I know, most people have left for Hajj already, but I thought better late then never inshaAllah. InshaAllah even if you are not going to hajj this year read it, find benefit and pass it on. Al-Hajj Al-Mabroor inshaAllah.

One ayah to remember, constantly:
Hajj is [during] well-known months, so whoever has made Hajj obligatory upon himself therein [by entering the state of ihram], there is [to be] no sexual relations and no disobedience and no disputing during Hajj. And whatever good you do – Allah knows it. And take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is fear/rememberence of Allah [taqwa] . And fear Me, O you of understanding. [Baqarah:197]

Videos:
Most people have probably already seen Sh. Muhammad AlShareef’s Hajj Coach Videos. MashaAllah, they are fun and practical. Right after that start a deeper, equally practical study . It’s a (long!) 4 part video series by Br. Ismail Davis, Author of Getting the Best out of Al-Hajj

Some not-so-useful tips from me:

As you leave

Cameras/Camcorders – I’m not going to say don’t take a camera/camcorder, I will say don’t use it….. unless you are walking, out and about and pull it out during that transit. During “down-time” only, or if your really need a change of mood. Once you start it’s hard to stop. Alhamdulillah there are many YouTubes, and pictures online of Makka and Madina!

Phone – Take your tri-band/quad-band SIM card capable phones! Some travel agents will give you a sim card, if not, inshaAllah you can get them for form any store in Makkah, Madina, Jeddah.

No Internet – Put a cool/dawah oriented out-of-office / vacation msg on your personal, school and work emails, and then forget about emails until later. Plus there is not much free internet in Makka/Madina. Don’t waste your money and time (slow connections). Feed the poor instead! Don’t even go close to internet if you are a facebook, twitter addict. Not the right place or time (for most cases).

Quran – Take a pocket-size Quran w/translation. Someone finished 4 juz even before ever arriving at the hotel, with translation! Lots of barakah in the time! You will never get this much “down time” when you come back. Lot of delays in Jeddah and then to Makkah/Madina, take advantage of that time. Also take a Hisnul Muslim with you. Especially memorize the duas for the janazah, traveling, leaving and entering the masjid, etc.

Sleeping bag – It’s a must to take. It has a lot of uses. Don’t get those over-sized ones, just something cheap, small and easy to carry. I personally prefer the fleece kind.

Back pack and Fannie Pack – Both are very invaluable! Get the light string kinda back pack and get the sturdiest Fannie pack.

Money – Don’t be like me! Take more money with you than you expect to use up. Be optimistic, inshaAllah you will not be the .001% whose money is stolen or lost! You will buy more things than you expect to, give more charity than you thought you would…

Leaving with Dua – I am not only talking about the long dua list that Sh. Muhammad recommends (which is great). I am talking about setting out for Hajj and being at peace when doing so. People make up all these fancy duas for leaving on Hajj. Athan for example. I can’t recall if there is an authentic one for leaving for Hajj, but here is the regular dua for leaving your home. It’s powerful! Bismillahi Tawakaltu ‘AlAllah La Hawla wa La Qoowata ilaBillah.

And lots more but don’t want to make it tooooo long…..

General Advice for Makka/Madina:

Don’t pray in the hotel - Some people use the excuse, well all of it is the haram. You didn’t spend $9,999.99 to pray in the hotel. You will get the reward for each and every step to the masjid! Your 1 prayer = 100,000 prayers in Makkah and 1,000 prayers in Madina. Perfect them, pray them shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters in the masjid.

Judge your time – wudu, elevators, walking to the masjid all take time. Don’t be a loser and pray in those crooked lanes in shopping malls, hotel lobbies or way in the end rows. Leave early, and better yet stay in the masjid between prayers. If you leave late you may end up praying on peoples’ backs because of lack of room! If you arrive late do not push around people to try to get more towards the front. Just live with it.

Take the stairs – …Depending on which floor you are on and elevator situation. Burn off all that buffet food, and save time (if you are finding the elevators are always busy)! In Makkah the hotels have too many levels, but in Madina this is do able.

Forsake the room – The hotel is comfy, but don’t stay in there too much. You’ll miss out on the exciting stuff. I don’t mean shopping and sight seeing. I am talking about ibadah and spending time in the masjid. People sleep more in Hajj than they do when they are in their work/school schedule!

Give your loved ones some space – Alone time is so beneficial and productive in Makkah/Madina. Walk with them, call them (requires cell phone), eat with them, even room with them, but in the masjid be by yourself. It’s safe place alhamdulillah. Give your husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and friends some space and alone time.

Smile and shake hands - It’s charity and lots of people are stressed out or sick or tired or having a “bad day.” This will help inshaAllah. But try to wash your hands often!

Charity – SubhanAllah one shaykh was telling me that professional beggars travel to Makkah/Madina in Hajj/Ramadan seasons. But it’s not for you to judge. Here is the trick – carry small bills. This way you can give to more people. There are others who will come behind you to give this person some more money. Also buy from all those street vendors. You’ll get a good deal and you’ll be helping the needy inshaAllah.

Pass out food – Money is not the only thing you can give. My mother would go to one of those cheaper restaurants and buy 10-15 boxes of food daily and pass them out to the needy.While you will be enjoying heavy buffets people will be outside sitting in the dust living on juice boxes (which they discard on the streets!). So if you have leftovers take them and distribute them outside (can be easily done in Mina – shorter distance, no elevators). Better yet buy food and distribute it.

Money exchange – avoid exchanging your money at the hotel lobby. It’s a rip off. There are money exchangers everywhere (called sarf)

Slippers - Lots of times you will not be able to find your slippers. A million shoes within close proximity can easily get mixed up. Take a plastic shopping bag with you and put it in your back pack. Put your slippers in there and put the bag close to you. If for some reason you loose your slippers, don’t spend over 10 minutes looking for them. Just go buy new ones. Optimize your time.

Zamzam – You thought it was only in Makkah. Thanks to the Sauds you can have it in Masjid anNabawi as well. You can basically live on this water, subhanAllah. So start accumulating water bottles from your hotel. Put an empty one in your bag and fill it on your way back to the hotel. Who needs OJ, Ozarka, Coke when there is Zamzam?

Follow your group – It happen to us that we wanted to do Tamatu’ (where you break your ihram between Umrah & Hajj) and we ended up doing Qiran (doing Umrah and Hajj in one ihram) because our group got there soooo late. Yet, those that broke away from the group got lost and didn’t have the support system that the group provides, which was worse than what happened to us.

Janazah – SubhanAllah you will see so many Janazahs. Learn how to pray it. If you are able to, then follow a couple janazahs at least. It’s gonna take time and energy but inshaAllah it will be worth it. Worth 2 mountains of gold reward.

Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: “Whoever attends the Janazah until it is finished, will earn a Qirat, and who ever stays until the burial, will earn two Qirats. Someone asked: What does Qirat mean ? The Prophet answered ‘It means rewards as big as great mountain’” (Bukhari & Muslim)

And lots more but don’t want to make it tooooo long…..

Madina specific

Raudah - In Masjid AnNabawi, Raudah is the area aaaaalll the way in front left of the masjid (men’s side), facing the qiblah. The color of the carpet changes when you get there. Prophet (saw) said that it’s a part of Jannah! Live in Jannah while you are in Madina. It can be hard, you get pushed around (black stone treatment), but once you start our 2 rakah, you are good inshaAllah. Go there in odd hrs, like a couple of hrs before Fajr.

Makkah specific

Hotel ZamZam – If you are staying in ZamZam (nicest, tallest, hugest and closest building to the masjid) then avoid the mall (which is probably 3 levels, including the lobby) at all cost, especially the sisters. They sell all kinds of stuff in haram area, especially in the ZamZam hotel. Play Stations to Jewelry, they have Claires, Nine West, Aldo selling high heels, NEXT selling tight jeans and tshirts to women. All of this a few dozen yards from the door of the greatest masjid! If they were to open an Apple store (may Allah protect us), that would be real fitnah for the brothers. The worst part is that it’s right in front of you while you are going to haram and coming back from the haram. It’s crazy and it’s so close to the haram that lines keep forming until they hit the outside of the hotel and then inside the hotel. I think it’s owned by the _______ family because no one else would think of doing something like this!

The Hijr Ismail - The semi-circular thing on the opposite side of the black stone is part of the kabah! Your tawaf will not be proper if you cross-through the hijr. You have to go all the way around.

Ihram for guys – You are suppose to uncover your right shoulder during tawaf. Unless you are trying to impress sisters with your muscles (wrong place & time!), don’t forget to cover it afterwords, especially during salah!

Duas During Tawaf and Safa/Marwa – Sometimes in crowded placed you are just struggling to protect yourself, your loved ones and figuring out how to keep moving forward. You are not in a quite place all by yourself where duas can be powerful. You cant even close your eyes, but that is the test of Hajj. If you are having trouble concentrating making your personal duas, then have a dua book and while you are reading the duas try to internalize them as much as possible. Also say the names of Allah (swt) and make a dua based on that particular name, i.e. Ar-Razaq, Al-Ghaffar, etc.

Mina

Stay put: There is no reason to go out and tour the place too much or see other peoples’ tents. Just stay in your area, unless you are going to the masjid (far away) or need a change of mood. All tents look alike so it’s easy to get lost, plus one will loose important ibadah time if they wander around.

Ibadah instead of sleeping: No matter what time of the day, there will be people in your camp that are sleeping believe it or not. So take advantage of that quite time by praying, reading, making dua, helping those that need help, etc.

Bathroom/Shower: Most likely your bathroom will be your shower and vice-versa. Before prayers, especially in the morning, the lines are looooong. Avoid the “down time”. Use the restroom/shower and do wudu during non-busy times like non-prayer times or when everybody has hit the sac.

Jamarat: MashaAllah there are multiple levels now and there are sturdy, speedy escalators to take you from floor to floor. Go as high as you can. The crowd will be smaller, therefore stoning will be easier inshaAllah.

Arafah

Forsake your tent because ‘Hajj is Arafah’ – Hajj groups from US will tell you it’s not safe to go to or close to Jabal arRahma, but trust me, you will not have the same power in your dua in your classy tents as you will standing in crowds with your brothers and sisters in the plains of Arafah, close to Jabal arRahma. You will feel the “ummah”more there, and will be more productive there. If you stay in your camp areas, you will find that you are eating/drinking/sleeping too much. Matter of fact 1/3 of my tent was knocked out during these most blessed moments. As far as khutbah, it will be hard to get to the masjid or to it’s parameters for the khutbah. Plus the khutbah will be 100% Arabic. From that prospective the Khutbah in your camp area might be OK, wa Allahu alam.

Muzdalifa

There are two things that people do in Muzdalifa. One group sleeps (I was part of that camp until I read the ayah below) and the other prays and does duroos, etc. It was stressed so much to me that it is the sunnah to sleep in Muzdalifa. We must sleep in Muzdalifa! I did just that, slept for the 2-3 hrs that we has in Muzdalifa. Yet read the ayah below – Muzdalifa is also a place of dhikr. So strike the balance.

“There is no blame upon you for seeking bounty from your Lord [during Hajj by trading]. But when you depart from ‘Arafat, remember Allah at al- Mash’ar al-Haram [Muzdalifa]. And remember Him, as He has guided you, for indeed, you were before that among those astray.” [Baqarah:198]

And lots more but don’t want to make it tooooo long…..

Post Hajj

A litmus test for an accepted Hajj is actually the actions you do after Hajj. Are you the same you or are you now, you version 2.0. Let your Hajj change you inshaAllah. It changed Malcom X.

These are just some thoughts that came to my mind, feel free to correct me. If I said anything good then it was from Allah. If I said anything that was wrong/evil then it was from the whispers of shaytan and my own shortcomings.

when I used to live in Jeddah, in my family’s apartment, in each room, on each wall was an outlet. Each room had a hole in the wall for window style AC. The outlet on this wall in particular was always 220V, for the AC I presume. The outlets on all the other walls were all 110V.

I presume this is the same system throughout Saudi, but if you are staying in a a hotel, then it would be diffferent.

I remember performing Hajj in 2003, and in Mina brothers were constantly searching for outlets to charge their phones, in some cases in the toilets there fans on the walls that needed to be plugged into an outlet to work, so some brothers unplugged them to charge their phones, in some cases they even brought an extension cord for others and to plug the fan back in to keep things cool.

Remember that many times there will be problems with the group. you might find things you did not expect, or promises that were not fulfilled. Don’t waste your time discussing these problems. There are people who spend the entire Hajj days complaining about the shortcomings of the group. Perhaps these shortcomings are a test, so overlook them and don’t try getting your ‘rights’ at that time. The sweetness of Hajj is really manifested in forgiving others and trying your utmost best to abstain from complaining.

If people in your tent spend too much time in idle talk, an ipod can come in handy. you can listen to a motivational lecture (for example, the day before Arafah, have a lecture prepared to listen to on du’aa, this will motivate you to prepare for du’aa on that day) and at the same time no one will come and bother you.

Also, due to the vast differences in knowledge levels of people at the Hajj, you may see or hear some doing or saying things which constitute shirk. Try to gently teach them the correct way, for sometimes they don’t know any better.

As for I.D, they gave out bracelets to all the Hujjaj with the name of their group as well as location in Mina on it, so keep this on inshaAllah.

I really second performing tawaaf on the roof of the Haram. It is always a lot more roomy and you can get fresh air. This is particularly if you have women with you. The tawaaf area right around the Ka’bah can be extremely difficult, particularly for women. This is because sometimes, you will not be able to walk, rather you are just waiting to be pushed.

I ask Allah to protect all of the Hujjaj, make the Hajj easy for them and to accept from them.

Also, not sure if anyone else has mentioned it here, but another good Hajj guide is called ‘Hajj and Umrah Made Easy’ written by Dr Taqi Hashmi and Adnan Malik. It is published by Al-Hidaayah, one of the UK’s top Hajj operators.

You can find it here: http://www.al-hidaayah.co.uk/hajj-and-umrah-made-easy-by-dr-taqi-hashmi-and-adnan-malik-ka8797.ir?cName=alhidaayah-products

I’ve used it before when I went on Umrah and it’s really handy with a little cord to hang it around your neck or hand.

here’s an interesting recipe I found online somewhere:

Make your own lubricant – with this recipe I found on a couple of the running boards. Mix equal parts A & D ointment (diaper rash cream) and Vaseline (1 cup each). Then add vitamin E cream and Aloe Vera cream (1/4 cup each) to improve consistency and smell. (Mixture should be stiff, yet applicable.) It not only protects skin from chafing but can help heal the skin and also is helpful with blister prevention. Low cost and effective. Measurements do not have to be accurate…. this is not baking!

Security Waist Packs

To safeguard the valuables you carry with you, such as cash, passport, and other valuables.
Consider a security waist pack that has security features such as security zippers to keep out the hands of pickpockets, as well as steel straps embedded in the rear strap, and finally a rear buckle that cannot be un-clipped from the back side. Lastly, the pack should have some type of anti-slashing material built into the bottom of the security pack to protect from bag cutters. Take a look at several of these security waist packs and videos of how they work and the protection they provide by visiting this security waist packs website.

Security Purses

A wide varity of security purses that feature the same anti-poickpocket features can be viewed here

Travel Security Wallets

A variety of security wallets that secure to your belt, shirt, around your neck, as well as wallets with anti-theft cables can be located on this page of travel wallets.

Security Backpacks

If you plan on taking a few larger items of value such as a larger digital camera, laptop, or other valuables, and you want additional security, you may want to consider investing in a security backpack. These backpacks have several anti theft features that keep the bags contents safe from theft. Two of the most important features of these security backpacks are 1) a built in security cage that can only be entered if wire cutters are used, and 2. steel security cable built into the bags so they can be locked down in your hotel room, car trunk, or other left behind location. These secuirity backpacks are available in different sizes. Watch the various security backpack videos here.

Camera Security Straps and Bags

The theft of cameras, large and small is a problem around the world. Several security camera straps as well as security camera bags are something to consider. For camera security bags click here For camera security straps visit here.

While the majority of those who travel for the Hajj and Umrah will have few problems, but thieves are a problem world wide. Don’t leave a trip of a lifetime to be spoiled by some slick handed pickpocket.

And jazakhallahkhir for this article Rami!