Category My Peace Trip

Umrah Mubarak is the phrase everyone reaches for, but it is not the one the Prophet taught. Here is what is actually narrated, for the send off and the return.

Masjid an-Nabawi has 42 gates and almost nobody tells you which is which. Here is the full numbering, what each gate is for, and how not to lose your shoes.

One vaccine is required of every Umrah pilgrim from every country, and it has a timing rule that catches people out. Straight from the Saudi health requirements.

The airport you book decides where you enter ihram. Fly into Jeddah and you change at 38,000 feet. Fly into Madinah and you do not. Here is how to book it.

Umrah in Ramadan is rewarded like Hajj in the words of the Prophet, and it is also the most crowded and most expensive month to go. This guide gives the hadith and its scholarly limits, the expected dates for Ramadan 1448, the permit rules on Nusuk, the fasting concession for travellers, and how to book.

Tawaf is seven circuits of the Kaaba, anticlockwise, starting and ending at the Black Stone. This guide explains the word, sets out the five kinds with when each is performed and whether it is obligatory, lists the conditions from cited sources, and gives the official average time and the distance on each floor.

Safa and Marwa are the two hills in Makkah between which Hajar searched for water for her son Ismail, and every pilgrim now walks the same seven lengths. This guide tells the story from the primary narration, gives the official distance, explains the running and describes the four-floor gallery as it operates today.

What Umrah costs from Pakistan, broken into the six items every trip is made of: visa, flights, hotels by distance from the Haram, Makkah to Madinah transport, food and gifts. Includes our live single-traveller package prices in rupees and an honest look at what a cheap package leaves out.

Two lists of Umrah gifts: practical things for someone about to travel that are allowed in ihram and useful in the Haram, and the gifts pilgrims bring back from Makkah and Madinah. Plus what not to give, the Zamzam carry rules, the dua for a traveller with its source, and gifting a package.

You do not have to shave your head to complete Umrah. Shaving is the better of two valid options: the Prophet prayed for those who shave three times and for those who trim once. This guide gives the hadith, what counts as a trim in each school, what women do, and where the barbers are.