Walk the sacred journey step by step — from putting on the Ihram at the Miqat to the Farewell Tawaf. Learn the order, the meaning and the dua said at every station.
Hajj (Arabic: الحج) is the annual pilgrimage to Makkah, the fifth and final pillar of Islam, prescribed upon every adult Muslim of sound mind and means at least once in a lifetime. The Quran states: "And [due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House — for whoever is able to find thereto a way." (Quran 3:97). It is performed during the first two weeks of Dhul-Hijjah, the twelfth month of the Islamic Hijri calendar, culminating in the sacred Day of Arafah on the 9th.
Scholars recognise three valid modes for performing Hajj. The pilgrim chooses according to time, means and the school of fiqh he or she follows.
Hajj is not a tourist itinerary — it is a five-day retreat with the soul. Every station carries a prophetic memory. At the Miqat, the pilgrim sheds wealth, status and rank for identical white cloth. At the Ka'bah, every Tawaf turns the believer's life around a single divine centre. At Safa and Marwah, we walk in the footsteps of Hajar, the trusting mother whose desperate search for water became a permanent ritual. At Arafah, the Prophet ﷺ said: "Hajj is Arafah" — the entire pilgrimage condensed into one afternoon of dua. At Muzdalifah, beneath the open sky, the pilgrim sleeps as he or she will be buried — without luxury, on the bare earth. At the Jamarat, every pebble is a renewed rejection of Shaytan, re-living the obedience of Ibrahim ﷺ. At the Sacrifice, the pilgrim offers what is dearest in submission. And at the Farewell Tawaf, the changed pilgrim leaves as a child returns from home — newer, lighter, and forgiven.
No day in the year is more sacred than the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah — Yawm Arafah. The Prophet ﷺ said: "There is no day on which Allah frees more of His slaves from Hellfire than the Day of Arafah." (Sahih Muslim 1348). For pilgrims, it is a single afternoon spent on a wide plain twenty kilometres east of Makkah, beneath the Mountain of Mercy. For Muslims elsewhere, fasting on this day expiates the sins of the previous and following year.
Beyond the rituals themselves, intending pilgrims must prepare in several dimensions: physically (walking, hydration, vaccination), financially (lawful, debt-free wealth), legally (visa, mahram for women per their school's ruling), and most importantly spiritually: making sincere taubah, settling disputes, asking forgiveness from those wronged, writing a will, and arriving with a heart open to transformation. The pilgrim who returns from a Hajj Mabrur — an accepted pilgrimage — comes back, in the words of the Prophet ﷺ, "as on the day his mother gave him birth" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1521): completely cleansed.
Umrah ("the lesser pilgrimage") is performed any time of year and consists of Ihram, Tawaf, Sa'i and shaving/trimming — typically four to six hours. Hajj is the full five-day pilgrimage performed in Dhul-Hijjah, including the stations at Mina, Arafah, Muzdalifah and the Jamarat. Hajj is obligatory once in a lifetime; Umrah is highly recommended.
The 9th of Dhul-Hijjah 1447 AH corresponds to approximately Friday, 27 May 2026. Final dates depend on the official moon sighting in Saudi Arabia.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Hajj is Arafah." A pilgrim who arrives even briefly during the official window (after Dhuhr on the 9th until Fajr of the 10th) has caught it. One who misses the entire window has missed Hajj that year and must make it up.
The four classical schools differ. The majority view (Hanafi, Hanbali) requires a mahram. The Shafi'i and Maliki view permits a woman to travel for obligatory Hajj in the company of a trustworthy group of women. Modern fatwa councils in many countries — including Saudi Arabia since 2021 — also permit women aged 45+ in safe groups. Consult your local scholar.