Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam — the pilgrimage to the Sacred House in Makkah, obligatory once in a lifetime upon every Muslim who has the physical and financial means to make the journey. It is performed in the month of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, retracing rites that reach back to the Prophet Ibrāhīm ﷺ.
A journey owed once in a lifetime
Allah says of the House, "And pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to Allah by those people who are able to make the journey" (Āl ʿImrān Q 3:97). The duty falls once in a lifetime on the one who is able — sound in body, and possessing lawful means for the travel and for those they leave behind. Beyond that, any further Hajj is a voluntary act of devotion.
Hajj is one of the five pillars that frame a Muslim's life. Its days are a school of humility: pilgrims of every nation stand together in plain cloth, stripped of rank, answering the call of their Lord with a single voice.
Entering the state of iḥrām
Iḥrām is the sacred state of consecration a pilgrim enters before the rites begin. It is entered at a fixed boundary called the mīqāt — a set of appointed places on the routes into Makkah — which no intending pilgrim may cross without having entered iḥrām and made the intention.
For men, the dress is two plain, unsewn white garments: the izār wrapped around the waist and the ridāʾ draped over the shoulders. Women wear their ordinary modest clothing and do not cover the face with a fitted veil in iḥrām. Once in iḥrām, certain acts are set aside — cutting hair or nails, using perfume, hunting, and marital intimacy among them.
One then makes the intention (niyyah) for the pilgrimage in the heart and begins the Talbiyah, the call of the pilgrim that continues throughout the journey to the House.
The stations of Hajj
What follows is the common Tamattuʿ pattern, in which a pilgrim first completes an ʿUmrah, leaves iḥrām for a time, then re-enters it for Hajj. Timings and fine details differ between the schools of law; where they do, follow the guidance of a trusted scholar or your official group. The dates below are of the month of Dhū al-Ḥijjah.
Iḥrām & the Talbiyah
At the mīqāt, the pilgrim enters iḥrām, forms the intention — for the Tamattuʿ pilgrim, the intention for ʿUmrah first — and begins to call out the Talbiyah, raising it aloud all the way to Makkah.
Ṭawāf — seven circuits of the Kaʿbah
On reaching the Sacred Mosque, the pilgrim makes ṭawāf: seven circuits around the Kaʿbah, moving anticlockwise, beginning and ending at the Black Stone. For the Tamattuʿ pilgrim this is the ṭawāf of ʿUmrah; those performing Ifrād or Qirān call their arrival circuit Ṭawāf al-Qudūm. Two units of prayer are offered afterwards, near the Station of Ibrāhīm where possible.
Saʿī between Ṣafā and Marwah
The pilgrim then walks seven times between the two small hills of Ṣafā and Marwah, recalling Hājar's search for water for her son Ismāʿīl. For the Tamattuʿ pilgrim, this completes the ʿUmrah: the hair is then shaved or trimmed and iḥrām is left until the eighth of Dhū al-Ḥijjah.
8th Dhū al-Ḥijjah — to Minā
On the eighth (the Day of Tarwiyah), the Tamattuʿ pilgrim re-enters iḥrām, now with the intention for Hajj, and travels to Minā, spending the day and night there in prayer and remembrance.
9th — Standing at ʿArafah
The ninth is the Day of ʿArafah, the greatest day of the pilgrimage. Pilgrims gather on the plain of ʿArafah until sunset, standing in prayer, supplication and repentance. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Hajj is ʿArafah" — reported by al-Tirmidhī, Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī — for without this standing the pilgrimage is not complete.
Muzdalifah — the night under the open sky
After sunset the pilgrims move to Muzdalifah, where the Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ prayers are joined and the night is spent resting under the open sky. Here they gather the small pebbles they will use for the stoning in the days ahead.
10th — ʿĪd day: stoning, sacrifice, shaving & Ṭawāf al-Ifāḍah
On the tenth — the Day of Sacrifice, the day of ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā — the pilgrim returns toward Minā and stones Jamrat al-ʿAqabah (the largest pillar) with seven pebbles. An animal is then sacrificed (hady / udḥiyah), the head is shaved or the hair trimmed, and the pilgrim performs Ṭawāf al-Ifāḍah, the central ṭawāf of Hajj, followed by the saʿī. The scholars allow some flexibility in the order of these acts on this day.
11th–13th — the Days of Tashrīq
The pilgrim stays in Minā and, on each of these days, stones the three Jamarāt in order — the small, the middle, then the large — with seven pebbles at each. A pilgrim in haste may leave after the twelfth; others complete all three days.
Ṭawāf al-Wadāʿ — the farewell
Before departing Makkah, the pilgrim makes a final Ṭawāf al-Wadāʿ, the farewell circuit of the Kaʿbah, so that the last act of the journey is with the House of Allah.
ʿUmrah in brief
ʿUmrah is the "lesser pilgrimage" and, unlike Hajj, may be performed at any time of year. It consists of entering iḥrām at the mīqāt, making ṭawāf around the Kaʿbah, walking the saʿī between Ṣafā and Marwah, and then shaving or trimming the hair to leave iḥrām. It is greatly beloved but is not a substitute for the obligatory Hajj.
The three types of Hajj
- Tamattuʿ — perform ʿUmrah first, leave iḥrām, then re-enter iḥrām for Hajj in the same season; a sacrifice (hady) is due.
- Qirān — combine ʿUmrah and Hajj together within a single iḥrām, without leaving it in between; a sacrifice is due.
- Ifrād — perform Hajj alone, without a joined ʿUmrah; no sacrifice is required of this pilgrim.
The days of Hajj are days of turning back to Allah. Fill them with the Talbiyah, sincere supplication, and forbearance with fellow pilgrims — the reward of an accepted Hajj is Paradise. You may find supplications to carry with you in our Duʿā library.
This is an overview to help you understand the shape of the pilgrimage, not a complete manual. Before you travel, study the rites in depth with a qualified guide or an organised group, and follow the official Saudi authorities for logistics, routes and timings.