Guide to going to Mecca

It's best to travel light, so only take essentials.
Many pilgrims fly to Jeddah, and then travel to Mecca by bus.
Once you get to Mecca, there are two rituals which you can perform; the lesser pilgrimage or Umra, and the main pilgrimage or Hajj.
The Umra is an extra, optional pilgrimage and does not count as the once-in-a-lifetime Hajj. Although it includes some of the rituals of the Hajj, they are shortened and there are fewer of them.
Most pilgrims who come for the Hajj arrive a few days before it actually starts and perform Umra first. Combining the Hajj with the Umrah is called a Hajji-Tamattu.
Being pure
To carry out the pilgrimage rituals you need to be in a state of Ihram, which is a special state of ritual purity.
You do this by making a statement of intention, wearing special white clothes (which are also called ihram) and obeying the regulations below.
The person on the Hajj may not:
• Engage in marital relations
• Shave or cut their nails
• Use cologne or scented oils
• Kill or hunt anything
• Fight or argue.
• Women must not cover their faces, even if they would do so in their home country.
• Men may not wear clothes with stitching.
• Bathing is allowed but scented soaps are frowned upon.
Umra
The Hajj is a real pilgrimage - a journey, with rites and rituals to be done along the way.
You begin at a place just outside Mecca called the Miqat, or entry station to the Hajj.
There you bathe, put on the Ihram (the special white clothes), make the intention for Umra and begin reciting the Talbiya Du'a (prayer).
Here I am at Your service, O Allah, here I am at your service! You have no partner. Here I am at your service. All praise and blessings belong to you. All dominion is yours and You have no partner.
Talbiya Du'a
Then you go to the Masjid al Haram and walk around the Ka'ba seven times repeating du'as and prayers. This is called the Tawaf. Afterwards you should sip some Zam Zam water.
Zam Zam water is water from the Zam Zam well, the sacred well which opened in the desert to save Hajira and Is'mail from dying of thirst.
Next you go to the walkway between the hills of Safa and Marwa and walk back and forth between them seven times.
This completes the Umra portion of the Hajj rituals and some of the Ihram restrictions are relaxed.
Hajj
Now make your intention for the Hajj and put on the Ihram garments again.
Travel to Mina on the 8th of Dhul Hijjah (a date in the Islamic calendar) and remain there until Fajr (dawn) next morning.
Then you travel to the valley of Arafat and stand in the open praising Allah. The heat of Arabia at midday provides a hint as to what the Day of Judgement will be like.
At the end of the day, travel to Muzdalifa for the night. Gather together 49 or 70 small stones together to use the next day.

In the morning you return to Mina and throw the stones at pillars called Jamraat. These represent the devil. Then a sacrifice called a Qurbanishould be made in which a lamb or sheep is slaughtered and the meat distributed among the poor. After this, men's heads are shaved and women cut a lock of their hair.
Then return to Mecca and make a Tawaf (this is the ritual of walking around the Ka'aba seven times). Then it's back to Mina for 3 or 4 days, stoning the pillars each day.
Finally do a farewell Tawaf in Masjid-al Haram on the twelfth day of the month of Dhul Hijjah, ask Allah's forgiveness, make du'aand the Hajj is finished.
Many people then go to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, but this is optional.
A man who has completed the Hajj is called a Hajji, a woman who has completed it is called a Hajjah.
At the end of the Hajj, Muslims from all over the world celebrate the holiday known as the Eid ul Adha or Festival of the sacrifice.
This festival commemorates the obedience of the Prophet Ibrahim when he was ordered to sacrifice his son Is'mail.
Ibrahim proved his love and devotion to Allah by showing his willingness to kill his beloved son if Allah wished it. In the end Ibrahim did not have to kill his son as Allah gave him a ram to sacrifice instead.

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