Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah:

How to perform ‘Umrah

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“(The pilgrim) should enter ihram for ‘umrah at the miqat . When entering ihram, he should do ghusl as for janabah. Doing ghusl is Sunnah for men and women, even those who are menstruating or bleeding following childbirth (nifas). (A man) should do ghusl and put perfume on his head and beard, and put on the ihram garments. He should enter ihram after offering an obligatory prayer, if it is the time for an obligatory prayer, or after a supererogatory (nafl) prayer which he should intend as the Sunnah prayer following wudu, because there is no specific nafl prayer for entering ihram , as there is no report to that effect from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Women who are menstruating or bleeding following childbirth should not pray. Then he should recite the Talbiyah for ‘Umrah, saying: “Labbayk Allahumma Umratan. Labbayka Allahumma labbayk, labbayka la sharika laka labbayk. Inna al-hamda wa’n-ni‘mata laka wa’l-mulk, la sharika lak  (Here I am, O Allah, for ‘Umrah. Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Verily all praise and blessings are Yours, and all sovereignty, You have no partner).”

And he should continue to recite the Talbiyah until he reaches Makkah. When he is close to Makkah, he should do ghusl before entering it, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did. He should enter al-Masjid al-Haram with his right foot first, saying: “Bismillah wa’l-salatu wa’l-salam ‘ala Rasulillaah. Allahumma ighfir li dhunubi waftah li abwab rahmatika. A‘udhu Billah il-‘azim wa bi wajhihi’l-karim wa bi sultanihi’l-qadim min al-shaytan il-rajim (In the name of Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. O Allah, forgive my sins and open to me the gates of Your mercy. I seek refuge in Allah the Almighty and in His Noble Face and in His eternal Power, from the accursed Shaytan).”

When he begins tawaf , he should stop reciting the Talbiyah . He should start at the Black Stone, and kiss it if possible, otherwise he should point to it and say: ‘Bismillah wa Allahu akbar. Allahumma imanan bika wa tasdiqan bi kitabika wa wafa-an bi ‘ahdika wa ittiba‘an li Sunnati Nabiyyika Muhammad sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (In the name of Allah, and Allah is most great. O Allah, out of faith in You, and in belief in Your Book, and in fulfillment of Your covenant, and following the Sunnah of Your Prophet Muhammad blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).”

Then he should put the House on his left and circumambulate it seven times, starting and ending at the Black Stone. He should not touch any part of the Ka`bah apart from the Black Stone and the Yemeni Corner, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not touch any part of it except these two corners.

In tawaf, it is Sunnah for men to walk rapidly in the first three circuits, taking short steps. It is also Sunnah for them to uncover the right shoulder throughout tawaf (this is called idtiba‘), by baring the right shoulder and placing the two ends of the rida (upper garment) on the left shoulder.

Every time he comes in line with the Black Stone, he should say “Allahu akbar.”

Between the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone he should say: “Rabbana atina fi’l-dunya hasanah wa fi’l-akhirah hasanah wa qina ‘adhab al-nar (Our Lord, give us that which is good in this world and that which is good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire).”

In the rest of his Tawaf he may say whatever he likes of dhikr (remembering Allah) and du‘a (supplication).

There are no specific du`as for each circuit of tawaf, hence one should beware of these booklets that many pilgrims carry, in which there is a specific du`a for each circuit. This is an innovation that was not narrated from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Every innovation is a going astray.” (Narrated by Muslim)

During tawaf, the pilgrim must pay attention to a matter which many people do not pay attention to at times when it is very crowded, and you see them going in through one gate of the Hijr and exiting through the other gate, and not going around the Hijr as well as the Ka‘bah. This is an error, because most of the Hijr is part of the Ka‘bah, so the one who goes in through one gate of the Hijr and exits through the other gate has not in fact circumambulated the Ka`bah, so his tawaf is not valid.

After tawaf, he should pray two rak`ahs behind Maqam Ibrahim if possible. Otherwise he may offer this prayer anywhere in the mosque.

Then he should go out to as-Safa, and when he comes near it he should recite (interpretation of the meaning): “Verily! As-Safa and Al-Marwah (two mountains in Makkah) are of the Symbols of Allah. So it is not a sin on him who performs Hajj or ‘Umrah (pilgrimage) of the House (the K’abah at Makkah) to perform the going (Tawaf) between them (As-Safa and Al-Marwah). And whoever does good voluntarily, then verily, Allah is All-Recogniser, All-Knower ” [al-Baqarah 2:158], but he should not repeat this verse after that.

Then he should climb as-Safa, turn to face towards the qiblah, raise his hands, magnify and praise Allah, and say: “La ilaha ill-Allaah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadir; La ilaha ill-Allah wahdahu anjaza wa‘dah wa nasara ‘abdah wa hazama al-ahzaba wahdah (There is no god but Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, His is the dominion and to Him be praise, and He is able to do all things; there is no god but Allah Alone, He fulfilled His promise and granted victory to His slave and defeated the confederates Alone).”

Then he should offer du`a after that, then repeat the dhikr a second time, followed by du`a, then repeat the dhikr a third time.

Then he should come down and head towards al-Marwah, walking until he reaches the green marker – i.e., the green pillar – and running from the green pillar to the second green pillar, running fast if he is able to, provided that it is not too difficult for him and does not cause annoyance to anyone else. Then after the second marker he should walk normally until he reaches al-Marwah. When he reaches al-Marwah he should climb it, and turn to face the qiblah, raise his hands, and say the same as he said at as-Safa. This is one lap.

Then he should come back to as-Safa from al-Marwah , and this is the second lap. He should say and do during it the same as he said and did in the first lap. When he has finished seven laps – from as-Safa to al-Marwah is one lap, and from al-Marwah to as-Safa is another lap.

Then he should have his hair cut, removing hair from all over his head, in such a manner that it is clearly obvious. A woman should cut a fingertip’s length from the end of all of her hair.

Then he has completely exited from ihram and may do all the things that Allah has permitted to him of intimacy with his wife, wearing perfume, wearing ordinary clothes, and so on.

Summary of the rituals of ‘Umrah

1. Doing ghusl as in the case of janabah, and putting on perfume (for men)
2. Putting on the ihram garments , which are the rida and izar (upper and lower garment) for men. Women may wear whatever they want of permissible clothing.
3. Reciting the Talbiyah and repeating it until the start of tawaf.
4. Tawaf or circumambulating the Ka`bah seven times, starting and ending each circuit at the Black Stone.
5. Praying two rak`ahs behind Maqam Ibrahim.
6. Sa‘i between as-Safa and al-Marwah, seven laps, starting at as-Safa and ending at al-Marwah
7. Shaving the head or cutting the hair for men, and cutting the hair for women.

And Allah knows best.