Hajj 2027/1448, the pilgrimage to Makkah: conditions, rites day by day and Umrah

Hajj, the great pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca), is one of the five pillars of Islam. Every Muslim who is physically and financially able must perform it at least once in their lifetime. It takes place every year on fixed dates of the Hijri calendar, from 8 to 12 or 13 Dhul Hijjah, the last month of the lunar year, and brings together pilgrims from all over the world: 1,707,301 people in 2026 (1447 AH), according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). For the 2027/1448 season, the Day of Arafah is expected on 15 May 2027 and Eid al-Adha on 16 May 2027. These are projected dates based on the Umm al-Qura calendar: the Saudi authorities officially set the start of Dhul Hijjah after sighting the crescent moon, and Eid may fall a day earlier or later in other countries.

This guide covers the conditions of Hajj, its three forms, the state of consecration (ihram), the rites day by day, Umrah, the holy sites, the spiritual meaning of the rites and the festival of Eid al-Adha.

A pillar of Islam rooted in the story of Abraham

The Quran traces the pilgrimage back to the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), who raised the foundations of the Kaaba with his son Ishmael (Quran 2:127) and was commanded to call people to it:

“And proclaim to the people the Hajj; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass.” (Quran 22:27)

The obligation itself is stated in Surah Al Imran:

“Indeed, the first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Bakkah – blessed and a guidance for the worlds. In it are clear signs [such as] the standing place of Abraham. And whoever enters it shall be safe. And [due] to Allah from the people is a pilgrimage to the House – for whoever is able to find thereto a way.” (Quran 3:96–97)

Over time, Abraham’s pilgrimage had become mixed with idolatry. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ restored it to pure monotheism: after the conquest of Makkah (8 AH), the idols were removed from the Kaaba. Scholars differ on the exact year in which Hajj was made obligatory (6, 9 or 10 AH, depending on the view). In 9 AH, known as “the year of delegations”, Abu Bakr led the Muslims’ pilgrimage, and the opening of Surah at-Tawbah was proclaimed “on the day of the greater pilgrimage” (Quran 9:3). The following year, 10 AH (632 CE), the Prophet ﷺ performed his only Hajj, known as the Farewell Pilgrimage. The detailed account given by his Companion Jabir ibn Abdullah (Sahih Muslim 1218) remains the main source for how the rites are performed.

The virtues of Hajj

A Hajj performed sincerely wipes away past sins:

“Whoever performs Hajj for Allah and does not commit any obscenity or sin will return like the day his mother gave birth to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1521; Sahih Muslim 1350)

The Prophet ﷺ also said: “One Umrah expiates the sins committed until the next, and an accepted Hajj (hajj mabrur) has no reward but Paradise” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1773; Sahih Muslim 1349). When his wife Aisha said that she saw striving in battle as the best of deeds, he told her that the best striving for women is an accepted Hajj (Sahih al-Bukhari 1520).

The Day of Arafah is the summit of these blessings: “There is no day on which Allah frees more servants from the Fire than the Day of Arafah. He draws near, then He boasts of them before the angels and says: ‘What do these people want?’” (Sahih Muslim 1348). Another saying is often quoted, according to which Satan is never so humiliated as on the Day of Arafah; it appears in Imam Malik’s Muwatta, but its chain of transmission is broken and it is graded weak.

Who must perform Hajj?

Hajj is obligatory only once in a lifetime (Sahih Muslim 1337; Sunan Abi Dawud 1721) for anyone who meets these conditions:

• being Muslim, adult and of sound mind (a child’s Hajj is valid and rewarded, but it does not replace the obligatory Hajj once they reach adulthood);
• being able (istita’ah): sufficient health, the means to pay for the journey and the stay over and above one’s basic needs, debts and the maintenance of one’s family during one’s absence, and a safe route. Today this ability also means obtaining a visa and a Hajj permit within the quotas set by Saudi Arabia;
• for a woman, the Hanafi and Hanbali schools require a mahram (her husband or a close relative she cannot marry), based on the hadith “A woman should not travel except with a mahram” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1862). The Maliki and Shafi’i schools allow her, for the obligatory Hajj, to travel with a trustworthy group. Since 2021, the Saudi authorities have accepted women without a mahram in organised groups.

Someone who can no longer travel because of a lasting illness or old age may have someone perform Hajj on their behalf, as the Prophet ﷺ allowed a woman to do for her elderly father (Sahih al-Bukhari 1513). The person performing Hajj by proxy must already have performed their own (Sunan Abi Dawud 1811).

Preparing for the journey

Preparing the heart

Scholars, among them al-Ghazali in his Revival of the Religious Sciences, advise beginning with repentance: righting one’s wrongs, repaying debts or coming to an arrangement with creditors, returning anything held in trust, leaving one’s family enough to live on, and paying for the journey with lawful money, for “Allah is good and accepts only what is good” (Sahih Muslim 1015). It is wise to learn the rites before leaving, to choose travelling companions who remind one of good, and to entrust the leadership of the group to its kindest member. Travel reveals character: patience, generosity and gentleness towards other pilgrims are part of the pilgrimage, for the Quran says: “there is [to be for him] no sexual relations and no disobedience and no disputing during Hajj… And take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is fear of Allah” (Quran 2:197).

The Prophet ﷺ liked to set out on journeys on a Thursday (Sahih al-Bukhari 2950) and recited the travel supplication as he set off (Sahih Muslim 1342). It is also customary to take leave of one’s family and friends and ask for their prayers.

Practical arrangements

The rules for Hajj are set by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and change from one season to the next, so check official sources every year. In broad terms:

• each country has a quota of pilgrims. Depending on the country, registration goes through a national body, a ballot or approved agencies. Since 2023, applicants from Europe, the Americas and Oceania have booked their packages on the official Nusuk Hajj platform, through authorised providers;
• a Hajj permit is required of everyone, including residents of Saudi Arabia. Performing Hajj without a permit is prohibited and penalised; unregistered pilgrims are also the most at risk, as they have no access to the official tents, transport and medical care;
• certain vaccinations are mandatory, notably against meningococcal meningitis; see your doctor or a travel clinic several weeks before departure;
• the heat can be extreme. In 2024, more than 1,300 pilgrims died during Hajj, according to the Saudi Ministry of Health, during a heatwave in which temperatures exceeded 50 °C. Drink regularly, protect yourself from the sun (an umbrella is permitted in ihram), rest, and keep to the schedules set for moving between sites.

The three ways of performing Hajj

“Hajj is [during] well-known months” (Quran 2:197): Shawwal, Dhul Qa’dah and the beginning of Dhul Hijjah. Pilgrims choose one of three forms when they make their intention:

The offering is not required of those whose family lives in the area of the Sacred Mosque (Quran 2:196). On his pilgrimage, the Prophet ﷺ, who had brought his sacrificial animals with him, remained in ihram until the day of sacrifice; he told those Companions who had no offering to turn their ihram into an Umrah and then resume it for Hajj on the Day of Tarwiyah (Sahih al-Bukhari 1568; Sahih Muslim 1216). The schools differ in their preference: tamattu’ for the Hanbalis, qiran for the Hanafis, ifrad for the Malikis and Shafi’is. Tamattu’ is often recommended to pilgrims coming from afar, as it allows them to leave ihram between Umrah and Hajj.

The miqat and entering ihram

The miqat points

Pilgrims must enter ihram before crossing one of the boundaries set by the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari 1524 and 1531):

• Dhul Hulayfah (Abyar Ali), near Madinah, for those coming from Madinah;
• al-Juhfah, near Rabigh, for those coming from the Levant, Egypt and North Africa; it is often the miqat of pilgrims flying from Europe and North Africa;
• Qarn al-Manazil (as-Sayl al-Kabir) for those coming from Najd;
• Yalamlam for those coming from Yemen;
• Dhat Irq for those coming from Iraq, set in the time of the caliph Umar.

People living between the miqat points and Makkah enter ihram from where they live, and the people of Makkah from Makkah. When flying, pilgrims enter ihram as the aircraft passes level with the miqat: they get ready before boarding and make the intention when the crew announces it. Those who arrive in Madinah first enter ihram at Dhul Hulayfah.

Entering ihram

It is recommended to take a full bath (ghusl), trim one’s nails and apply perfume to the body (not the clothes) before entering ihram. Men wear two pieces of unstitched cloth, usually white: a wrap around the waist (izar) and a sheet over the shoulders (rida’), with sandals that leave the ankles uncovered, and keep their heads bare. Women wear their usual loose, modest clothes, without a face veil (niqab) and without gloves (Sahih al-Bukhari 1838). The pilgrim then makes the intention (Umrah, Hajj or both) and begins the talbiyah, repeating it until the day of sacrifice:

“Labbayka Allahumma labbayk, labbayka la sharika laka labbayk, inna l-hamda wa n-ni’mata laka wa l-mulk, la sharika lak”: “Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Truly all praise, favour and sovereignty are Yours. You have no partner.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1549; Sahih Muslim 1184)

What is prohibited in ihram

• cutting or removing hair and clipping the nails;
• wearing perfume;
• for men, wearing clothes stitched to fit the body (shirts, trousers, underwear) and covering the head; for women, wearing a niqab or gloves;
• hunting land game (Quran 5:95–96);
• concluding a marriage, for oneself or someone else, or proposing marriage (Sahih Muslim 1409);
• marital relations and anything leading to them (Quran 2:197): according to most scholars, intercourse before the first release from ihram invalidates the Hajj.

More than ever, pilgrims also avoid quarrels and sins. Anyone who breaks a prohibition out of necessity, for example by shaving their head because of illness, makes up for it by fasting three days, feeding six poor people or sacrificing a sheep (Quran 2:196; Sahih al-Bukhari 1814). Many scholars require no compensation from someone who wore perfume or a stitched garment out of forgetfulness or ignorance, unlike prohibitions that destroy something, such as cutting the hair or hunting.

On arrival in Makkah: tawaf and sa’i

Tawaf means walking seven times around the Kaaba, keeping it on one’s left, starting from the corner of the Black Stone and passing outside the Hijr Isma’il (the semicircular enclosure that is part of the Kaaba). On each circuit, pilgrims kiss or touch the Black Stone if they can, or otherwise gesture towards it with the hand, saying “Allahu akbar”. As he kissed it, the caliph Umar said: “I know that you are only a stone that can neither harm nor benefit; had I not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kiss you, I would not have kissed you” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1597; Sahih Muslim 1270). During the arrival tawaf, men uncover their right shoulder (idtiba’) and walk briskly in the first three circuits (raml). Pilgrims then pray two units of prayer behind the Station of Abraham (Quran 2:125) and drink Zamzam water.

Sa’i consists of seven lengths between the hills of Safa and Marwah, which “are among the symbols of Allah” (Quran 2:158), starting at Safa and ending at Marwah. Men hasten between the green lights. This rite commemorates Hagar (Hajar) running in search of water for her son.

A pilgrim performing tamattu’ then completes the Umrah by trimming the hair and leaves ihram until 8 Dhul Hijjah. Those performing qiran or ifrad make an arrival tawaf (tawaf al-qudum, a Sunnah according to most scholars and obligatory according to the Malikis), may perform the sa’i of Hajj at this point, and remain in ihram.

The rites day by day, from 8 to 13 Dhul Hijjah

The 8th: the Day of Tarwiyah at Mina

Pilgrims performing tamattu’ re-enter ihram from where they are staying in Makkah, and everyone goes to Mina, a valley a few kilometres from the Grand Mosque, now covered with tents. According to the Sunnah, they pray Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha and the next day’s Fajr there, each at its own time, shortening the four-unit prayers to two (Sahih Muslim 1218). This stay is recommended, not obligatory.

The 9th: the Day of Arafah, the heart of Hajj

“Hajj is Arafah,” said the Prophet ﷺ (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 889; Sunan an-Nasa’i 3016). After sunrise, pilgrims make their way to the plain of Arafah, some twenty kilometres from Makkah. After the sun passes its zenith, a sermon is delivered at the Namirah Mosque, then Dhuhr and Asr are prayed together and shortened. Then the standing (wuquf) begins: until sunset, pilgrims devote themselves to supplication, remembrance of Allah, recitation of the Quran and seeking forgiveness. “The best supplication is the supplication of the Day of Arafah” (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 3585, graded hasan). There is no need to climb the Mount of Mercy (Jabal ar-Rahmah): the Prophet ﷺ stood at the foot of its rocks and explained that the whole plain of Arafah is a place of standing (Sahih Muslim 1218). Pilgrims do not fast on this day, following the example of the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari 1658).

Standing at Arafah is the pillar without which there is no Hajj. According to most scholars, its time runs from the zenith on the 9th until dawn on the 10th: anyone present at Arafah for a moment during that period has fulfilled this pillar. Those who stand there by day should remain until sunset, as the Prophet ﷺ did; the Malikis even consider being present after sunset to be the pillar itself.

The night of the 9th to the 10th: Muzdalifah

At sunset, pilgrims calmly leave Arafah for Muzdalifah: “when you depart from Arafat, remember Allah at al-Mash’ar al-Haram” (Quran 2:198). There they pray Maghrib and Isha together, then spend the night. After the dawn prayer, they supplicate facing the qiblah until it is fully light, and set off for Mina before sunrise (Sahih Muslim 1218). The Prophet ﷺ allowed the weak, women and those accompanying them to leave before dawn, once the moon had set (Sahih al-Bukhari 1676–1681); many scholars set this time after midnight. Pilgrims pick up the small pebbles for the stoning, about the size of a chickpea, at Muzdalifah or Mina.

The 10th: the day of sacrifice (yawm an-nahr)

This day, which is the day of Eid, brings together four rites:

1. Stoning Jamrat al-Aqabah, the large pillar: seven pebbles thrown one by one, saying “Allahu akbar” with each. The talbiyah stops at this point.
2. Sacrificing the offering, for pilgrims performing tamattu’ or qiran. Many pilgrims now buy a sacrifice voucher from the official programme, which has the animals slaughtered and the meat distributed.
3. Shaving or shortening the hair: shaving is preferable for men, since the Prophet ﷺ prayed three times for mercy on those who shave before praying for those who shorten (Sahih al-Bukhari 1727; Sahih Muslim 1301). Women cut only the tips of their hair, about a fingertip’s length.
4. Tawaf al-ifadah, a pillar of Hajj, followed by sa’i for tamattu’ pilgrims, or for others if they did not perform it after the arrival tawaf. It may be delayed to the following days.

This is the order of the Sunnah, but when pilgrims who had performed these rites in a different order asked the Prophet ﷺ about it that day, he replied: “Do it, there is no harm” (Sahih al-Bukhari 83; Sahih Muslim 1306). According to the common view, after the stoning and shaving all the prohibitions of ihram are lifted except marital relations: this is the first release from ihram. After tawaf al-ifadah (and sa’i if it is due), the release is complete.

The 11th, 12th and 13th: the days of tashriq at Mina

Pilgrims return to spend the nights at Mina. Each day, after the sun passes its zenith, they stone the three pillars in order (the small one, the middle one, then Jamrat al-Aqabah), with seven pebbles each; after the first and second, they stop facing the qiblah for a long supplication (Sahih al-Bukhari 1751). Those in a hurry may leave Mina on the 12th before sunset; others stay until the 13th: “whoever hastens [his departure] in two days – there is no sin upon him; and whoever delays [until the third] – there is no sin upon him – for him who fears Allah” (Quran 2:203). These are “days of eating, drinking and remembering Allah” (Sahih Muslim 1141).

The farewell tawaf

Before leaving Makkah, pilgrims make one last tawaf, the farewell tawaf (tawaf al-wada’), obligatory according to most scholars and a Sunnah according to the Malikis. Women who are menstruating or experiencing post-natal bleeding are exempt (Sahih al-Bukhari 1755; Sahih Muslim 1328).

Pillars and obligations

Jurists distinguish the pillars (arkan), without which Hajj is not valid, from the obligations (wajibat), the omission of which is made up for by sacrificing a sheep in the sacred precinct. For the Malikis and Hanbalis, the pillars are ihram, standing at Arafah, tawaf al-ifadah and sa’i; the Shafi’is add shaving or shortening the hair; the Hanafis count mainly the standing at Arafah and tawaf al-ifadah. According to most schools, the obligations include entering ihram at the miqat, staying at Arafah until sunset, the night at Muzdalifah, the nights at Mina, the stoning, shaving and the farewell tawaf. If in doubt, ask your group’s religious guide or a qualified scholar.

Umrah, the “lesser pilgrimage”

Umrah can be performed at any time of year. It has four stages: ihram from the miqat, tawaf, sa’i, then shaving or shortening the hair. It takes a few hours and does not involve Mina, Arafah or Muzdalifah. It is obligatory once in a lifetime according to the Shafi’is and Hanbalis, and strongly recommended according to the Hanafis and Malikis. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Umrah in Ramadan is equal to a Hajj” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1782), meaning in reward: it does not replace the obligatory Hajj.

The conditions for Umrah (type of visa, booking time slots through the Nusuk app) are also set by the Saudi authorities and change regularly: check them before every trip.

The Kaaba and the holy sites

• The Kaaba, “the House”, a cube-shaped building covered with a black embroidered cloth (the kiswah), towards which all Muslims turn in prayer (Quran 2:144). The Black Stone is set in its eastern corner; the Yemeni corner is the southern one. Between the Black Stone and the door lies the Multazam, where it is customary to supplicate.
• The Station of Abraham (Maqam Ibrahim), the stone on which, according to tradition, Abraham stood while building the Kaaba, now protected by a glass and metal casing.
• Zamzam, the spring that gushed forth for Hagar and Ishmael, and Safa and Marwah, whose course is now part of the Grand Mosque.
• The sacred precinct (haram): Allah made Makkah sacred; no hunting is allowed there and its plants are not cut (Sahih al-Bukhari 1587).
• Mina, the city of tents and the Jamarat bridge, built on several levels to ease the flow of pilgrims during the stoning; Muzdalifah, between Mina and Arafah; Arafah, with the Mount of Mercy and the Namirah Mosque.

Madinah is not part of the rites of Hajj, but most pilgrims stay there before or after. The purpose of the journey there is the Prophet’s Mosque ﷺ, one of the three mosques to which one may set out on a journey of devotion (Sahih al-Bukhari 1189; Sahih Muslim 1397), where one prayer is better than a thousand elsewhere, except in the Sacred Mosque (Sahih al-Bukhari 1190; Sahih Muslim 1394). Visitors also greet the Prophet ﷺ at his grave, with respect and reverence. He said: “No one greets me but Allah returns my soul to me so that I may return his greeting” (Sunan Abi Dawud 2041, graded hasan), and: “Allah has angels who travel the earth and convey to me the greetings of my community” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 1282). These greetings can therefore be sent to him from anywhere. To learn more about his life, read our article on the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

The meaning of the rites: in the footsteps of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael

Each stage of Hajj brings to life an episode in the story of Abraham’s family. According to the long account of Ibn Abbas (Sahih al-Bukhari 3364), Abraham left Hagar and the infant Ishmael in the barren valley of Makkah. “Has Allah commanded you to do this?” she asked. “Yes,” he replied. “Then He will not abandon us.” When the water ran out, she ran seven times between Safa and Marwah looking for help, until the spring of Zamzam gushed forth. Abraham had prayed: “Our Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near Your sacred House… So make hearts among the people incline toward them” (Quran 14:37). Millions of hearts have turned towards it ever since.

The sacrifice recalls Abraham’s trial, when he was ready to sacrifice his son at his Lord’s command, and Ishmael’s answer: “O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, of the steadfast.” Allah ransomed the boy “with a great sacrifice” (Quran 37:102–107; read Surah As-Saffat). The Quran explains its meaning: “Their meat will not reach Allah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you” (Quran 22:37). As for the stoning, a tradition reported from the Companion Ibn Abbas (not from the Prophet ﷺ) says that Satan appeared to Abraham at these places to turn him away from Allah’s command, and that Abraham drove him off with stones. There, pilgrims affirm their submission to Allah and their rejection of evil, in a gesture of pure obedience.

Spiritual masters such as al-Ghazali also read the pilgrimage as an image of the journey to the Hereafter: leaving one’s family and country recalls death; the two white sheets recall the shroud and erase differences of rank and wealth; the talbiyah answers the call made by Abraham; the crowd at Arafah, of every language and colour, foreshadows the great gathering on the Day of Judgement; and going back and forth between Safa and Marwah evokes the servant who keeps returning to his Lord’s door, between fear and hope, awaiting His mercy. Finally, the Indian scholar Shah Waliullah of Delhi (d. 1762) compared Hajj to a state periodically reviewing its troops: this annual gathering distinguishes the sincere believer from the hypocrite, shows peoples entering Allah’s religion, and allows believers to meet, help one another and recall the example of the prophets and the righteous. Hajj is thus an effort of body and wealth, offered sincerely to Allah, which purifies the soul and wipes away sins.

Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice

On 10 Dhul Hijjah, while the pilgrims offer their sacrifices at Mina, Muslims all over the world celebrate Eid al-Adha. The first ten days of this month are the best days of the year for good deeds (Sahih al-Bukhari 969), and those who are not on pilgrimage are encouraged to fast on the Day of Arafah, a fast that, by Allah’s grace, expiates the sins of the previous year and the year to come (Sahih Muslim 1162).

• The festival begins with the Eid prayer in the morning, followed by the sermon. The sacrifice is made after this prayer: “Whoever slaughters before the prayer has only offered meat to his family” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5545).
• The sacrifice (udhiyah) is a strongly recommended Sunnah for those who can afford it, according to most scholars, and an obligation according to the Hanafis. One sacrifices a sheep or goat for a person and their household, or a share in a cow or camel divided among seven (Sahih Muslim 1318), respecting the minimum age and freedom from defects. The sacrifice may be made until 12 or 13 Dhul Hijjah, depending on the school.
• Anyone who intends to sacrifice refrains from cutting their hair and nails from the start of Dhul Hijjah (Sahih Muslim 1977).
• One eats some of the meat and gives some to the poor (Quran 22:28 and 22:36); many divide it into three parts, for their household, their relatives and the needy.
• In France and most European countries, slaughter must take place in an approved abattoir; many people also entrust their sacrifice to charities that carry it out where the need is greatest.

The pilgrimage crowns the five pillars of Islam, alongside the declaration of faith (shahada), prayer, zakat and the fast of Ramadan. To draw closer to it today, listen to Surah Al-Hajj and Surah Al-Baqarah, which describe its rites, recited by the reciters of Saudi Arabia. May Allah accept the pilgrimage of those who make it and ease the way to His Sacred House for those who long for it.