This book is designed as a guide for prospective pilgrims and is not a religious or devotional tract. It does not include the usual Qur’ānic verses and aḥādīth about Ḥajj, nor does it go into the history of places, events, and the rites of Ḥajj to any significant extent. There are a large number of books which deal with these topics quite well, and the interested reader is advised to consult them to satisfy his curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
The writer has tried to make this book “user-friendly”. However, it is difficult to make a book, containing dozens of Arabic technical terms referring to the rites of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah, readily understandable to people unfamiliar with this vocabulary. A certain amount of effort on the part of the reader is, therefore, essential in understanding this book.
Chapter 1 (How to Use This Handbook) provides a good starting point by suggesting ways of getting the most out of this book.
Chapter 2 (Glossary) is the heart of the book in that it is nearly impossible to comprehend the technical parts of the book without a thorough knowledge of this chapter. The reader, in all probability, will have to refer back to this chapter frequently during the course of reading subsequent parts of the book.
Chapter 3 (Before You Leave) contains a great deal of essential and practical information designed to help the reader prepare for the journey.
Chapter 4 (When You Get to Saudi Arabia) complements this information with detailed specifics about what the pilgrim can expect upon arrival in Saudi Arabia. These two chapters contain information not readily available elsewhere, and should go a long way towards providing the pilgrim with the peace of mind necessary for his Ḥajj to be meaningful.
Chapter 5 (Ḥajj and ʿUmrah) describes the details of these two rites step by step using the definitions and other background material presented earlier. This is not a stand-alone Chapter in that its full understanding is predicated on that of Chapter 2.
Chapter 6 (Prayers and Supplications) presents the devotionals commonly recited by pilgrims during Ḥajj. One is not necessarily obliged to recite these prayers for the Ḥajj to be valid. However, they are very meaningful recitations, are easy to memorise, and will serve the pilgrim well in his quest for a successful pilgrimage.
Chapter 7 (A Visit to Madinah) offers a brief and concise description of Al-Masjid al-Nabawī and other places of religious and historical interest in and around Madinah.
The writer wishes to thank the numerous authors whose work he has freely consulted during the preparation of this book. He is indebted to Imām Moujahed Bakhach of the Islamic Association of Tarrant County, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. for his technical review of the book. Thanks are due to Dr. Manazir Ahsan and his colleagues, of the Islamic Foundation, U.K. for the professionalism shown by them pursuant upon the publication of this book. The valuable criticism, and numerous suggestions by the writer’s son Salman Sarwar Razi led to many improvements in the text and are gratefully acknowledged. Last, but not least, the writer is deeply thankful to his wife, Qaisar Razi, for the patience, encouragement, and understanding she has shown during the preparation of this work.
Sarwar Alam Raz
Fort Worth, TX, U.S.A.
Rabīʿ al-Thāni 1420
August 1999
CHAPTER 1
How to Use This Handbook
The writer’s experience with the existing texts available on the subject of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah, which provided him with the incentive and justification for writing this handbook, has already been mentioned in the Introduction, A Personal Note. The format and the subject matter presented in this book are a direct outcome of that experience.
Even a quick and cursory glance through these pages will show that their structure, organisation, and textual format are radically different from most books on the subject. In order to be able to use it in the most efficient way possible, it is recommended that the reader follow the sequence of study suggested below. It is the writer’s opinion that any attempt to circumvent the suggested methodology is likely to cause confusion and, indeed, will be self-defeating in that it would force the reader eventually to revert to the suggested sequence.
Since the thrust of this book is a simplification of the understanding of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah, the following sequence of study is strongly recommended:
(1) Familiarise yourself thoroughly with the terms defined and described in Chapter 2 (Glossary). All the technical and ritual details of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah that follow in subsequent sections use these terms extensively without elaborating upon them in the text. You will be lost without an adequate study of this Chapter.
(2) Skip Chapter 3 (Before You Leave) and Chapter 4 (When You Get to Saudi Arabia), except for Sections 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 which contain useful information about the prerequisites of Ḥajj. The rest of these chapters advise you on how to prepare for Ḥajj, what to pack for the journey, etc. They can wait till later. Use the information you have learned in Chapter 2 to your advantage since it is still fresh in your mind, and proceed to Chapter 5 to learn the technical aspects of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah in its light.
(3) Go to Chapter 5 (Ḥajj and ʿUmrah) and study it in the light of Chapter 2. You may need to return frequently to Chapter 2 to refresh your memory about the definitions and procedures. You must be fully comfortable with your understanding of all that is involved in Ḥajj and ʿUmrah before you advance any further in your reading. At this stage, you may also want to decide on the type of Ḥajj you wish to perform and pay special attention to its specific details.
(4) You may now read Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. You can also start planning your schedules, travel and residential arrangements, etc. in the light of this information. Talk to your travel agent if any questions come to your mind during this study that are not answered in these chapters.
(5) Save Chapter 6 (Prayers and Supplications) for a rainy day when you have a reasonable amount of time to memorise any or all of the prayers if you so desire. The seven prayers for Ṭawāf of the Kaʿbah are highly recommended. They possess an intensity of emotion and devotion that increases as the Ṭawāf progresses. It moves you even as