Some common mistakes during Hajj and Umrah - by Sister Asma bint Shameem

The noble Sahabi, Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said,
"People used to ask the Prophet (Sal Allaahu
Alaiyhi wa sallam) about good things, but I used to
ask him about bad things because I was afraid that
they might overtake me."
What a beautiful example to follow. And thus, on a
similar note, I have listed some of the extremely
common mistakes that scores of people make, year
after year, so that we can be wary of them and
protect and prevent ourselves from making them.
This way our Hajj will be closest to the Sunnah, bi
idhnillaah, and insha Allaah acceptable to Allaah.
Mistake # 1. Thinking that dua is accepted when
they first look at the Ka'bah:
Many people have this wrong notion that the first
time they look at the Ka'bah, any dua that they
make will be answered for sure. This is not true as
this has no evidence from the Sharee'ah. And any
'hadeeth' that you may find regarding this matter,
is either extremely weak or fabricated. When asked
about dua being accepted at the first sight of the
Ka'bah, Shaykh Sa'd al-Humayd repied:
"This is not true; there has to be evidence for this
to be true, because acts of worship should only be
based on evidence. And that evidence must be
saheeh in and of itself and it should be clear and
unambiguous. And Allaah knows best." (Shaykh
Sa'd al-Humayd)
Mistake # 2. "Kissing" the black stone from far
away and stopping in mid-tawaaf to do so:
Kissing the black stone is a beautiful Sunnah, and
an honor indeed for the one who is able to do so.
However, due to the immense crowds, a very large
number of people are not able to reach it. In fact, it
is quite impossible. So a large number of people try
to "kiss' it from far away. When they come parallel
to the black stone, they stop dead in their tracks in
mid-tawaaf, stand facing the black stone, put up
both hands on the side of their head and "kiss" the
black stone in mid air, as if the black stone is right
in front of them. Or they throw 'flying kisses' at the
black stone from far away, by kissing their hands
and then 'throwing' these kisses in the direction of
the black stone. Also, their stopping dead in their
tracks like this and standing still, in the middle of
the tawaaf, causes disruption of the flow of the
tawaaf, unnecessary crowding in that area, and a
LOT of inconvenience to their fellow Haajis.
All this is not from the Sunnah. All the Prophet (Sal
Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) did while doing tawaaf,
was to kiss the black stone if he easily could do so,
or touch it with his hand and kiss his hand. BUT,
when there was a crowd, all he did was point to it
from far away and say "Allaahu Akbar". That's all.
And that's what we need to do. If you are far away
from the black stone, all you do is to point to it
with your right hand, say Allaah Akbar and move
on. No facing the Ka'bah, no 'flying kisses', no
stopping dead in your tracks. Keep moving and
don't disrupt the flow of the tawaaf.
"It should be noted that the tawaaf remains
perfectly valid without kissing the Black Stone. If
one does not or cannot kiss the Black Stone. it is
sufficient simply to point to it, saying "Allahu
Akbar" when one comes parallel to it, although one
may be at a distance from it." (Fataawa ibn Baaz)
Mistake # 3. Shouting out duas in unison
Some people shout on top of their voices all in a
group while making dua during tawaaf. They follow
an imaam or a leader who makes the different duas
and they all repeat after him, shouting all together
in a group. This causes a lot of confusion and
disturbs others in their own duas, and makes them
lose focus and not have proper khushoo'. And
obviously, it is also not befitting that one should
shout and raise his voice in a place so sacred as
the Haram.
The right thing to do is to know, before you go for
tawaaf, the duas that you will be making, the
Qur'aan you will be reciting, etc. so that you don't
have to follow anybody. Rather you will be making
your own dua, in your own language, from your
own heart. This will give you better concentration
and satisfaction. Plan your duas ahead of time so
that there will be no confusions etc. and say them
to yourself quietly, with humility and khushoo'.
After all, you're making dua to the One Who hears
all and sees all.
The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) said:
"Each one of you is conversing with his Lord, so do
not disturb one another or raise your voices over
one another when reading" - or he said, "when
praying." (Abu Dawood, saheeh by al-Albaani)
Mistake # 4. Designating specific duas for specific
rounds:
There are some people who make specific duas for
each round and there are even books that have
specific duas written for each specific round, with
dua # 1 to be read for round # 1 and so on. This is
something that's NOT from the Sharee'ah. The
Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) did not
recite any specific dua in any of the rounds, and
neither did his companions. If there was such a
thing he would have told us about it and he would
have done so himself.
The only dua that he did specify during Tawaaf,
was when he reached at the end of each circuit
between the Yamani Corner and the Black Stone,
and he would say:
"Rabbana atina' fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil-
akhirati hasana wa qina adhaban-nar. "
(Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in
the Hereafter and save us from the punishment of
the Fire.)
The above the dua is the only dua that is specified.
So the thing to do in each round is to make sincere
dua from your heart about whatever it is that you
make dua to Allaah for, in whatever language you
like, in whatever words that you feel comfortable
in,, until you come to the Yamani (third) corner and
then say the above Sunnah dua.
Think about it. If you're reading something fro a
book, in a language that you don't understand,
would that have the same effect on you or the
same impact on your dua as compared to
something that you do understand? Imagine the
power of the dua that comes from deep within your
heart and its effect. You're the one who knows
your problems.....you're the one who is
afflicted....you're the one beseeching your Lord and
He's the One who knows what you're asking for.
And just think.....Subhaan Allaah.....this is the
Ka'bah. This is Allaah's House and now is the time
for you to make sincere dua and have it accepted.
Are you going to waste this opportunity in reading
something from a book that you don't even
understand? Or say something that does not come
form your heart?
And even if you did understand the duas, yet it
would still be wrong. Because the Prophet (Sal
Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) didn't tell us to make
any specific duas. And if we were to specify a
specific dua for every specific round, then it comes
under adding to our deen.
And the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam)
said: "Whoever introduces into our matter (our
religion) that which is not a part of it, will have it
rejected." (Bukhari, Muslim)
This indicates that whoever follows his desire and
"invents" or "adds" to the religion of Allah what is
not a part of the religion, or what is not in
conformity to the ways of the Prophet (Sal Allaahu
Alaiyhi wa sallam), then this innovation is rejected
and is NOT ACCEPTED by Allaah.
Mistake # 5. Doing TAWAAF on someone else's
behalf:
Many people make this mistake. They
circumambulate the Ka'bah 7 times and then they
donate the reward of this tawaaf to their loved
ones, their family members or their relatives who
have passed away. Also, when people go for Hajj or
Umrah, their relatives and friends specifically ask
them to "do one tawaaf on their behalf". This is not
valid and there is no evidence for its permissibility.
You see, Tawaaf is a kind of prayer and you cannot
pray on someone else's behalf. Can you? Similarly,
you cannot do just tawaaf by itself on someone
else's behalf either. However, if they were doing an
entire Hajj or Umrah on their behalf, then and only
then is it valid as part of that Umrah or Hajj. But
to do tawaaf by itself, meaning 7 rounds around
the Ka'bah and donating the reward to someone
else is not correct.
Shaykh ibn Baaz said: "Tawaaf around the Ka'bah
cannot be done by proxy, so no one can do tawaaf
on behalf of someone else, unless he is doing Hajj
or 'Umrah on his behalf, in which case he may do it
on his behalf along with the rest of Hajj or
'Umrah." (Fataawa Ibn Baaz)
What the best thing to do is to do as many tawaaf
as you can for your own self. Tawaaf is an Ibaadah
that cannot be done anywhere else except Makkah
and this is a golden opportunity.
Mistake # 6. Going to Tan'eem again and again for
multiple Umrahs:
Some people perform multiple Umrahs after
finishing their own, going outside Makkah either to
Masjid Aaisha (Tan'eem) or other meeqaat points,
put on a new Ihraam and repeat Umrahs again and
again. Some of them do an Umrah a day, some
even more! This is also NOT from the Sunnah. And
NOT the practice of the Sahaabah.
If it was good to do multiple Umrahs all in one trip,
surely the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam)
would have done so himself and the Sahaabah
would have done so too. But we see that although
the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) stayed
in Mecca for 19 days after the conquest of Mecca,
yet he did NOT leave Mecca to do `Umrah, even
though he could have easily done so.
Sheikh al-`Uthaymeen said: "Ibn Taymiyah
mentions that the Salaf are agreed that making
multiple `Umrahs is disliked. In any case, leaving
Mecca and going to the boundary of the sacred
precincts to make a second or third `Umrah is an
unfounded practice that was unknown during the
time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The only
exception to this was the case where `A'ishah
sought permission to make a single `Umrah after
Hajj because of special circumstances. If it was
generally recommended to leave Mecca to perform
`Umrah in this way, the Prophet (peace be upon
him) would have encouraged his Companions to do
so."
Actually, instead of making multiple Umrahs, the
better thing to do and the worship that will earn
more rewards, bi idhnillaah, is to perform as many
tawaaf as you can for yourself. Like I said before,
tawaaf is an Ibaadah that cannot be done
anywhere else except Makkah and this is a golden
opportunity.
Ibn Taymiyah said: "The Salaf agree that
performing voluntary tawaaf is superior to going to
al-Tan`îm or to the boundaries of the sacred
precincts and making `Umrah. [Majmu` al-Fataawa]
Mistake # 7. Thinking that the Jamaraat are
Shayaateen:
When some people go to stone the Jamaraat, they
think they are going to stone the devils. In fact,
they think they are stoning Iblees himself! They
even call this ritual, "stoning the SHAYTAAN". That
is NOT TRUE. The Jamaraat are NOT shayaateen
and to call the Jamaraat "Shayateen" is also not
correct.
All we do when we stone these Jamaraat is an act
of remembering Allaah, following the Messenger of
Allaah(Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) as an act of
worship.
That's all.
No need to get emotional, no need to cuss at the
Jamaraat, no need to push and shove.
Mistake # 8. Touching or wiping over the Ka'bah,
any part of Masjid al-Haraam or Masji an-Nabawi:
Some people try and touch any part of the Ka'bah
or Maqaam Ibraaheem, thinking that there is
blessing or barakah in it. Or they touch or wipe
their hands on the different parts of Masjid al-
Haraam or Masjid an-Nabawi, and then they wipe
over themselves, thinking that this is something
good or it will be source of blessing for them. But
again, this is another act with no basis in the
Sharee'ahof Islam. The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi
wa sallam) did not touch any part of Ka'bah except
the Black Stone and the Yemeni Corner. If it was
good, he would have done so. But he didn't and so
we don't either.
Dear brother/sister, just think about it. Blessings
come from following what Allaah and His
Messenger (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) have
prescribed, and NOT from touching this or rubbing
that or following innovations.
Mistake # 9. Thinking that praying forty prayers in
Madeenah is compulsory:
Some people think that you have to complete forty
prayers in the Prophet's Masjid and that this is
necessary and part of Hajj. It's not.
This is based on a weak hadeeth.
Neither is it necessary to complete forty prayers
there nor is visiting Madeenah a part of Hajj.
Obviously it is good if you can spend as much time
as you can in Madeenah and pray as much as you
can in Masjid an-Nabawi. But to think that one has
to complete forty prayers there is not correct. You
can pray one day or one hour or one month or
whatever is according to your hajj program. It does
not have to be forty prayers.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz said: "With regard to the
widespread idea that the visitor should stay for
eight days so that he can offer forty prayers in the
Mosque is wrong. Although it says in some
ahaadeeth "Whoever offers forty prayers therein
Allaah will decree that he is safe from the Fire and
free from hypocrisy," this hadeeth is da'eef
according to the scholars and cannot be taken as
proof or relied upon. There is no set limit for
visiting the Prophet's Mosque. If a person visits for
an hour or two, or a day or two, or for more than
that, there is nothing wrong with that." (Fataawa
Ibn Baaz)
Mistake # 10. 'Touching Safa or Marwah every
time they come to it
As you can imagine, the mountains of Safa and
Marwah are not what they used to be at the time
of Ibraheem Alayhi salaam. The Saudi government
has smoothed out the rocks, the rugged terrain and
original mountain structure to a smooth marble
floor so as to make it easy for the Hujjaaj to climb
and walk on it. However there is a small part of the
original mountain that is preserved for us to see
how things were originally and it can still be seen
behind a glass enclosure. What some people think
is that they HAVE to touch that original part of
mount Safa or Marwah every time they come to it
while doing Sa'ee. They think that its part of the
ritual of Sa'ee and that their Sa'ee would not be
complete if they didn't touch it or climb on it. And
if they can't touch the mountain itself, they touch
the glass in front of mount Safa or Marwah, as if
'touching base', every, single time they come to it
during Sa'ee.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is Sa'ee, not
baseball. There's no need to 'touch' the glass or
the mountain as long as you climb up on Safa or
Marwah and make it a complete circuit.
Mistake # 11. Praying two rakah upon the
completion of Sa'ee
This is something that I have recently started
noticing. Some brothers and sisters pray two
rakaah on 'completion' of their Sa'ee thinking it is
part of the rituals of Hajj.
There's no such thing in the Sunnah.
Once you complete the seven circuits between Safa
and Marwah, you make dua and then end your
Ihraam when you're doing Umrah, by cutting your
hair. There's no two rakaah specified to be read at
the end of Sa'ee on Marwah in the Sharee'ah.
We need to follow the best example of the one who
showed us the 'manaasik' of Hajj and Umrah, i.e.
the Prophet (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam) and
what he did was enough and plenty for us. No need
to add or subtract anything from his guidance.