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The guide

Most people perform Hajj once.

They arrive having read a booklet on the plane, and spend five days quietly unsure whether they are doing it right. This is the guide we wanted to exist: the whole pilgrimage in plain language, in order, with the differences between the schools stated rather than smoothed over.

Before you read any of this

Safe Daira is a technology company, not a religious authority. This guide is a plain-language summary of the widely-agreed structure of the rites, written so that a first-time pilgrim knows what happens and when. It is not a fatwa and it does not settle disputed questions. Where the schools of law differ we say so rather than picking one. For anything that affects the validity of your Hajj, ask a qualified scholar or the guide travelling with your group.

Six parts

Start anywhere. Most people start with the day-by-day.

Ihram, the mawaqit, and what to have on youBefore you goThe decisions that are hard to undo: which form of Hajj you are performing, where your ihram begins, and what the state of ihram restricts.7 min readSeven steps, in orderUmrah, step by stepThe lesser pilgrimage in full: ihram, tawaf, the two rak‘ah, Zamzam, sa‘i and cutting the hair. Year-round, and as the first half of Tamattu‘.6 min read8 to 13 Dhul HijjahHajj, day by dayWhat happens on each of the five days, where you will be, what is performed there, and what tends to go wrong. The spine of the whole guide.12 min readWhat is essential, what is owed, what is extraArkan, Wajibat and SunanMiss a rukn and the Hajj is not valid. Miss a wajib and you owe a sacrifice. Miss a sunnah and nothing is owed. The difference, explained clearly.9 min readEvery site, and why it mattersThe placesThe sacred sites of Makkah, the Mashair and Madinah: what is performed at each, and the history that makes standing at the rest worth something.15 min readAnd how to put them rightCommon mistakesThe errors first-time pilgrims actually make, why each one is easy to make, and what to do about it, including the one that kills people every year.7 min read
First decision

Which of the three are you performing?

Your operator has almost certainly already chosen for you, and for most pilgrims travelling from outside the Haram boundary the answer is Tamattu‘. It is still worth knowing which one you are in, because it changes when you enter ihram and whether a sacrifice is due.

Tamattu‘

Enjoyment

Umrah first, leave ihram, then enter ihram again for Hajj.

You enter ihram for Umrah at the miqat, perform tawaf and sa‘i, cut your hair and leave the state of ihram entirely. You then live normally in Makkah until 8 Dhul Hijjah, when you enter ihram again for Hajj. This is the most common form for pilgrims travelling from outside the Haram boundary, and it is what most operators plan around. A hady (a sacrificial animal) is required.

A hady (sacrifice) is required

Qiran

Combining

One ihram covering both Umrah and Hajj, without leaving it in between.

You enter ihram intending both Umrah and Hajj together and remain in ihram continuously until the rites of Hajj are complete. It is demanding, because the restrictions of ihram apply for the entire period. A hady is required.

A hady (sacrifice) is required

Ifrad

Singling out

Hajj alone, with no Umrah in the same journey.

You enter ihram for Hajj only and remain in ihram until the rites are complete. No hady is required. This is the usual form for residents of Makkah and those inside the miqat boundary.

No hady required

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Madinah: the Green Dome over the Prophet’s chamber, the main minaret and the mosque facade under a clear sky.
Photo: Kaliper1 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
18 places

Not everywhere asks something of you.

Roughly half the places a pilgrim passes through have no rite attached at all. You are not required to do anything at Jabal an-Nur, or at Uhud, or at Masjid al-Qiblatayn. You are simply standing somewhere that mattered, and unless somebody tells you why, you will photograph it and move on.

That is the half of the guide the band exists to deliver, because it is the half you cannot look up while you are standing in it.

Every place, and why it matters
The band

The guide, on your wrist, without a phone.

Everything here is on the device. It knows where you are standing, tells you what is performed there, and when nothing is, tells you what the place is instead, in your language, without a screen to read.