Preparing Your Heart and Your Affairs

Ten courtesies before you set out

The course lists ten adab, courtesies, for anyone preparing for Hajj or Umrah:

1. A sincere intention, seeking only the pleasure of Allah.
2. Sincere repentance (taubat nasuha): stop the sin, regret it, resolve never to return to it, and, where it concerns other people, return their rights.
3. Spend only halal money on your Hajj.
4. Take enough provisions and money for the journey, and leave enough for the people you support.
5. Choose companions who will remind you, help you and keep you on track.
6. Make du'a and dhikr a part of your daily life now, not only in Makkah.
7. Write your will (wasiat).
8. Ask for and give forgiveness, and leave with a clear heart towards everyone.
9. Purify your heart: build praiseworthy qualities (mahmudah) and drive out blameworthy ones (mazmumah).
10. Be steadfast (istiqamah) and serious about learning how to perform Hajj and Umrah.

Purifying the soul (tazkiyah al-nafs)

The pilgrim's real preparation is a heart that is ready to meet its Lord. The course recommends:

1. Correct belief (aqidah) and correct practice of the shariah.
2. Knowledge and understanding of Islam.
3. The five daily prayers, on time, a pilgrim who neglects prayer at home will struggle to guard it in the crowds of Makkah.
4. Voluntary worship:
   • night prayer (qiyamullail) and the prayer of repentance;
   • charity, of money, effort or kind words;
   • abundant du'a and dhikr;
   • reading the Qur'an;
   • acts of kindness of every kind.
5. Avoiding excessive joking and idle talk (lagha).

Qualities to build and qualities to leave behind

Hajj puts you in crowds, heat and queues with people from every nation. Your character will be tested, often several times a day. Work on it now.

Courtesy in the Holy Land

Once you arrive, remember that you are a guest in Allah's House. The course's courtesies for the Haram:

1. Depend on Allah, not on people.
2. Remember that you are a guest of Allah.
3. Show the best of character.
4. Remember that the whole journey is worship, not a holiday.
5. Be grateful and content with what you are given: the room, the food, the bus.
6. Keep away from foul words and deeds.
7. Avoid arrogance.
8. Do not argue with or hurt other pilgrims, they are guests of Allah too.
9. Do not spread gossip or unverified stories.
10. Fill your time with worship: tawaf, Qur'an, i'tikaf, du'a, repentance and istighfar.
11. Help and cooperate with others.

Superstitions to avoid (khurafat)

Over the years, practices with no basis in Islam have attached themselves to Hajj. Some only waste money; some touch on shirk, associating partners with Allah, and can damage a person's faith. The course names these specifically so that pilgrims recognise them:

Things that cancel the shahadah

Because some superstitions slide into shirk, the course also lists the things that cancel the testimony of faith (syahadah):

1. Associating partners with Allah SWT in worship.
2. Taking something as an intermediary between oneself and Allah.
3. Not regarding the idolaters (musyrikin) as disbelievers.
4. Believing that another religion's teaching is equal to, or more perfect than, Islam.
5. Hating something the Messenger ﷺ established as his shariah.
6. Mocking Allah SWT, His Book, or anything that is part of His religion.
7. Believing in and practising sorcery, or befriending jinn.
8. Helping the idolaters to fight the Muslims.
9. Believing that some people are permitted not to follow the shariah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
10. Turning away from the religion of Allah SWT, or from what is an absolute condition of being a Muslim.

Keep your Tawhid pure: it is the foundation on which the whole of Hajj stands.

Settling your worldly affairs

• Debts: pay what is due, or get your creditor's agreement and write the details in your will.
• Will (wasiat) and estate: tell your family where your documents are. Name someone to manage your affairs while you are away.
• Family: arrange care for children and elderly parents, and leave enough maintenance (nafkah) for the whole period.
• Work: arrange your leave well in advance, you may be away for six or seven weeks.
• Health: complete your medical screening early and treat any problems before you travel (see Chapter 17).
• Knowledge: attend every session of your Hajj course and the practical rehearsal (amali). Ask questions now, it is much harder to ask in a crowd of two million.