How to perform Umrah?

Umrah is a set of activities that include the Tawaf and the Saeee between Mount Safa and Marwah. The one who performs Umrah has to enter into the state of Ihram and has to cut or shave hair while leaving the Ihram.

Fard acts of Umrah

There are 4 fard acts of Umrah. If you miss any of the Fard acts of performing Umrah, your Umrah is not performed. In fact, you would be penalized for that if you have done it without any excuse.

1. Entering the state of Ihram.
2. Performing Tawaf of the Holy Kaaba.
3. Performing Saee between the mounts of Safa and Marwa. 
4. Performing the Qasr or cutting your hair.

Sunnah acts of Umrah

Sunnah Acts of Umrah are 3 in number. 

1. To start the tawaf from the black stone i.e. Hajr-e-Aswad.
2. During Tawaf-e-Qudoom or Tawaf-e-Ziyarat perform Ramal. Recommended: How to do Ramal?
3. Running among the two green lights during Saee of Mount Safa and Marwa.

Wearing Ihram

If you want to perform Umrah, you must be wearing Ihram at the time of crossing the Meeqat. Wearing Ihram is one of the fard acts to perform Umrah.

• 8 Miqat Locations to wear Ihram for Umrah

Men cannot wear anything like undergarments, hats, turbans, or so. They cannot cut their hair or nails or kill living beings.

• 6 things that are Haram for people wearing Ihram

Dua for Wearing Ihram

Once you have entered the state of Ihram and made an intention to perform Umrah, you should recite Talbiya as much as you can.

• لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ، لَبَّيْكَ لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ، إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ وَالنِّعْمَةَ لَكَ وَالْمُلْكَ لاَشَرِيْكَ لَكَ

Tawaf

Once you reach the Holy Kaaba, make Tawaf around it seven times. Performing Tawaf of the Holy Kaaba is also one of the fard act of Umrah.

Hajr-e-Aswad Dua

You can try to reach the black stone and kiss it. Otherwise, just raise your hands towards Hajr e Aswad every time you cross it and recite this Dua: بسم الله الله أكبر ولله الحم

Rukn Yamani Dua

When you reach the Rukn Yaman of the Holy Kaaba, you should touch it with your right hand (if possible) but do not kiss it. You should recite this Dua when you reach Rukn Yamani: رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الْدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الَأخِرَةِ حَسَنةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ

Ar-Raml

During the first three tawafs, one should speed up the pace of walking by taking small, speedy steps. This act is called Ar-Raml and it is one of the Sunnah acts of Umrah.

Wajib al Tawaf Nafal

Once you are done with the Tawaf, you need to offer 2 rakah of Nafal behind the Maqam-e-Ibrahim. These 2 Nafal are the Wajib acts of Tawaf and one has to perform it with every Tawaf.

Perform Safa and Marwah

In the next step to perform Umrah, you need to perform the act of Saee, i.e., going from Safa to Marwa and Marwa to Safa seven times. The Saee between Safa and Marwa is also one of the fard acts of Umrah.

When you walk from Safa to Marwa, it is counted one and the walk from Marwa to Safa is counted the second. In this way, you will start your Saee from Safa Mount and end it at Marwa Mountain.

Safa Marwa 7 rounds Dua

• Dua when you approach Safa and Marwah: إِنَّ الصَّفَا وَالْمَرْوَةَ مِنْ شَعَآئِرِ اللَّهِ
• Dua after climbing up Safa facing Qiblah: لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ، أَنْجَزَ وَعْدَهُ، وَنَصَرَ عَبْدَهُ، وَهَزَمَ الْأَحْزَابَ وَحْدَهُ
• Dua after climbing up Marwah facing Qiblah: لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ، لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ، أَنْجَزَ وَعْدَهُ، وَنَصَرَ عَبْدَهُ، وَهَزَمَ الْأَحْزَابَ وَحْدَهُ
• Hisn al-Muslim 236

Running between two green lights

While performing Saee between Safa and Marwa when the green lights come, it is a Sunnah for men to run in this area. However, it is not advisable for women to run.

Actually, when Hajar عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ was looking for water to feed Prophet Ismail عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ, she used to run from this area. Allah liked it so much that he made it an integral part of Umrah.

Performing Qasr

Performing the Qasr or cutting your hair. Qasr for men and women are different. Men need to shave their head or cut their hair from the entire head while females have to clip their hair from the bottom.

Performing Qasr is also one of the fard acts of performing Umrah. If you have missed one of the rituals of performing Umrah, you need to offer a sacrifice which is called Damm or Fidya.