THE UMRA-E-TAMATTU CONSISTS OF FIVE PRACTICES

01. Ihraam: It is the first compulsory act of Umrah.There are three
compulsory acts in Ihraam.
(1) Intention (Niyyat):
1. When making Niyyat for Umrah or Hajj the purpose and aim must
necessarily be solely to achieve the consent of Allah and seeking
nearness to Him (Qurbatan ilallaah).
2. The intention must exist when commencing the acts, i.e. when wearing Ihraam.
3. The Niyyat of Ihraam must be specified to be that for Umrah or
Hajj, that of Tamattu, individual or combined,that it is one's
obligation or on behalf of someone else and that it is Hajjatul Islam
(to be performed only once in a lifetime by a person meeting its
requirements) or to fulfill a vow or in lieu ofsome compulsory Hajj
that was previously nullified or a mustahab Hajj. Ihraam without
intention will be null and void. In short the Niyyat may be made in
the mind or better still expressed in words as follows:
"I am wearing Ihraam forUmra-e-Tamattu for Hajjatul Islam Wajib, Ada,
for myself, Qurbatan ilallaah."
If it is on behalf of someone else, the Niyyat should be expressed in
the following manner:
"I am wearing Ihraam forUmra-e-Tamattu for Hajjatul Islam Wajib, Ada,
for and on behalf of ... (Name of the person) Qurbatan ilallaah." (2)
Talbiyah: Immediately after wearing Ihraam, recite Talbiyah in
audiblevoice.
Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik. Labbaik, La Shareek Laka, Labbaik. Innal
Hamdah, Wan Nematah, Laka wal Mulk, La Shareek Laka Labbaik. (Here I
am at Thy service O Lord, here I am. Here I am at Thy service and Thou
hast no partners. Thine alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and
Thinealone is The Sovereignty. Thou hast no partners, here I am.)
One must pronounce and recite the Talbiyah himself. A person who is
dumb should point with his finger and move his tongue. Without
TalbiyahIhraam is invalid just as without Takbiratual Ihraam a
Namaz/prayer isinvalid.
As soon as one has pronounced Talbiyah the 28 acts stated earlier become HARAAM.
(3) Clothes for Ihraam:
Ihraam is the wearing of two pieces of cotton cloth one wrapped around
the shoulders and the other around theloin, covering the leg down to
the feet (at leastit must cover the knees). For men Ihraam clothes
must not be sew. The conditions for the clothesfor Ihraam are the same
as those clothes for prayers. i.e. they must not be:
1. Made of gold.
2. Usurped or stolen.
3. Of pure silk (even for women).
4. Part of the animal, whose flesh is not eaten. However, no formal
ablution is necessary for Ihraam.
Mustahabaat/Recommended Acts in Ihraam: It is recommended to perform
one Ghusl (ablution) with five Niyyats i.e.,
1. To wear Ihraam for Umra-e-Tamattu.
2. To enter the Haram (boundary) of Makkah.
3. To enter the city of Makkah.
4. To enter Masjid Al-Haram.
5. To make Tawaaf of Khana-e-Kaaba.
02. Tawaaf: It is the second compulsory act ofUmrah. If one omits this
act whether knowingly or because of ignorance of the rule, the Umrah
becomes null and void, and as a result one's Ihraam also becomes void.
A Tawaaf is a complete act of going round the Kaaba seven successive
times.
The conditions for Tawaaf:
(1) Intention (Niyyat) can be expressed in these words: "I am
performing the Tawaaf of this Khanae-e-Kaaba seven successive times
for Umra-e-Tamatt for Hajjatul Islam Wajib Qurbatan ilallaah ".
(2) Formal purification i.e. wudhu is wajib, or Ghusl, if necessary.
Without purification the Tawaaf is not valid, whether it is omitted
knowingly or out of ignorance or forgetfulness.
Break in Taharat:
If during Tawaaf one's formal taharat (wudhu/Ghusl) breaks, one of the
following applies:
1. If the Taharat breaks before completion of the first half of Tawaaf
(i.e. 31/2 rounds) that Tawaaf becomes void and, therefore, it must be
performed again after renewing the formal Taharat.
2. If one's Taharat is unintentionally broken after completing the
fourth round then he should discontinue his Tawaaf, renew formal
Taharat and complete the rest of the Tawaaf from the point he had
interrupted it.
3. If one's Taharat breaks unintentionally after the first half of the
Tawaaf (i.e. 31/2 rounds) but before completing the fourth round, it
is ihtiyat to actas in (2) and then perform the whole Tawaaf again
with the Niyyat: 'I perform what I owe as a complementary to the first
or as an independent Tawaaf' .
Rules for Performing Tawaaf:
Although Tawaaf can be started from a point opposite Hajar-e-Aswad, as
a precautionary measure, as illustrated in the sketch, it should be
started and Niyyat of Tawaaf performed, at least one or two paces
before this point.
While performing Tawaafit is necessary to ensure that the left
shoulder always remains pointed towards Khana-e-Kaaba, and one's face,
chest and back should not face Khana-e-Kaaba. The two corners of "T"
shown in the sketch indicate the position of the two shoulders.
The "T" shows how to turn shoulders while performing Tawaaf. If one
happens to contravene any of the above conditions inadvertently, he
should go back some paces fromthe spot where he contravened (go
backwards without turning) and resume Tawaaf from there. The other
thing, which has tobe ensured in performing Tawaaf, is that one should
not kiss or touch the walls of Khana-e-Kaaba nor the walls of Hateem
(a semi-circle structure about 4 feet in height, also known as
Hajr-e-Ismaeel/Hateem).
In order to safeguard that one does not go out of the Tawaaf limit
(because the Haram has been recently expanded and, it is possible that
Tawaaf line may have been extended without taking into
considerationthe original Tawaaf markings) one should remain as close
to the walls of Khana-e-Kaaba and particularly Hateem as possible
without touching them because the walls of Khana-e-Kaaba are built a
little inside the original foundation of Khana-e-Kaaba.
Concerning Women:
A woman who is in menses when she wears or is already wearing Ihraam
of Umrah has to wait until her period ends to perform Ghusl and
fulfill her obligationsif there is enough time for her to complete the
Umrah.
If the period continues until the time of wearing the Ihraam of
Hajj-e-Tamattu, there are two options open to her:
1. If the menses start when she is wearing Ihraam then the Niyyat
should be changed from Umra-e-Tamattu to Hajj-e-Ifrad (Individual).
After fulfilling the required rituals of Hajj-e-Ifrad she has to
perform, if there is an opportunity,Umra-e-Mufrida with a Niyyat of
Wajib.
2. If her monthly period commences when she isalready in the state of
Ihraam then she has the choice either to perform Hajj-e-Ifrad as in
(1) or complete the acts of the Umra-e-Tamattu without Tawaaf and its
Namaz. She would wear Ihraamfor Hajj-e-Tamattu and when she comes back
from Mina after completing other rituals, perform her Tawaaf of Umrah
before that of Hajj. In case the bleeding does not stop even after
returning from Mina, she has to appoint some one as her agent to
complete a Tawaaf on her behalf and complete the other rituals
herself.
Compulsory matters in Tawaaf:
1. One must be in Taharat,i.e. Wudhu or Ghusl.
2. The clothes of Ihraam must be free from Najasat. Even a dot of
blood, which is normally allowed in prayers, is not allowed in Tawaaf.
3. One must have been circumcised.
4. The body must be adequately clothed so as to hide the genital
organs, as required in prayers.
5. The Ihraam clothes must be Mubah (not Ghasbi), i.e. must be free
from all financial obligations and debts inclusive of Khums and
Zakaat. Rules of doubts in Tawaaf:
1. If the doubt occurs after the Tawaaf is overabout the number of the
circles around the Khana-e-Kaaba, no attention is to be paid to it and
the Tawaaf is correct.
2. If the doubt is about the number of circles around the
Khana-e-Kaaba, i.e. whether a certain circle is the sixth or the last
one, the fifth or the sixth one and so on, the whole Tawaaf will be
considered invalid and should be repeated.
3. In case one is certain ofwalking seven times, but doubts whether
some additional ones are made or not, he need not pay any attention to
his doubt except if the doubt is before completing the last circle
around the Khana-e-Kaaba, in which case, apparently,the whole Tawaaf
will be in-valid. He should perform it again. Tawaaf boundaries:
1. The Tawaaf should be performed outside the walls of Khana-e-Kaaba
and the C shaped wall of Hajr-e-Ismaeel.
2. One should not pass over the protected dwarf walls of the
Khana-e-Kaaba or touch the wall of Hajr-e-Ismaeel or stretch hands
over it. If this is done, that part Tawaaf is invalid and one has to
return to theplace where the mistake was made and after completion the
whole Tawaaf needs to be repeated. Muwalaat: All the seven rounds
should be completed one after the other without stopping.
Mustahabaat/Recommended of Tawaaf:
1. To read Zikr, Qur'an or Duas during Tawaaf. For details refer to
Manasik-e-Hajj.
2. To salute Hajar-e-Aswadwhen reaching in line with it on every round
with the hands raised towards it and saying, "BISMILLAHI ALLAHU AKBAR"
.
3. To be barefooted.
4. To take short steps.
5. To walk with complete ease and peace of mindand with full
reverence:neither too fast nor tooslow.
6. To avoid all the forbidden things in Namaz.
7. To do Tawaaf during Zohr.
8. If possible close eyes during Tawaaf.
9. To be as near the Khana-e-Kaaba as possible without violating the
rules mentioned earlier.
03. Salaat Al-Tawaaf/Prayer of Tawaaf: It is the third compulsory act
of Umrah.It consists of two Rak'ats like that of morning prayers. It
must be prayed immediately afterthe Tawaaf near Makam-e-Ibrahim.
To omit this prayer invalidates one's Hajj because it will also cause
the invalidity of Sayee, which depends on the validity of the prayer
of Tawaaf.
If this prayer is forgotten and is remembered after Sayee it has to be
said then without needing to make Sayee again, although it is better
to doanother Sayee. If one remembers it during the Sayee should leave
the Sayee and say the prayer and then complete his Sayee from the
point he had left. In case one remembers it when he is out of Makkah
he must come back to complete it in the prescribed place. Ifthis is
not possible, then he has to do it at the place it is remembered.
Intention (Niyyat) can be expressed in these words: "I pray the two
Rakaat Salaat Al-Tawaaf for Umra-e-Tamattu Hajjatul Islam Wajib
Qurbatan ilallaah."
Salaat Al-Tawaaf can be prayed either audibly (Jahri) or in whisper (ikhfati).
03. Sayee: It is the fourth compulsory act of the Umrah. If it is
omitted intentionally, it causes the Hajj to become void, regardless
of whether one knows this rule or not.
Sayee means walking from Safa to Marwah andback seven times. Thus the
walk begins at Safa and ends at Marwah. Starting from Safa one should
walk to Marwah and this constitutes one walk, from Marwah back to Safa
the second and soon up to seven walks finally ending at Marwah.Sayee
must be performedafter Tawaaf and its prayers. During Sayee it is
necessary to face the direction one is going towards else it becomes
invalid. But there is no harm in turning a bit on either side.
Sayee and its prayer mustnot be delayed after Tawaaf without a valid
reason. Nevertheless in case of severe heat or tiredness it can be
postponed till nightfall but not until the next day.
In general the rule of doubts about the numberof movements of Sayee
isthe same as those of the circles of walking aroundthe Kaaba, i.e., a
doubt about its number tendersit invalid and has to be performed
again.
Intention (Niyyat) can be expressed in these words: "I walk from Safa
to Marwah, and Marwah to Safa seven times for Umra-e-Tamattu for
Hajjatul Islam Wajib Qurbatan ilallaah."
It is better to ascend and descend the mountains of Safa and Marwah on
each movement. Also it is better to be in Tahaarat but it is not
Wajib.
One who cannot make Sayee himself or on somebody's shoulder or on a
hand carriage, can appoint an agent to do Sayee on his behalf.
It is allowed to rest for a short period at Safa or Marwah. At a
certain distant between Safa andMarwah, between the two Minarets
decked by green light, it is Mustahab for men to trot (like jogging)
and for women to walk faster. This action is known as Harwala.
Mustahabaat/Recommended of Sayee:
1. To be with Tahaarat i.e.Wudhu or Ghusl.
2. Before performing Sayee to kiss or make salaam to Hajar-e-Aswad.
3. Before performing Sayee to drink the water of Zamzam and pour it on
one's body.
4. To proceed to Safa for Sayee through the doorfacing Hajar-e-Aswad
called Babus-Safa.
5. To go with peace of mind and reverence.
6. To climb the steps of Safa and to kiss the corner of the stone of Safa.
7. To thank the Almighty and praise Him and remember His kindness.
8. To read Duas and Zikr during the walk. For Duas refer Manasik-e-Hajj.
05. Taqseer or Halaq: It is the fifth compulsory act of Umrah and
means cutting some nails of hands or feet or the hairsof head, beard
or moustache.
Intention (Niyyat) can be expressed in these words: "I perform
taqseerto become MUHIL (To make Halaal for myself whatever was
forbidden for me during Ihraam) from Ihraam of Umra-e-Tamattu for
Hajjatul IslamWajib Qurbatan ilallaah."
The only prescribed way to legally come out of thestate of Ihraam of
Umra-e-Tamattu is Taqseer. To shave one's head is forbidden at this
juncture. In case one shaves the head, the expiation is one sheep, if
it is done willfully and knowingly. However, it ismustahab to expiate
even if done by error. It is not necessary to do Taqseer immediately
after Sayee. One is allowed to do it anywhere he wants. If Taqseer is
omitted willfully, one's Umra-e-Tamattu becomes void and, apparently,
his Hajj becomes Hajj-e-Ifrad (Individual Hajj). As a result he has to
complete another individual Umrah after this and ihtiyatan perform
another Hajj the following year.
If it is omitted because offorgetfulness and one has worn Ihraam for
Hajj,his Umrah will be valid and ihtiyatan one sheep should be given
in expiation.
Tawaaf-Un-Nisa:
Tawaaf-Un-Nisa (The Tawaaf of Women) is not an essential part of
Umra-e-Tamattu, but if desired it can be performed in addition to the
other rituals of Umrah with the Niyyat of Ihtiyat (Raza-e-Mattlubi).