Ten common mistakes during Hajj and Umrah by
pilgrims
Performing Umrah or Hajj are extremely
important, but whilst the emotions are high, many of us end up doing or
believing in acts which are man-made and have no basis in the Qur’an or the
Sunnah. Here are ten (10) common mistakes which we should all make sure not to
get into and advice others not to do so too.
Mistake
#1. Thinking that du’a is accepted at first glance of the Ka’bah:
Many people have the wrong notion that the
first time they look at the Ka’bah, any du’a that they
make will be answered. Not true! This has no evidence from the Sharee’ah. And
any hadeeth that one may find regarding this matter is either extremely weak
or fabricated. When asked about du’a being accepted at the first sight of
the Ka’bah, Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd replied:
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 Allah knows best.
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. So a large number of people try to “kiss” it from far away.
When they are line with 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. Besides being wrong, stopping
the flow of tawaf causes disruption and unnecessary crowding in that area, and
a LOT of inconvenience to fellow Haajis (pilgrims).
“Distance kissing” is not from the Sunnah
of course. 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 it.
It was narrated that Abu Tufayl (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) performing Tawaaf around the House, touching the corner
[where the Stone is] with a crooked staff which he had with him, then kissing
the staff. [Muslim, 1275]
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed Tawaaf
on his camel, and every time he came to the corner [where the Stone is] he
would point to it and say “Allaahu akbar.” [al-Bukhari, 4987]
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 Allah Akbar and move on. No facing the Ka’bah, no
“distance kissing”, no stopping dead in your tracks. Keep moving and don’t
disrupt the flow of the tawaaf.
Mistake
#3. Shouting out duas in unison
Some people shout at the top of their voices,
in unison, while making du’a during tawaaf. They follow an imam or a
leader who says out different duas aloud, and then the followers all
repeat after him in unison. This causes a lot of confusion and disturbs
others engaged in their own duas, making them lose focus and khushoo‘.
And obviously, it is also not befitting that one should shout and raise his
voice in a place so sacred as the Harram.
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 du’a, in your
own language, from your own heart. This will give you
better concentration and satisfaction. Plan your
duas ahead of time, repeat them to yourself, with humility and khushoo‘. After
all, you’re making du’a 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 du’a #1 to be read for round #1 and so
on. This is not something from the Sharee’ah. The Prophet (Sal Allaahu
Alaiyhi wa sallam) did not recite any specific du’a in any of
the rounds, and neither did his companions. If there was such a thing,
then he would have told us about it, and he would have done so himself first.
The only du’a that he did specify during
Tawaaf, was when he reached at the end of each circuit between the Yemeni
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.)
So the right thing to do in each round is to
make sincere du’a from your heart about whatever it is that you make du’a to
Allah for, in whatever language you like, in whatever words that you feel
comfortable in, until you come to the Yamani (third) corner where you can say
the above du’a prescribed in the Sunnah.
Think about it. If you’re reading something
from a book, in a language that you don’t understand, would that have the
same effect on you or the same impact on your du’a as compared to something
that you do understand? Imagine the power of the du’a that
comes from deep within your heart and its effect. You are the one who knows
your problems…you are the one who is afflicted…you are the one beseeching your
Lord and He’s the One who knows what you’re asking for.
And even if you did understand the duas, it
would still be something not prescribed in the Sunnah.
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 you were doing an entire Hajj or Umrah on
someone’s behalf, then the tawaf would be automatically be on the other
person’s behalf anyway. 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. Hair Cut after Saee:
People start cutting their hair in as soon as
they complete their Umrah at the end of Saee on Marwa Mountain. They cut their
hair from 2,3 places and consider that they are done with Umrah.
The correct way of doing this is to go to
proper barber and ask him to cut your hair from all over the head. Cutting your
hair from 2,3 places on the head does not relieve you from the conditions of
the Ahram.
There are some people who, when they have
finished saa’i, if they cannot find anyone to shave their heads or cut their
hair, they go back to their houses and exit ihraam, and put on regular clothes,
then they shave their heads or cut their hair after that. This is a serious
mistake, because a person cannot exit ihraam without shaving his head or
cutting his hair, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said, when during the Farewell Pilgrimage he commanded those of his companions
who had not brought a hadiy (sacrificial animal) to make it ‘Umrah, and he
said,
Let him cut his hair then exit ihraam. [Bukhaari, 1691; Muslim, 1229]
This indicates that one cannot exit ihraam
until after cutting the hair.
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 wrong.
All we do when we stone these Jamaraat is
an act of remembering Allah, following the
Messenger of Allah (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) as an act of worship.
That’s it. 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 Maqaame 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’ah of
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 Allah and His
Messenger (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) have prescribed, and
NOT from 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 Allah 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. Wearing Ihraam below wasit-line:
Men wearing Ihraam below
their waist lines is a serious mistake. Since, as a result, the area
below the belly button is exposed to every one. This is the private area and
every Muslim has the responsibility to hide it from others. It is not
appropriate to pray even Salah if this area is exposed.
These are just ten mistakes, sadly there are
others too. Brothers and sisters, check with reliable sources what to do and
what not to do during Umrah and Hajj. You wouldn’t want your worship to go to
waste since you didn’t pay attention to the details.
May Allah help us in our acts of worship to be
from the Qur’ān and the Sunnah.
Sources
http://muslimcouncil.org.hk/10-common-mistakes-do-hajj-and-umrah-by-pilgrims/
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