Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

assalamalaikum, We(my wife and kids) are planning to go on umrah, inshallah on aug. 4th. This will be our first time there and I have few questions which I would be grateful if you can answer for me. May allah bless you for all your kind help. First, I read that during tawaf or saee if farz namaz is announced then one should perform the namaz and then continue with your tawaf. My question is if you are in the middle of the tawaf near rukne yamini and you stop for the namaz do you continue where you stopped or do you start from "hajar aswad" again? The same thing with saee also if you are in the middle of safa and marwaa do you stop and where do you start again?

Second, if we do more than one umrah, inshallah, can my wife do it alone? if I have to stay with the kids in the hotel? or do I have to accompany her during the whole umrah?

Also, our tickets are being done with first visit to madinah and second to makkah? Is it ok?

Also I read that Prophet(sws) recited the third kalima(subhanakallahuma wabi hamdika) the most during tawaf, can we recite it anywhere during tawaf or is it to be recited at a particular place?

Lastly, I read about so many duas in arabic which should be recited on sighting things like sighting makkah for the first time, hajar aswad, maqaam-e-ibraheem. Is one supposed to memorize all these duas in arabic or can one say it in their own language. Please let us know.

Thank you very much for your time and kind help on this matter. May allah reward you for this, inshallah.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Dua in umrah pilgrimage

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: I read that during tawaf or saee if farz namaz is announced then one should perform the namaz and then continue with your tawaf.

it is reported that once Abdullah Ibn Umar (r.a.) heard the call for prayer while he was performing his ‘tawaf’. He interrupted his ‘tawaf’ and offered the prayers with the congregation. Then he resumed his tawaf from where he had left it.

If one is performing the ‘tawaf’ or the ‘saee’, and hears the call to prayer ‘iqama’ being announced, one must stop their ‘tawaf’ or ‘sai’ and join the congregation for prayer.

In the case of interrupting the ‘tawaf’, only the rounds which have been completed will be counted towards the seven rounds of ‘tawaf’ required; if one has completed half a ‘tawaf’ and has to interrupt it to join the prayer, it would be best and preferred to forego the half-tawaf, and re-start the ‘tawaf’ from the ‘Black Stone’ again.

But in the case of interrupting the ‘saee’ when one joins the congregational prayer, one may continue their ‘saee’ from where they stopped, even if it is in the middle of the ‘saee’.

My question is if you are in the middle of the tawaf near rukne yamini and you stop for the namaz do you continue where you stopped or do you start from "hajar aswad" again?

If one is in the middle of their ‘tawaf’ and near the ‘rukne-yamani’ (which is 3/4ths), and the ‘iqaama’ of prayer is announced, and one feels that they will make the few paces required to complete their ‘tawaf’ at the ‘hajar-e-aswad’ before the ‘takbeer’ or start of prayer is announced, one may complete their ‘tawaf’ and then make themselves available for prayer.

But if one is the middle of their ‘tawaf’ and they fear that they will not be able to complete their ‘tawaf’ before the ‘takbeer’ or start of prayer is announced, they should abandon their ‘tawaf’ and join the congregation for prayer. After their prayer, they should make their way to ‘hajar-e-aswad’ and re-start their ‘tawaf’ and complete their seven circumambulations around the Kaaba.

Your Question: The same thing with saee also if you are in the middle of safa and marwaa do you stop and where do you start again?

If one is in the middle of the ‘saee’ between ‘Safa and Marwa’ and the ‘iqama’ for prayer is announced, one may stop their ‘saee’ anywhere in the valley, offer their prayers in congregation, and at the end of the prayer continue their ‘saee’ from that very spot and complete their seven walks in the valley. Unlike the ‘tawaf’ where one has to re-start their circumambulation from the ‘hajar-e-aswad’, one is not required to re-start during the ‘saee’.

Your Question: Second, if we do more than one umrah, inshallah, can my wife do it alone? if I have to stay with the kids in the hotel? or do I have to accompany her during the whole umrah?

There is absolutely no evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (saws) or his noble companions ever performed two Umrahs on one visit to the Sacred House; thus it would be best and purest for the believers to follow the Sunnah and perform only one Umrah pilgrimage during their visit to the Sacred House of Allah.

Some believers try to use the incident of Hadrat Aisha’s Umrah during the Hajj-al-Wida of the Prophet (saws) as evidence that one can perform two Umrahs during one visit; but according to the majority of the scholars that permission was given under special circumstances and not as a general concession. During the Hajj-al-Wida, Hadrat Aisha could not perform the Umrah pilgrimage with the believers due to her being in her natural state of menstruation. When she purified herself from her state of menstruation, the Messenger of Allah (saws) told her that she must go outside the boundaries of Makkah (to what is today known as Masjid-Aisha), adorn the ehram, and perform the Umrah she missed due to her state of menstruation.

Thus brother, instead of running back and forth to the boundaries of Makkah and performing multiple Umrahs on one visit, it would be best, purest, and closest to piety to follow the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and perform only one Umrah pilgrimage on your visit to the Sacred Mosque, and spend the rest of your time in performing tawafs, reciting the Glorious Quran, or in the general Remembrance and Supplications and worship of your Lord Most High.

Your Question: Also, our tickets are being done with first visit to madinah and second to makkah? Is it ok?

The Umrah pilgrimage to the Sacred House in Makkah is absolutely distinct and has absolutely no relation to the visitation of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Although it is always better and convenient that one who comes from overseas combines his visit to the Sacred House in Makkah to take the opportunity to visit the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, one should know that visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah is neither a requirement of the Umrah pilgrimage, nor an obligation.

There is absolutely no harm if one completes the Umrah pilgrimage first and then visits the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, or one visits the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah first, and then dorns the ‘ehram’ from there to fulfill the Umrah pilgrimage; the sequence is entirely upto the convenience and option of each individual.

Your Question: Also I read that Prophet(sws) recited the third kalmia (subhanakallahuma wabi hamdika) the most during tawaf, can we recite it anywhere during tawaf or is it to be recited at a particular place?

First and foremost brother, know with total and absolute conviction that there is only one ‘kalima-shahaadah’ in Islam and that is: ‘Laa ilaaha illalaah, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah’; there is no 2^nd, or 3^rd, or 4^th, or 5^th ‘kalima’ in Islam or Shariah!

Except for the specific supplication between the last stretch of the Kaaba, ie. between ‘rukne Yamani’ and ‘Hajar Aswad’, to the best of our knowledge, there is nothing in the authentic and established Sunnah whereby the Messenger of Allah (saws) guided or preferred one extolation or supplication more than another during the ‘tawaf’. Thus one may praise and extol their Lord Most High and supplicate their Lord Most Merciful any which way and in any language and words they desire in the ‘tawaaf’.

It is a preferred Sunnah to recite this supplication during the last stretch of each ‘tawaaf’ between the ‘rukne Yamani’ and the ‘Hajar Aswad’:

‘Rabbana aatena fid-dunya hasanah, wa fil-aakherate hasanah, wa kena adaab-an-naar. Wad khilna Jannataka ma-al abraar, Ya Azeezo, Ya Ghaffaar.’

(O our Lord, give us the good in the world, and give us the good in the Hereafter, and save us from the torment of the Hell Fire. And (O our Lord) enter us into Your Paradise with the righteous, O The Most Powerful One, O The Most Forgiving One.)

There is absolutely no doubt that the Phrase ‘Subhan-Allah wa bi Hamdihi’ (All Glory is to Allah and all Praise to Him) was very dear to the Messenger of Allah (saws); and he (saws) would recite this beautiful phrase as often as he could every day of his life, and guided the believers to do the same.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "There are two phrases that are light on the tongue but heavy on the Scale of Rewards and are dear to (Allah) the Gracious One. These are, ‘Subhan Allah wa bi-hamdihi (All Glory is to Allah and all Praise to Him), and ‘Subhan Allah al-Adheem (Glorified is Allah, the Great).'' Related by Muslim, Bukhari, and Tirmidhi.

Abu Hurairah also reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "I love repeating ‘Subhan-Allah, wal-hamdulillah, wa la-ilaha ill-Allah, wa-Allahu akbar (Glorified is Allah, all Praise is due to Allah, and there is no God but Allah, Allah is the Greatest) more than all that the sun shines upon.''

Related by Muslim and Tirmidhi.

If one wishes to recite any or all of the above beautiful phrases in the worship of their Lord in their ‘tawafs’, there is absolutely no harm.

Your Question: Lastly, I read about so many duas in arabic which should be recited on sighting things like sighting makkah for the first time, hajar aswad, maqaam-e-ibraheem. Is one supposed to memorize all these duas in arabic or can one say it in their own language. Please let us know.

To the best of our knowledge, the supplications recorded in the authentic and established Sunnah regarding the Practice of the Messenger of Allah (saws) when approaching the Sacred Mosque are two:

1. When he (saws) entered the Sacred Mosque itself, and
2. Upon his (saws) first sight of the Kaaba.

To the best of our knowledge there is no particular supplication or dua recorded in the authentic and established Sunnah regarding the first sighting of the city of Makkah, or the first sighting of the ‘hajar-e-aswad’, or the ‘maqaam-e-Ibraheem’, etc.

Upon entering the Sacred Mosque in Makkah the Prophet (saws) would say: "Audhu billahil azeem wa biwajihil kareem wa sultanihil qadeem , minash shaitanir rajeem. Bismillah allahumma salli 'ala muhammadin wa alihi wa salam, Allahumma ghifirli zunubi waftah li abwaba rahmatika”

(I seek refuge with Allah the Supreme, I seek refuge with His Honor and Eternal Glory, with His Everlasting Authority, from the cursed devil. O Allah, Bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad! O Allah! Forgive my sins and open Your doors of mercy for me).

At the first sight of the Kaabah, the Prophet (saws) would raise his raise his hands and make this supplication: "Allahumma zid hadhal bayti tashrifan wa ta 'zeeman wa takriman wa muhabatan wa zid min sharfihi wa karamihi mimman hajjahu au 'itamarahu tashrifan wa takriman wa ta'zeeman wa birran”

(O Allah! Increase this House's honor, dignity, respect and grant all those who come to it for Hajj or 'Umrah honor, dignity, respect and righteousness.)"

Your Question: Is one supposed to memorize all these duas in arabic or can one say it in their own language. Please let us know.

Beloved brother, if one has the ability and can memorize these beautiful phrases from the Sunnah and recite them accordingly at their appointed places, they would indeed be in accordance with the preferred tradition and practice of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

To make these supplications does not form a part of the Umrah pilgrimage, thus one is neither required to, or supposed to, or obliged to recite them to fulfill their Umrah pilgrimage. If one takes the effort to memorize these beautiful phrases and understands its meanings, and recites them at their due time in humility, sincerity, and fear of their Lord….it would be closest to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

If one finds it difficult, or does not have the ability to memorize these supplications, there is absolutely no obligation upon them to recite these specific supplications from the Sunnah; one may make any supplication and/or praise their Lord in any language they wish or is easy for them, provided it is done with due humility, sincerity and fear of The Lord Most High, Most Merciful.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan