How ‘Umrah is to be done according to the Sunnah

Praise
be to Allah.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have
mercy on him) said: 

(The pilgrim) should enter ihram for
‘umrah at the miqaat. When entering ihram, he should do ghusl as for
janaabah. Doing ghusl is Sunnah for men and women, even those who are
menstruating or bleeding following childbirth (nifaas). (A man) should do
ghusl and put perfume on his head and beard, and put on the ihram garments.
He should enter ihram after offering an obligatory prayer, if it is the time
for an obligatory prayer, or after a supererogatory (naafil) prayer which he
should intend as the Sunnah prayer following wudoo’, because there is no
specific naafil prayer for entering ihram, as there is no report to that
effect from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Women
who are menstruating or bleeding following childbirth should not pray. Then
he should recite the Talbiyah for ‘Umrah, saying: “Labbayk Allaahumma
‘Umratan. Labbayka Allaahumma labbayk, labbayka laa shareeka laka labbayk.
Inna al-hamda wa’n-ni‘mata laka wa’l-mulk, laa shareeka lak  (Here I am,
O Allaah, for ‘Umrah. Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no
partner, here I am. Verily all praise and blessings are Yours, and all
sovereignty, You have no partner).” And he should continue to recite the
Talbiyah until he reaches Makkah. When he is close to Makkah, he should do
ghusl before entering it, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) did. He should enter al-Masjid al-Haraam with his right foot
first, saying: “Bismillaah
wa’l-salaatu wa’l-salaam ‘ala Rasoolillaah. Allaahumma ighfir li dhunoobi
waftah li abwaab rahmatika. A‘oodhu Billaah il-‘azeem wa bi wajhihi’l-kareem
wa bi sultaanihi’l-qadeem min al-shaytaan il-rajeem (In the name of
Allaah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. O Allah,
forgive my sins and open to me the gates of Your mercy. I seek refuge in
Allah the Almighty and in His noble Face and in His eternal Power, from the
accursed Shaytaan).” 

When he begins tawaaf, he should stop
reciting the Talbiyah. He should start at the Black Stone, and kiss it if
possible, otherwise he should point to it and say: ‘Bismillah wa Allahu
akbar. Allahumma eemaanan bika wa tasdeeqan bi kitaabika wa wafaa’an bi
‘ahdika wa ittibaa‘an li Sunnati Nabiyyika Muhammad sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa
sallam (In the name of Allah, and Allah is most great. O Allah, out of faith
in You, and in belief in Your Book, and in fulfilment of Your covenant, and
following the Sunnah of Your Prophet Muhammad blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him).” Then he should put the House on his left and circumambulate
it seven times, starting and ending at the Black Stone. He should not touch
any part of the Ka‘bah apart from the Black Stone and the Yemeni Corner,
because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not touch
any part of it except these two corners. In tawaaf it is Sunnah for men to
walk rapidly in the first three circuits, taking short steps. It is also
Sunnah for them to uncover the right shoulder throughout tawaaf (this is
called idtibaa‘), by baring the right shoulder and placing the two ends of
the rida’ (upper garment) on the left shoulder. Every time he comes in line
with the Black Stone, he should say “Allahu akbar.” Between the Yemeni
Corner and the Black Stone he should say:
“Rabbana
aatina fi’l-dunya hasanah wa fi’l-aakhirah hasanah wa qina ‘adhaab al-naar
(Our Lord, give us that which is good in this world and that which is good
in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire).”
In the rest of his Tawaaf he may say whatever he likes of dhikr (remembering
Allah) and du‘aa’ (supplication). 

There are no specific du‘aa’s for each
circuit of tawaaf, hence one should beware of these booklets that many
pilgrims carry, in which there is a specific du‘aa’ for each circuit. This
is an innovation that was not narrated from the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: “Every innovation is a going astray.” Narrated
by Muslim. 

During tawaaf, the pilgrim must pay
attention to a matter which many people do not pay attention to at times
when it is very crowded, and you see them going in through one gate of the
Hijr and exiting through the other gate, and not going around the Hijr as
well as the Ka‘bah. This is an error, because most of the Hijr is part of
the Ka‘bah, so the one who goes in through one gate of the Hijr and exits
through the other gate has not in fact circumambulated the Ka‘bah, so his
tawaaf is not valid. 

After tawaaf, he should pray two rak‘ahs
behind Maqaam Ibraaheem if possible. Otherwise he may offer this prayer
anywhere in the mosque. 

Then he should go out to as-Safa, and when
he comes near it he should recite (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily! As-Safa and Al-Marwah (two mountains in Makkah) are of the Symbols
of Allah. So it is not a sin on him who perform Hajj or Umrah (pilgrimage)
of the House (the Kabah at Makkah) to perform the going (Tawaf) between them
(As-Safa and Al-Marwah). And whoever does good voluntarily, then verily,
Allah is All-Recogniser, All-Knower” [al-Baqarah 2:158], but he should
not repeat this verse after that. Then he should climb as-Safa, turn to face
towards the qiblah, raise his hands, magnify and praise Allah, and say:
“Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah
wahdahu laa shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli
shay’in qadeer; Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu anjaza wa‘dah wa nasara ‘abdah
wa hazama al-ahzaaba wahdah (There is no god but Allah alone, with no
partner or associate, His is the dominion and to Him be praise, and He is
able to do all things; there is no god but Allah alone, He fulfilled His
promise and granted victory to His slave and defeated the confederates
alone).” Then he should offer du‘aa’ after that, then repeat the dhikr a
second time, followed by du‘aa’, then repeat the dhikr a third time. 

Then he should come down and head towards
al-Marwah, walking until he reaches the green marker – i.e., the green
pillar – and running from the green pillar to the second green pillar,
running fast if he is able to, provided that it is not too difficult for him
and does not cause annoyance to anyone else. Then after the second marker he
should walk normally until he reaches al-Marwah. When he reaches al-Marwah
he should climb it, and turn to face the qiblah, raise his hands, and say
the same as he said at as-Safa. This is one lap. 

Then he should come back to as-Safa from
al-Marwah, and this is the second lap. He should say and do during it the
same as he said and did in the first lap. When he has finished seven laps –
from as-Safa to al-Marwah is one lap, and from al-Marwah to as-Safa is
another lap – then he should cut his hair, removing hair from all over his
head, in such a manner that it is clearly obvious. A woman should cut a
fingertip’s length from the end of all of her hair. Then he has completely
exited from ihram and may do all the things that Allah has permitted to him
of intimacy with his wife, wearing perfume, wearing ordinary clothes, and so
on.

Summary of the actions of ‘Umrah: 

1.    
Doing ghusl as in the case
of janaabah, and putting on perfume

2.    
putting on the ihram
garments, which are the rida’ and izaar (upper and lower garment) for men.
Women may wear whatever they want of permissible clothing.

3.    
Reciting the Talbiyah and
repeating it until the start of tawaaf.

4.    
Tawaaf or circumambulating
the Ka‘bah seven times, starting and ending each circuit at the Black Stone.

5.    
Praying two rak‘ahs behind
Maqaam Ibraaheem.

6.    
Sa‘i between as-Safa and al-Marwah,
seven laps, starting at as-Safa and ending at al-Marwah

7.    
Shaving the head or cutting
the hair for men, and cutting the hair for women. 

And Allah knows best.