The day has finally come. After all the planning, the stress, the long nights: it’s here. You remember the endless hours spent booking your package, the nights waiting for packages to be released, the anxiety of not knowing if it would all come together. You recall juggling family responsibilities, arranging childcare, negotiating time off work, and squeezing in time to attend ḥajj workshops or read up in between it all. You’ve been trying to prepare your heart and mind, hoping to be ready. And now, as you begin this life-changing journey, it still feels surreal. You’re going inshāAllah. Allah chose you.
Bidding Farewell to Your Family
As you leave your home and bid farewell to your family:
1. Think of your death. How will people feel when they bid farewell to you? Will they rejoice at your leaving or will their hearts be heavy with sadness because of all the good you do?
2. Place your trust in Allah. Allah, the Best Protector, will take care of the affairs of your loved ones.
Reflect: Allah has invited you as a guest to His house. Do you not think He will also care for your loved ones in the best of ways?
3. Bid farewell to your loved ones like the Prophet ﷺ did. He ﷺ would say:
أَسْتَوْدِعُكُمُ اللهَ الَّذِيْ لَا تَضِيْعُ وَدَائِعُهُ
“I leave you in the care of Allah, who does not allow anything entrusted to Him to be lost” (Ibn Mājah).
4. Recite the duʿā’ of leaving the house and seek Allah’s protection.
بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللّٰهِ ، لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللّٰهِ
اَللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّيْ أَعُوْذُ بِكَ أَنْ أَضِلَّ أَوْ أُضَلَّ ، أَوْ أَزِلَّ أَوْ أُزَلَّ ، أَوْ أَظْلِمَ أَوْ أُظْلَمَ ، أَوْ أَجْهَلَ أَوْ يُجْهَلَ عَلَيَّ
In the Name of Allah, I have placed my trust in Allah. There is no power (in averting evil) or strength (in attaining good) except through Allah. (Tirmidhī)
O Allah, I seek Your protection from misguiding others or being misguided; from erring or others causing me to err; from oppressing others or being oppressed; and from acting ignorantly or others acting ignorantly towards me. (Tirmidhī)
5. Give some charity to ward off any misfortunes or calamities.
During the Journey
1. Make duʿā’:
- Begin your journey by reciting the duʿā’ for travel.
- Throughout the journey, make continuous duʿā’ as the duʿā’ of a traveller is more likely to be accepted (Aḥmad).
2. Think of your death. This is a journey which resembles the journey of your soul to the hereafter. Remind yourself: one day, you will be carried on the shoulders of others — on your final journey to the grave.
3. Yearn for the destination. You have left your family and hometown and are now on your way to the House of Allah. Throughout your journey, let your heart long to reach His House and seek His eternal pleasure and acceptance.
There was once a woman who went for ḥajj, and throughout the journey, she kept asking, “Where is the House of my Lord?” Those with her told her to be patient until she could see it. When they reached al-Masjid al-Ḥarām and saw the Kaʿbah, they told her, “This is the House of Allah.” She ran towards it, shouting, “The House of my Lord, the House of my Lord!” She pressed her cheek against the Kaʿbah and in that very moment, her soul returned to Allah. They found her lifeless, having passed away in the place she longed for most.
4. Thank Allah. Use these moments to thank Allah for facilitating your journey. In the past, pilgrims would travel for months across dangerous terrains, enduring hardship and uncertainty just to reach these sacred lands. What once took months now takes only a few hours.
5. Remind yourself that you are journeying to Allah. In a ḥadīth qudsī, Allah ﷻ says: “Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running” (Muslim).
Reflect: Knowing that Allah owns the heavens and earth and is in no need of us, how does the ḥadīth above make you feel?
6. Be generous. On your journey, you will be accompanied by other pilgrims. Be generous with your wealth, actions and speech and remember that every penny that you spend for the sake of Allah during this journey will be recompensed beautifully.
7. Don’t waste these precious moments. You may be tempted to scroll through social media, watch a movie, or pass time aimlessly. These are sacred moments. Use these moments to recite the Qur’ān, remember Allah, offer voluntary prayers whilst seated using indications, read an īmān-boosting book, or rest with the intention of being energised to perform your rituals upon reaching Makkah.
8. Leave the world behind for Allah. The true migrant (muhājir) is the one who abandons what Allah has prohibited. In Hajj, you are migrating to Allah. You leave behind your sins, your disobedience, and your heedlessness. You leave your family, your worldly concerns, and everything else, and come to your Lord with nothing from this world, to worship Him alongside His righteous servants in the purest place on Earth.
Reflect: Why are you performing ḥajj?
Act: What sins and habits are you migrating away from? Include them in your duʿā’ list and ask Allah to help you leave them behind, completely and forever.
9. Reflect on Allah’s signs. A practical way to deepen tawḥīd in your heart is to reflect on the signs of Allah in His creation. This helps you to be in awe of Allah and to remember Him with the presence of heart. Whilst on the aeroplane, reflect on the incredible signs around you: the flawless sky, the layered clouds, and the majestic sunset or sunrise. Look down and observe how the earth and its people shrink into insignificance. Let this remind you of your own smallness in the vastness of Allah’s creation, and feel humbled before Him.
Think of the sky full of angels, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Indeed I see what you do not see. The sky is creaking, and it has every right to creak: there is not even the space of four fingers (in the sky), except that there is an angel who has lowered his head in prostration to Allah” (Tirmidhī).
A Journey Through Hajj
