, particularly if you have elderly or women companions. You may wish to rest a few hours first. When you have done this tawaf, all restrictions of ihraam are over. If you are doing your pilgrimage in the tamattu’ method, you have to do the sa’ie for the pilgrimage. The same applies if you are doing either of the other two methods and you have not done your sa’ie after the tawaf of arrival. If you cannot make a special visit to Makkah for the tawaf of ifaadhah, you may delay it until you have completed your stay in Mina. When you have completed your tawaf of ifaadhah and sa’ie, go back to Mina where the requirement is to stay there for the larger part of that night and the following night.
11th Thul-Hijjah: You have to do the stoning at the three Jamrahs, starting with the little or the first one, which is nearest to Mina, then the middle one, and finally the Jamrah of Aqabah. Stoning today and on the following day(s) starts at midday and finishes preferably at sunset. Weak and elderly people and women may do their stoning at night to avoid the overcrowding. Or they may ask a companion to do the stoning on their behalf. Again, spending the night in Mina is required according to most scholars.
12th Thul-Hijjah: You do the stoning at the three Jamrahs again in the same way as you did the previous day. When you have completed that, you may leave Mina, provided you are out by sunset. If the sun sets and you are still in Mina, you need to stay the night there and do the stoning the following day at the three Jamrahs. You should do that stoning after midday.
When you arrive at Makkah, you should do the tawaf of ifaadhah and the sa’ie if you have not done them yet. When you have done them, all your duties of pilgrimage have been completed, except for the tawaf of farewell, which needs to be done later.
If you had opted for the ifraad method, which means that you have done the pilgrimage only, and you have come from outside the Hil area, you may do the Umrah as from 14th Thul-Hijjah. To do that, you have to go out of the Haram area, to the nearest point in the Hil area where you start your ihraam again and come back for Umrah.
Before Departure: The only duty of pilgrimage that is left is a tawaf which depends for its timing on your departure. This is the tawaf of farewell. It is done in the same manner as the earlier tawafs, but it should be done shortly before departure. When you have completed it, you should proceed straightaway to leave Makkah.
This completes a journey of a lifetime and an experience to remember for the rest of your life. May God reward you richly for it and fulfill all your prayers.
Arab News Islam 7 February 2003
