A sacred route
Hajj moves through a small number of sacred places, each carrying its own rite — Makkah, Mina, Arafat, Muzdalifah, and back to Makkah.
Intend for Hajj and enter Ihram
الإحرام
Miqat refers to the fixed boundary points around Makkah — set according to the direction you are travelling from — beyond which no one may pass without first being in Ihram. Niyyah is a firm internal intention rather than a spoken formula, though many pilgrims say it aloud for clarity, and it should reflect whichever of the three forms of Hajj — Ifrad, Tamattu', or Qiran — your Mu'allim or group leader has advised applies to you. Once you cross the Miqat in Ihram, restrictions such as avoiding perfume, hunting, and marital relations apply continuously until Halq or Taqsir on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah, so many pilgrims prefer to shower, trim their nails, and dress in Ihram well before reaching the boundary rather than rushing at the last moment.
Read the full dua →Tawaf al-Qudoom (arrival Tawaf)
طواف القدوم
Tawaf al-Qudoom is a voluntary 'greeting' Tawaf performed on first entering Masjid al-Haram, distinct from the obligatory Tawaf al-Ifadah performed later during the Hajj days itself. It applies to pilgrims performing Ifrad or Qiran, who stay in Ihram continuously from the Miqat; those performing Hajj Tamattu' — the option most pilgrims travelling from Pakistan choose — will already have completed a full Umrah and left Ihram on arrival, picking their itinerary back up only once they re-enter Ihram for Hajj around the 8th of Dhul Hijjah. Because the mosque is often at its most crowded in the days just before the 8th, many pilgrims performing this Tawaf pace themselves and use the upper floors or the outer edges of the mataf rather than pushing toward the Kaaba itself.
Sa'i between Safa and Marwah
السعي
Sa'i re-enacts the story of Hajar, the wife of Ibrahim (AS), running between the hills of Safa and Marwah in search of water for her infant son Ismail, before Allah caused the well of Zamzam to spring forth beneath him. The seven circuits are walked through a covered, air-conditioned corridor, with a marked stretch in the middle where able-bodied men are encouraged to walk briskly while everyone else continues at a normal pace. Pilgrims performing Hajj Tamattu' complete their Sa'i as part of the earlier Umrah and do not repeat it here, so this step mainly applies to those performing Ifrad or Qiran, or anyone who has not yet completed a Sa'i on this trip.
Travel to Mina
يوم التروية
The 8th of Dhul Hijjah is known as the Day of Tarwiyah, traditionally understood to mean 'the day of watering,' recalling when pilgrims would draw and store water here before the dry days at Arafat. Moving to Mina and staying through the day and night is a confirmed Sunnah rather than an obligation, so missing it does not invalidate Hajj, but it is a valuable chance to settle into the rhythm of the pilgrimage before the more demanding day ahead. Prayers are shortened (qasr) for travellers throughout this period but not combined, so Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha are each prayed at their own time — a distinction worth knowing, since it changes again the following night at Muzdalifah.
Stand at Arafat
الوقوف بعرفة
Wuquf at Arafat is the single pillar without which Hajj is not valid — the Prophet (SAW) said 'Hajj is Arafat,' meaning a pilgrim who reaches the plain at any point between noon and dawn the next day, even briefly, has completed this rite, while missing it entirely means the Hajj must be repeated another year. Dhuhr and Asr are prayed combined and shortened, after which the rest of the day is spent in dua, dhikr, and reflection facing the Qiblah — many pilgrims use the time to recite the Dua of Arafat and make sincere personal dua, since this day is widely regarded as the most spiritually significant of the Islamic calendar. Shade, water, and rest matter as much as devotion here: Arafat is open desert plain, temperatures run high, and pacing yourself through the afternoon makes it easier to stay focused until Maghrib.
Read the full dua →Spend the night in Muzdalifah
المبيت بمزدلفة
Leave Arafat only after sunset, without praying Maghrib there — Maghrib and Isha are combined and shortened once you reach Muzdalifah, prayed together whenever you arrive because of how slowly the roads move with the crowds. Spending at least part of the night here is obligatory for most pilgrims, sleeping in the open or in tents provided by your group, which is itself a deliberate part of the rite: after the intensity of Arafat, Muzdalifah is a night of rest and simplicity under the sky. Most pilgrims collect around 49 pebbles here (70 if staying the extra day at Mina) for pelting the Jamarat over the following days — your Mu'allim or group leader will confirm the exact number your itinerary needs.
Pelt Jamarah al-Aqaba only
رمي جمرة العقبة
After Fajr at Muzdalifah, head to Mina and throw seven pebbles, one at a time, at Jamarah al-Aqaba — the pillar nearest to Makkah, and the only one pelted on this first day. Each pebble is thrown while saying 'Allahu Akbar,' and the act commemorates Ibrahim's (AS) rejection of Shaytan's whispers to abandon Allah's command to sacrifice his son. This is the first of several rituals performed on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah, and because it is also the busiest single moment of Hajj for most pilgrims, many groups schedule their visit to the Jamarat for later in the morning or afternoon once the post-Fajr rush has eased.
Read the full dua →Sacrifice (Qurbani)
الهدي
The sacrifice commemorates Ibrahim's (AS) willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail in obedience to Allah, and Allah's mercy in replacing him with a ram at the last moment — the same event marked by Qurbani across the Muslim world at Eid al-Adha. For pilgrims performing Tamattu' or Qiran, this sacrifice (Hady) is obligatory as a form of thanks for combining Hajj and Umrah, while for those performing Ifrad it is not required. Almost no pilgrims slaughter the animal personally; instead, authorised voucher schemes let you pay in advance, and the sacrifice is carried out and the meat distributed to those in need once your voucher's window opens, so it is entirely normal not to know the exact moment it happened.
Shave or trim your hair (Halq or Taqsir)
الحلق والتقصير
Halq (shaving the head completely) or Taqsir (trimming it) marks the end of the first phase of Ihram restrictions — after this, everything except marital relations becomes permitted again, including normal clothing, perfume, and cutting nails. Shaving is considered the more virtuous option for men, and is what the Prophet (SAW) himself did and prayed for three times over, while trimming remains fully valid; women only trim, cutting roughly a fingertip's length from the ends of their hair rather than shaving. Marital relations stay off-limits until you complete Tawaf al-Ifadah and Sa'i, so this step is sometimes called the 'minor' release from Ihram (Tahallul al-Asghar), with the 'major' release (Tahallul al-Akbar) following those remaining rites.
Tawaf al-Ifadah
طواف الإفاضة
Tawaf al-Ifadah (also called Tawaf al-Ziyarah) is the one Tawaf that is an actual pillar of Hajj — unlike Tawaf al-Qudoom, Hajj is not complete without it, though it can be delayed within the Hajj days if needed since it has no single fixed closing time. Many pilgrims perform it on the 10th itself, straight after Halq or Taqsir, both to complete the 'major' release from Ihram immediately and to avoid a separate trip back to Makkah; others, given how physically demanding the 10th already is, prefer to rest and return on the 11th or 12th. If you have not yet performed Sa'i for this Hajj — which applies to anyone doing Ifrad or Qiran — you complete it immediately after this Tawaf, finishing the core rites in Makkah before returning to Mina for the remaining days of pelting.
Pelt all three Jamarat
رمي الجمرات
From the 11th onward, all three pillars are pelted in a fixed order — Al-Ula (smallest, furthest from Makkah), then Al-Wusta (the middle pillar), and finally Al-Aqaba (the same large pillar pelted alone on the 10th) — with seven pebbles thrown at each, one at a time, saying 'Allahu Akbar' with every throw. Pelting is only valid after the sun passes its zenith (after Dhuhr) on each day, and pilgrims who leave Mina early (Nafr Awwal, departing by sunset on the 12th) skip the 13th entirely, while those staying the full period (Nafr Thani) pelt on the 13th as well. The Jamarat Bridge is a multi-level structure built specifically to spread pilgrims across several floors at once, so if the ground level looks intensely crowded on arrival, moving to an upper level is a normal and often faster option, not a lesser way of performing the rite.
Farewell Tawaf (Tawaf al-Wida)
طواف الوداع
Tawaf al-Wida should be the last thing you do in Makkah — ideally you go directly from the Tawaf to your transport out of the city rather than shopping or lingering afterwards, since that is the spirit of it being a genuine farewell. It is waived for menstruating women, who are exempted from this particular obligation, though scholars differ on whether any compensation is due — this is a case worth asking your Mu'allim or guide about directly rather than assuming either way. For everyone else, these seven circuits close the sequence of rites that began at the Miqat, and many pilgrims find it the most emotional moment of the whole journey, a final chance to make dua at the Kaaba before leaving.