When a pilgrim draws close to the place where he must go into ihraam, or consecration, he is recommended to have a bath or to wash himself, wear some perfume, shorten his hair, remove his pubic hair and his armpit hair, and clip his nails. Women are also recommended to do all these with the exception of cutting their hair. A woman can have a bath even though she may be in her period. When a pilgrim arrives at the meeqat, which is the appointed place for going into consecration, i.e. ihraam, he prays two rak’ahs and forms his intention to do the pilgrimage or the Umrah. He must be wearing only his ihraam garments, i.e. two pieces of cloth, wrapping one around his waist so that it covers his body down to the middle of his lower legs and throwing the other over his shoulders. Women continue to wear their ordinary clothes covering all their bodies, but they must not cover their faces or hands. It is important to vocalize the intention to do the pilgrimage or the Umrah, saying: “I hereby resolve to do the pilgrimage (or the Umrah, or both, as the case may be) for God’s sake. My Lord! Make it easy for me and accept it from me.” Pilgrims are also recommended to repeat the traditional phrases declaring that they are responding to God’s call for them to offer the pilgrimage and complete it. They repeat these phrases as they go into ihraam and at any time they like, especially when they go up a hill or down a slope, when they meet someone and after prayers, when they go into a car or on the back of a horse, and when they get off. Men repeat these phrases aloud, while women lower their voices so that only those who are close to them hear them. The phrases to be repeated are: Labbayk Allahumma labbayk. Labbayk Laa shareeka laka labbayk. Inna al-hamda wal-ni’mata laka wal-mulk. Laa shareeka lak. What these phrases mean is that we are responding to God’s call and that we believe in Him alone as the only god in the universe, and that He is praiseworthy for all the grace He has given us, and that all dominion belong to Him alone.
Pilgrims are recommended to have a bath shortly before entering Makkah, if this is at all possible. When they arrive in Makkah, they should go straight to the Sacred Mosque, i.e. the Kaabah, after having made sure that their luggage is safe. It is authentically reported that prayers at the first sight of the Kaabah are certain to be answered. Hence, one should pray for the greatest prize of all, which is admittance into heaven without having to face a severe reckoning on the Day of Judgment. We may also pray for all our prayers to be answered. A pilgrim should praise God for having enabled him to be at Makkah on his pilgrimage or Umrah.
Pilgrims should then proceed to do their tawaf of arrival, which is the first thing anyone who arrives in Makkah should do. The tawaf consists of walking around the Kaabah seven times, starting just before the black stone and going around the outside of the Kaabah in an anticlockwise walk. It is recommended that, in the first three rounds of the tawaf of arrival only, men should uncover their right shoulders and jog, if the place is not so crowded as to prevent any jogging movement. Those who are starting with the Umrah do only the tawaf of Umrah. They do not need to do two tawafs counting one as that of arrival and the other as the tawaf of Umrah. The last four rounds of the tawaf of arrival should be done in easy walking. If one is in doubt as to how many rounds one has completed, one should consider the lesser number and complete the seven rounds. Thus if he doubts whether he has done five or six rounds, he assumes that he has done five only. One round is finished every time he arrives at the black stone that a pilgrim is recommended to kiss, if he can reach it without causing any harm or inconvenience to other pilgrims. If the place is overcrowded, it is better to raise one’s hand in salute to the black stone and proceed with our tawaf. There are several indications to tell people that they are parallel with the black stone, such as a colored lamp on the wall opposite to it, and a differently colored marble line on the floor.
Tawaf is an act of worship, just like prayers, and all the requirements of cleanliness, purity, ablution and covering one’s body needed for prayer must be met for the tawaf to be valid. The only difference is that in prayer we are not allowed to talk, while in tawaf talking is permissible. One should, however, take the opportunity of tawaf to praise God, glorify Him and pray Him for whatever one wishes, whether related to this present life or to the hereafter. It is imperative that a person doing the tawaf must be extra careful not to cause any injury or harm to anyone of those who are doing this blessed ritual with him. These days, when more than thirty or forty thousand people are engaged in tawaf at the same time, any slip by any person may cause serious harm, especially if one falls down and other people trample over him, without noticing him. God is in no need of the worship of anyone of us, if that would cause bodily harm to any one of His servants.
When the pilgrim has completed his tawaf, he proceeds to pray two rak’ahs as the Sunnah of tawaf. It is preferable to offer these behind the spot known as Maqam Ibraheem, which is the spot at which the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) the builder of the Kaabah, used to pray. Having done that, the pilgrim is recommended to stand at Al-Multazam, the place underneath the door of the Kaabah, and pray there as he wishes. He is also recommended to have a drink of Zamzam water that is said by the Prophet (peace be upon him) to be “the best water on earth”. It satisfies hunger and cures illnesses. When one drinks Zamzam water he is recommended to pray God for whatever he wishes.
The above conditions and recommendations apply to each tawaf, whether it is a requirement of pilgrimage or Umrah, or done voluntarily. As has been said earlier, the tawaf is similar to prayers, and it may be offered voluntarily at any time. It is recommended every time one goes into the Sacred Mosque.
The Sa’ie
After the tawaf, the pilgrim should proceed to do the sa’ie between the two hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. If one is doing the Umrah, he should do the sa’ie after finishing his tawaf, and when he has completed the sa’ie, his Umrah is finished and he may release himself from ihraam by either shaving his head or shortening his hair. As already mentioned, a woman does not shave her head; she only shortens a small portion of her hair by as little as an inch. A pilgrim who has entered into ihraam for pilgrimage may do the sa’ie either after the tawaf of arrival or the tawaf of ifaadah. Those who are combining both the pilgrimage and the Umrah in the same ihraam, i.e. doing the qiran method, do the sa’ie after the tawaf of the Umrah, which is done immediately after arrival in Makkah and counts as their tawaf of arrival.
The sa’ie is composed of walking the distance between the two hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times. A pilgrim starts at Al-Safa, and when he reaches Al-Marwah one round is completed. Since we do seven rounds, we start at Al-Safa and complete our duty at Al-Marwah. One should do the seven rounds consecutively, but may have a short rest between them, if he needs such rest. Should congregational prayers be called while we are doing the sa’ie, we should join the prayer and resume the sa’ie immediately after the prayer is over. People who are able to walk should do the sa’ie walking, but if one cannot, because of illness or old age, one can use a wheel chair.
Several things are recommended when we do the sa’ie, such as going toward it from the Al-Safa door, going up the hill of Al-Safa until we are able to see the Kaabah. However, this is not recommended for women if the place is heavily overcrowded. As we go up each of the two hills, we are recommended to repeat phrases such as Allahu Akbar; Al-Hamd lillah; La ilaha illa Allah. It is also recommended to repeat the Qur’anic verse that mentions the sa’ie between the two hills. It is preferable to perform ablution before the sa’ie if we had invalidated our earlier ablution, and also to jog in the short distance marked with green over the arches, and green lights on the side. Women do not jog, but continue to walk normally. It is also good to recite the Qur’an during the sa’ie. The Prophet is reported to have prayed for forgiveness after he completed the sa’ie.
Going to Mina
Pilgrims are recommended to go to Mina on 8th Dhul-Hijjah, on their way to Arafat. Pilgrims who are in ihraam go to Mina in their ihraam garments. Those who are not in ihraam, having opted for the tamattu’ method, re-enter into the state of consecration at their place of stay, i.e. in their hotels or rented accommodation. As the pilgrims proceed to Mina, they are recommended to repeat those phrases of talbiyah already mentioned. These phrases reassert that they have responded to God’s call on people to do the pilgrimage. It is a Sunnah to offer the prayers of Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha of 8th Dhul-Hijjah and Fajr prayer the following day in Mina. This means that it is preferable if pilgrims stay that night in Mina and do not leave it for Arafat until after sunrise of Dhul-Hijjah 9. If they do not do that, and go instead from Makkah to Arafat directly, their pilgrimage is perfectly valid and they need not compensate for not staying in Mina.
This leads us to the single most important duty of the pilgrimage, namely, attendance at Arafat, which we will discuss next week, God willing.
