Since 1980
Tips For haj
For those people getting
ready to go to Haj, may Allah Subhanahu wata'ala accept your Haj and may
this spiritual journey be of religious support to you for the rest of your
life. I hope the tips below will be useful to you and will make your trip
easier inshallah.
Preparation Tips:
For men it is a good suggestion to try wearing your Ihram 'clothes' for a
few days at home before you travel as they can be rather uncomfortable and
strange if you have never worn them before. The easiest way to keep the
bottom wrapping in place is to overlap them (the way you wrap a towel) but
roll the entire top edge over itself three or four times. Nothing beats
this for keeping everything together, it works much better than pins,
belts, ropes etc. This is the way Malaysian/Indonesian men wear their
saris and it works very well.
Wash Ihram clothes with unscented (fragrance-free) detergent before you
leave and store/pack them away from other clothes that are scented.
The sunnah is to bathe, then wear your Ihram wrappings and pray two rakats.
Do not put scented deodorant. If you wish to have something to help with
sweat, use something called "Shabbah" which is a natural unscented crystal
called alum in English that they use in anti-perspirant and is
permissible. If you are traveling from the Middle East, this is abundant
in any spice market including Saudi Arabia.
Since one is not supposed to remove hairs, clip nails, etc. while in a
state of Ihram, it is wise for women to find a way to braid/bind your hair
up so that it can be worn without brushing for a few days. While this is
not much of an issue during Ummrah, since it happens fairly quickly,
during Haj you will be in in Ihram for three days and you need to plan
accordingly. If it is possible, it is a good idea to practice/experiment
at home before you leave.
While on the plane the captain will announce that you are approaching the
"Meeqat". That is the set point at which you must set your Haj and/or
Ummrah intention.
In Jeddah expect a long wait at the airport. Be observant of the time
since you need to catch your prayers and unfortunately they do not call
the adhan over loudspeakers in the airport.
Critical Tips:
Keep your slippers next to you, they will be taken if you leave them
outside in the shoe racks. It is less likely that they are stolen, but
they all look alike and mistakes occur all the time.
Do not get angry. There are millions of people there, many with very
irritating or misguided actions.
Baab as-Salaam (The door or entryway of as-Salaam)
This is the entryway that the prophet Muhammed used to take to enter to
the Haram (sanctified area) around the Ka'aba. The door is understandably
CLOSED at this point since it goes right across the walkway between Safa
and Marwa, and we spent a very long time searching for it before we
realized that it was no longer open. If you walk a few steps past it
however, there is a set of stairs that takes you to a walkway over Safa
and Marwa so you can use that which is the alternative route.
It is the sunnah that a women should not travel alone for extended periods
without a "mahram" (father, son, husband, brother, maternal or fraternal
uncle). While some scholars have ruled that it is permissible if the woman
is traveling with a group of good muslims, in our experience it was a very
bad idea for those women to go on Haj alone. No matter how good the group
is, there are situations that you must be with someone that can be in
contact with you physically such as the jamarat or spending the night in
Muzdalifah. Our group faced a huge dilemma in trying to protect these
women while staying within the limits set for us. Without going into
details, many of the women were put into situations that were very
humiliating and they were very unhappy. It is not a decision to be made
lightly, and it is our belief that if you decide to forego Haj for the
reason of not having a mahram and nothing else, that Allah will reward you
with the full rewards of going on Haj. From everything stated in the
sunnah and from our own personal experience it is not an easy thing for a
woman to travel alone, especially on Haj.
DO NOT LEAVE ANY BELONGINGS ON ANY BUS AT ANYTIME. No matter what they
say, you may not find the same bus again and many people permanently lost
their belongings this way.
After you are done with the day of Arafat, you will be going to Muzdalifah
to spend the night (or the better portion of the night). It is
approximately six miles from Arafat to Mina where your tents are, and
Muzdalifah is about half way there. It is the sunnah to leave Arafat right
after Maghrib and walk this trip. In our experience it is actually a lot
faster and easier to walk than taking the buses unless you have a physical
difficulty and are unable to.
Our group was split on this issue and some of the people went by bus while
others walked. We were among the group that walked and it took us about 3
hours walking at a brisk pace from when we left Arafat until we reached
Muzdalifah. We were then able to find a spot and sleep for a few hours,
then collect our stones for the Jamarat and leave slightly before Fajr to
the Jamarat. The group who took the buses did not arrive until around 3
a.m. although they left slightly before we did. They spent well over 5
hours in a hot crowded bus and were not able to find a spot to sleep once
they got to Muzdalifah since the area around where the buses unload is too
crowded. NONE of them was happy with the situation while our group,
although VERY tired, felt a deep satisfaction and a sense of
accomplishment.
In our opinion walking has another advantage which is the experience of
walking the same route as the Prophet with hundreds of thousands of other
Muslims all with the same goal. It was very peaceful and is one of the few
times during Haj where no one was pushing or jostling for position. There
is nothing like looking to the right of you and looking to the left of you
and seeing nothing but other Muslims going towards the same place you are.
One more tip for Muzdalifah, if you walk from Arafat do not stop as soon
as you see the sign letting you know that you are in Muzdalifah. Continue
walking for a ways and you will find that the areas further in are much
less crowded and the bathrooms are in a much better state. We stopped as
soon as we reached Muzdalifah and found it quite crowded. When we left the
next morning we found to our surprise that if we had only continued for
another 10-15 minutes we would have had our pick of spots, a better
bathroom situation, and we would have been that much closer to the Jamarat
when we started out the next morning.
While you are in Muzdalifah, collect EXTRA stones. You may need extras
when throwing the stones at the Jamarat, some may miss the target and
others may fall from your hand before throwing and it is better to have
extras than to be in need. The best container that we saw to collect your
stones in was a small, empty water bottle. It is readily available, has a
lid, and the size of the opening is perfect for the size of stones you
should be collecting.
Jamarat Tips
With regards to the Jamarat, the first time you go there will be right
after spending the night in Muzdalifah. Since people trickle in depending
on when they leave, it is not too crowded. The next two days are a totally
different story, the crowds are unbelievable. In fact it is the most
crowded point during Haj.
Do not confuse the fact that you cast your stones on the first day after
fajr with the other days. Casting your stones at the Jamarat in the later
days can only take place AFTER the adhan for Dhuhr (noon prayer) in order
for it to be valid, no matter what your possibly very ignorant travel
agent says. A huge number of them try to convince their groups that there
is a sheikh somewhere that said it was o.k. so that they can get out as
soon as possible and to the airport where they book the tickets too early.
Do not ruin all of your Haj effort over this issue. There are many planes
leaving from Saudi and the truth is that they want to get rid of everyone
and they will find a way for you to get on a plane going home, even if you
have a delay doing it. For what it is worth you will not usually get on
the plane that you are booked on no matter what. During Haj the planes
basically run like a bus, whenever a plane is full, it leaves.
Most people know that they must wait until after Dhuhr and because of the
impatient travel agents telling everyone to rush they all gather outside
the Jamarat in a MASSIVE crowd waiting for the Adhan. Once it is called
they ALL rush in and this is when many people are stampeded. The only
solution is to ignore your travel agent and wait until the noon rush is
over. After that it is still crowded but the crowd is not in a frenzy.
Wait until Asr or Maghrib and then go do your final day of Jamarat. Even
if your bus has left by then, your travel agent will find you an
alternative. Your travel agent will make sure that you get to Makkah to do
your final tawwaf and to the airport. The Saudis do not want you to stay,
they will make sure you get home and your travel agent is always held
accountable for anyone he brings in, do not be concerned.
As soon as you are done with the first day of the Jamarat (right after
Muzdalifah) you break your ihram when you arrive back to your tents.
Therefore, in the last days you are allowed to wear any clothes you like
and stitched shoes that enclose your entire foot. Do so! Wear a good pair
of very secure shoes to the next two days of Jamarat. The piles of
flip-flops in the Jamarat that people lose are unbelievable some are feet
deep and they will make you lose yours too. There are stones covering the
ground by then so you really do not want to go shoeless. The best thing is
a pair of soft soled high-top sneakers (you do not want a hiking boot or
anything like that as you will hurt others as you are trying to please
Allah).
Many scholars have agreed that it is acceptable for a man to throw the
stones for their women. Some still favor that the woman must throw the
stones herself. The best thing is for you to go and see. If it is possible
for her to do it with reasonable ease, then go for it. If the crowd is in
a frenzy or if you see unsuitable things occurring then it is probably
best that she waits on the outskirts while you throw it for her. It is
worth noting that there are many atrocious situations that occur during
the Jamarat and while we were there we saw women who were separated from
there mahrams and even had their head coverings and clothes torn from
them. One of the single women that was with us in the group was actually
physically groped and fondled while she was attempting to throw her
stones. There are shady people with very little Islamic knowledge and
manners. Needless to say, it was very traumatic for all of us so make sure
that you look out for the women who are with you.
One last note with regards to the Jamarat. It is our experience that the
lower level is a better option than the upper level because it tends to be
less crowded. On the lower level you can also exit from any door as
opposed to the upper level ramp which is the only way to get in or out of
the upper level. The entrance to the upper level is more prominent and
therefore most people use that one as a default, but the lower one is
there and it looks almost like a parking garage entrance.
What to take with you:
Vaseline or other fragrance-free cream such as A&E Ointment: You will need
this if you walk from Arafat to Muzdalifah, or if you have big thighs.
Make sure that you bring this with you to Arafat and rub it on the inside
of your thighs liberally before you set out and again when you leave for
the Jamarat in the morning. Especially for men (who have nothing
underneath their wraps), you will most probably have a lot of chafing on
your thighs with all of the walking that you do on Haj as a whole, but
particularly from Arafat to Mina.
Shabbah (Alum): As mentioned above this is available in any spice market
and it is very cheap.
Flip-Flops/Sandals: these are for the day to day usage and for going in
and out of the masjid and a must for men when in Ihram. The scholars that
were with us were wearing sandals (with stitching) during Ihram and
informed us that these are acceptable as long as the heel is NOT covered
from behind.
High-top tennis shoes: these are for the last two days of the Jamarat.
Photo copy of your passport, tickets and all documents that will be with
you.
No need to exchange currency. There are plenty of currency exchanges
everywhere and Dollars are easily converted to Riyals.