Top ten tips for Umrah

Useful tips for Umrah

Here are the best top ten preparations tips for Umrah.

Take a Rest

When you arrive in Makkah for Umrah, make sure you take plenty of rest inshaAllah. You don’t need to do Umrah immediately. From a personal choice, I prefer to do Umrah at night time after Esha.

Prepare Mentally

Mental Preparation for Umrah is very important. It is about being in the right frame of mind. In order to achieve this, one must equip oneself with enough knowledge as well as have some sort of image of what to expect.

Attend seminars, read books and articles, watch clips and keep a positive outlook. There are so many resources out there. It’s not realistic nor necessary to try and go through everything. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Rather, try to get the ‘feel’ for Umrah, get motivated and connect with your Lord.

Plan your journey

Be sure to check with your airlines for any potential cancellations or flight delays. For such an instance, it’s better not to make the Umrah intention from UK, but rather mid-flight is my advice. As you won’t know how long you’d be in it.

Identify luggage

Put fluorescent tape or a carrier bag (orange, red etc ideal as blue and white are too common) around both handles of your luggage, you’d be surprised how all luggage look the same when you’re at the airport or when it’s been transported from Makkah Madinah. It helps identifying your luggage much much easier.

Wearing the Ihram

It is recommended for brothers to wear the lower part of the Ihram before you board the plane. The upper part can then be put on whilst on the plane BEFORE the Meeqat point. Do not attempt to wear the lower part on the plane as it can be uneasy and a inconvenience to others.

Patience!

Have lots of patience and understanding, there are people from all around the world for the same cause from various cultures and backgrounds. What might seem normal to you may be offensive to others etc so be courteous to you fellow brothers and sisters and remain patient if a bit of hardship comes your way. Without slight hardship you won’t feel the sweetness of Umrah or Hajj.

Tawaf

When in Makkah, maximise on the number of tawaaf you can do as that’s the only place in the world one can carry out this form of ibadah. Though you should be cautious about your own health and ability.

Comfortable Clothing

Wear light, breathable clothes (e.g cotton) underneath your abaya/thobe to be comfortable.

Learn the Seerah

It’s a really good idea to read a Seerah book or listen to one before you go for Umrah. In doing so, you’d be able to re-live the life of Rasulullah ﷺ. Take a book with you.

Zam Zam

Make sure our drink alot of Zam Zam water. It’s available within the Masjid Al Haram and Masjid An-Nabawi. Be sure to read the signs on the taps outside, as some are not Zam Zam. There’s cold and warm Zamzam available