ABOUT UMRAH

Umrah is one of the important rituals in Islam. It has been perform thoughout the ages. It is a pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. The Prophet Muhammad said: "Accumulated sins are expiated with each Umrah". In Arabic Umrah means “to visit a populated place”. Umrah is not compulsory to perform but it is highly reccommended.

There are a number of rituals that needs to be followed to perform Umrah correctly.

The pilgrim, sometimes referred to as a 'Hajj', performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the lives of the prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) and his wife Hagar (Hajarah), and of solidarity with Muslims worldwide. These acts of faith are:

• tawaf
• sa'i
• halq or taqsir

These rituals complete the Umrah. It is not a part of the ritual, but most pilgrims drink water from the Well of Zamzam.

The Umrah can be completed in one hour during the off-peak pilgrimage season. The peak times of pilgrimage are the days before, during and after the Hajj and during the last ten days of Ramadan.

There are two types of Umrah, depending on whether one wishes to combine the Umrah with Hajj: al-Umrat al-mufradah al-mustaqillah 'an al-Hajj (al-Umrat al mufradah) and al-Umrat al-mundammah ila al-Hajj (Umrat al-tammatu).

al-Umrat al mufradah refers to Umrah that is performed independently of Hajj.

Umrat al-tammatu refers to Umrah that is performed in conjunction with Hajj. More precisely, the rituals of the Umrah are performed first and then the Hajj rituals are performed.

To read more about Umrah please go to Umrah Procedure.