Umrah: A Spiritual Reset | Muftī Azeemuddin Ahmed

صلاةً وسلاماً على سيدنا محمد وعلى آل سيدنا محمد وبارك وسلِّم

اللهم علمنا ما ينفعنا وانفعنا بما علمتنا وزدنا علماً وعملاً. اللهم نوِّر قلوبنا بعلمك واستعمل أبداننا لطاعتك ووفقنا لما تحب وترضى من القول والعمل والفعل والنية والهدى إنك على كل شيء قدير، يا الله يا وهاب يا فتاح.

أما بعد — my respected, beloved brothers and sisters, dear listeners, Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Alhamdulillah, Allah has allowed you and I to be part of this beautiful gathering of brothers and sisters who are either immediately, soon, very soon embarking on a journey to the Haramain Sharifain, or, mashallah, who have hope to do so in the future — and hence they are, the way a person should do it, preparing maybe weeks, months, or even years in advance, attending seminars like this with the niyyah, with the hope that they will be able to, inshallah, whenever the time comes, be able to spend it in the most productive manner.

The key thing — there are many things that can be shared here tonight, and the purpose of this is not to be a super comprehensive, beginning-to-end fiqh of Umrah and fiqh of Ziyarah of Medina, and the virtues of it, and the spiritual dimensions of it, and what to stay away from, what to do. Instead, these are just some pieces of advice.

Alhamdulillah, we've had very detailed Umrah workshops — multiple-hour workshops — there are slides with those as well. They are available at the Masjid Darussalam YouTube channel, and we'll be sending out a link as well soon, inshallah, just in case you can't find it. It's there, but just in case you can't find it, for your ease, we're going to be sharing those as well. I encourage those who are going soon to take some time out and not just listen and watch one, but subhanallah, maybe a couple of those, because we've done a number of those.

Recommended Books for the Journey

Alhamdulillah, I have in front of me a whole host of beautiful books that we benefit from, and the key thing is — the best book is the book that you read. So it's not about just keeping a whole chunk of books; rather, inshallah, take something and read it.

The first is Mufti Asim Ahmed's book — it's called Hajj and Umrah: The Epic Journey in the Footsteps of the Prophet. It's orange — for those who can't see it. A very beautiful book that has very nice, detailed write-ups of all the different historical places in Medina and Mecca and the journey. It's something, alhamdulillah, that we can immensely benefit from. It's got all the du'as in the back for the different occasions, and it has a very detailed bibliography at the end as well.

The second book is just on Medina, under the Haramain Guide series, called Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah by brother Abrar Vidachi — A Traveler's Guide to Historical Landmarks in the Noble City, published by Turath Publishing. Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah is almost like a tour guide book, focused entirely on Medina. It's got pictures, write-ups, and QR codes everywhere so you can scan them and actually see where things are today — if you are walking around or driving around in Medina and you want to know where to go visit.

The third is by Mawlana Salim Dorat, Hafizahullah, from Leicester, UK — a great scholar and a master of spirituality and tazkiyah. He has a set of booklets printed from his organization IDA UK (Islamic Dawah Academy UK). There are about nine or ten booklets: one is a Salat-'ala-n-Nabi book, one is called Jami' al-Du'a' wal-Istighfar, one is called How to Perform Hajj, one is How to Perform Umrah, one is How to Perform Ziyarah — how to go say salam and visit the Prophet, a whole booklet on this — then How to Observe the Sanctity of the Haramain Ash-Sharifain, and then lastly Useful Advice for the Travellers to the Haramain. I know couples who go and say "we'll just buy one," and then they tell me afterwards that they were fighting over the booklets and wished they had just bought two. This costs $10 — we should have just bought two, because when you're going for Umrah together, the wife wants it and the husband wants it, and you're going for Ziyarah at the same time. Mashallah, people have benefited alhamdulillah from these booklets enormously.

Last but not least, mashallah, is our very own Dr. Sheikh Hussain Abdul Sattar, Madadallahu 'Alayh, who has written a beautiful book called Perfecting the Journey: The Legal and Spiritual Dimensions of Hajj, Umrah and Visiting Medina. I'm sure most of you have seen this book — it's very well known. He usually does an extremely detailed workshop right before Hajj, a one-day workshop here in Chicago. He is a great educator, so the book you can imagine is very well organized — there's no fluff in it, and everything is clearly mentioned: what needs to be done, the legal verdicts about that, and the spiritual dimensions of it. Mashallah, we have a lot of resources available. The key thing is that we should read these books, inshallah, and make the most of it.

My goal tonight, inshallah, is that we ask Allah to inspire myself and all of us to be able to hear and share that which is most necessary at this time. Allahumma Ameen.

This Journey is an Act of Ibadah, Not a Vacation

Honorable friends, before we start any good deed, we obviously need to know the virtues of it. Performing Umrah and Hajj — going on this blessed journey — is most definitely an act of ibadah. And you might say that's obvious. But the situation we find ourselves in today is that it is not obvious — that this is an act of ibadah and not a vacation.

When we're doing something as ibadah, there has to be a certain protocol. Like when we come to the Masjid — we might be doing all kinds of things with our kids and our spouses elsewhere, but when you come to the Masjid, there's a certain level of respect and honor that we give to the house of Allah. There's a certain way we dress when we come to the Masjid. Allah says:

Beautify yourself — adorn yourself, not for anybody, but adorn yourself for Allah. That is why our ulama, when I spend time with my teachers for example, they are very particular. They have separate sleeping clothes and separate Salah clothes — even in journey, they'll have separate clothes for Salah. The point is that just as a person does not sleep in his work clothes and does not go to work in his sleep clothes, similarly, they would not go to the Masjid and perform Salah in their sleep clothes.

I've mentioned Sheikh Hashim, Hafizahullah — a senior convert scholar who has been here alhamdulillah a few times in the past. One of the brothers who was spending the night here told me: the sheikh wakes up about two hours before Fajr for his Tahajjud. But what was amazing is that he spends a good amount of time in the bathroom washing up, then combing his hair nicely, tying his turban, putting on a nice kurta, a waistcoat, and an overcoat. You would think he's about to go to a wedding or a waleema, or at least give a khutbah — but he's walking from the room into the prayer hall to perform his Tahajjud Salah. This is his habit: before Tahajjud, wherever he is, he spends time adorning himself for Allah. May Allah grant us tawfiq.

That is why our mashayikh and elders were very particular — when a person goes to Salah, don't wear a t-shirt, cover your head, pray properly. The immediate response might be "but Salah is valid." Okay, fine — at times it may well be, depending on what you're wearing. But the idea is that there has to be a level of respect we show to Allah and to the Masjid. If this is the standard for every single Salah — imagine visiting the blessed cities of Mecca and Medina, visiting Allah's house and the house of Rasulullah. How much etiquette we should have!

My beloved brothers, that's why I repeat: this journey is not a vacation. It is not a family trip. It is not a bachelor's trip, or whatever you want to call it. It is a huge, powerful ibadah. And ibadah — an act of worship — will only remain ibadah if it is done according to the Sunnah of the Prophet.

There are many times non-Muslim brothers come to witness what happens here, or they want to feel spiritual. They sit in the back; they don't know what to do. We respect the fact that they're trying — but you can't call that Salah, because Salah is that which you follow the Habib Mustafa, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. You perform Isha Salah as eight raka'at — it's not going to count. You perform Juma' as four — that's not going to work. Because any ibadah is only ibadah if it's done the way Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, did it.

So imagine this blessed journey to Mecca and Medina — if it's ibadah, it has to be in line with Rasulullah's Sunnah. And how important that is when we're actually going to visit the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. When Allah says:

Whoever obeys the Messenger of Allah has obeyed Allah. We're going to visit him. So this journey from beginning to end needs to be a journey of ibadah followed with Sunnah. The ulama say: the journey to Mecca and Medina, of Umrah and Hajj — this is a safar of ishq, the journey of love. They say: this is a journey of building a relationship with Allah and His Rasul.

It is not a check mark. Some say: "my father-in-law said he won't trust me until I do Umrah or Hajj, so I gotta get it done." Or: "we have a family habit every December — where do we go? We go for Umrah." That sounds good — I like that. But if it's just a check mark, done without much thought, then unfortunately we will not derive the benefit we need to.

How the Journey Has Changed

Makkah and Medina is very different from what it was during the time of the Prophet, and from what it was a few hundred years ago, and from what it was a hundred years ago. Previously, when a person visited Makkah and Medina, the journey would take months and required great difficulty. It wasn't something you'd randomly decide on at the last moment. It would take you weeks or months, and it was a journey filled with difficulty — highway robbers, chances of getting lost, chances of passing away on the path through the deserts, and so on.

So that journey itself was so powerful that the ulama write: by the time a person would arrive in Hijaz al-Muqaddas, his rectification — his islah — would already be done. His sins would be forgiven; the filth on his heart would be scraped off; he had already gained immense closeness to Allah. And whatever happened then in Makkah and Medina was just noor upon noor — layers of light upon whatever light had already been created on that journey. Then the journey back was as hard as the initial one, so it was just sealing it all — like the dum at the end of the biryani, the final moments to solidify everything.

So when a person came back home — what happened? He lost his old name. He was no longer Khan Sahib, Khalid Sahib, Yusuf Sahib. What had he become? Haji Sahib. The old name was gone because his old life was gone, and with his old life his old name was also gone. He was now Haji Sahib, mashallah, and he would begin to lead a whole different, new life.

SubhanAllah — so there were three things happening: one was the journey going there, which was challenging and long. Number two was the stay there — which was also very difficult. People would routinely carry food with them; you can ask some of the uncles sitting here about their own or their father's or uncle's journey — bringing rice and dal all the way from their own countries, sitting there for forty days cooking. Very little food, no restaurants, no giveaways — everything was tough. The stay in Mecca and Medina also was challenging. And then, of course, the return was different. While in Mecca and Medina, there were no fun spots. It was from your small, simple room to the Haram Sharif and back — that's it. There was nothing that could possibly distract a person. No TVs, no screens, nothing fancy. Simple, simple food. There was nothing that would pull a person away.

Hence, my beloved brothers and sisters, one Hajj and one Umrah would be more than sufficient to change a person's life. And the hadith mentions:

The one who goes on the journey of Hajj and does not commit a major sin and does not commit any act of lewdness — he will come back like the day his mother gave him birth, meaning completely sinless.

An accepted Hajj — there is no reward for it except Paradise. And the many other great rewards that have been promised are for this type of Hajj — where it's done properly.

The Challenges of Today's Journey

Now let's see where we are today, my beloved friends. We are not going to be able to understand how to maximize the benefit of our journey until we understand what the challenges are. We don't have to face highway robbers right now, alhamdulillah. We don't have to worry about food running out on our journey. We don't have to worry about inadequate medical care. But we have a different set of challenges.

Challenge number one is how quick this journey has become. If you're from New York, you can take a non-stop flight to arrive in Jeddah. Very soon, as new airlines have come around, we'll have non-stop flights from different cities of the United States. So it is a real possibility that on your Umrah journey, you sit down, and 14–15 hours later you're still connected to Wi-Fi, still doing your work, checking the stock market, checking your charts. They have Starlink on the plane now — faster Wi-Fi than at home, subhanAllah. You can have a full-scale video conference call without any lag. So you continue to do work, enjoy your food and drinks, and subhanAllah — you arrive in Jeddah. "Oh, did I even put on my Ihram? I hope so." And you go on to Makkah, or take a train to Medina. Within 15–16 hours you could still be wearing your scrubs and you're already there.

This has pros, but also cons. The benefit is obviously that because you can go so quickly, you can go multiple times. But the harm is that it doesn't allow us to mentally or spiritually prepare — it's too fast. Hence, if a person does not properly plan in advance — "my flight is one week away, my flight is two weeks away, one month away, I need to start preparing properly" — otherwise subhanAllah, he will find himself sitting in Medina without even knowing how he got there.

Number two — the journey itself is filled with ghaflah. There are TVs right in front of your face. You cannot avoid what the person to your right or left or in front of you is watching. The rules that previously restricted what kinds of content could be shown on flights have been removed, so some of the worst types of content are now readily available. You have to make an extra effort — keep your glasses off, go to sleep, put an eye patch over your eyes, sleep as much as you can, read, and look down wherever you go. Then you have people who don't follow our faith sitting around us, sometimes drinking alcohol right next to you — it happened to a brother who told me a whole bottle of red wine was spilled on him on his journey.

So from the airports to arrival, a person has to make sure that their gazes are protected, their ears are protected, their mind is protected, and their time is not being wasted. Previously, journeys for Hajj and Umrah happened as one large group traveling by ship — everyone was going together. Now, the person next to you is going on a gambling trip, the one next to you is going on a business trip, the one in front of you is going to a wedding. You have to keep reminding yourself: "I am on a different journey from these people."

The Obstacles Within the Haramain

And then our stay in the Haramain — this is the crux of my talk tonight — is filled with obstacles. Not in terms of hardship, but rather in terms of luxury and distraction. That is actually the problem.

There is a constant push from every direction to make it into a pure tourist destination — religious tourism. The amount of shopping, the movie theaters — yes, movie theaters — indoor golf, parks, laser tag, theme parks, restaurants of every single cuisine, thousands of the most extravagant stores built right around the Haram, with hotels inside the malls. A person came with a need to change focus, but his journey was so quick that he didn't even realize what he'd left behind, and as soon as he arrives it feels like you're in Orlando on winter break. You have to constantly tell yourself: I am not here for a resort and a vacation.

You should take your kids and have fun — I agree. Take your wife and have fun — most definitely. But the Haramain, my brothers and sisters, is not one of those places where you just have amazing family time. It has to be on the basis of spirituality and rohaniyah. You and your spouse say: "Alright — we're going to compete: how many khatms of Quran are we going to make? How many thousands of salawat are we going to do? How much time are we going to spend in the Haram? How many qada Salah are we going to make up?" And with your children: "Boys and girls — whoever spends the most time in the Haram gets a hundred-dollar gift card. Whoever finishes one khatm in Mecca and Medina, I'll give you a thousand dollars — you can buy whatever you want when you come back home." Make it exciting, make it fun, do whatever you want — but the goal must be clear. We are here for a very specific purpose. Our tourism is looking at the Ka'bah and looking at the Rawdah of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.

A little bit of time to focus on history is fine — but remember, my beloved brothers, we are not anthropologists or historians trying to figure out where Islam came from. We are not on a historical trip sent from our liberal arts college. We are on a religious journey to rectify our hearts. So it's very important that we don't act like a historian while we're there. You see the athar and the relics from the time of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, to create love — Allahu Akbar! "This is where Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, rested. This is where the Prophet's daughter was. This is where the Prophet's companion's house was." You want to see that because it creates within you love for Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam — that's the point.

That's why I said it's important to know enough of Medina — and that's why we should read these books before we go. To know exactly where the Masjid is, where it starts and where it ends, what was the historical part of Rasulullah's, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's, Masjid that is now dwarfed by everything around it, what is the significance of each of the pillars, where does Riyadhul Jannah start and where does it end, where is the Prophet's, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's, actual resting place, where is his face facing, where are his feet facing, who is resting next to whom, and so on. And of course, Makkah al-Mukarramah — the historical significance of the Ka'bah, the virtues of it, the different corners, and the different places where du'as are accepted.

This amount of study is important before we go. Otherwise, subhanAllah — I remember one day I was in Medina, and one youngster from the group, four or five days in, came to me and said: "So I heard the Prophet is somewhere here — where is he?" And I'm like: subhanAllah, for four days the person does not know where the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, is. Because he didn't prepare, he wasn't there for the presentations, he wasn't there for the workshops.

We have experienced people calling and saying: "Brother, Isha is starting in five minutes — quick, board your flight." "No problem, actually I'm at the gate boarding my flight for Hajj — could you give me a quick synopsis of how to do Hajj?" What are you going to do? These are not exaggerated stories. And I'll say the same thing for marriage — people say: "Brother, give me a quick — what's the du'a I'm supposed to read tonight?" May Allah have mercy on you. If you haven't even studied this, what's the future going to look like, subhanAllah.

Guarding the Gaze: The Most Critical Warning

Madinah al-Munawwarah and Makkah al-Mukarramah — constantly keep this in mind: this is our mujahadah. To guard our gaze, guard our time, guard our money, guard our iman.

Makkah and Medina — the door has been opened to all sorts of people, including people who are outside of the faith. In Medina you'll openly see that there's no restriction on clothing either. Scholars from my own colleagues here have told me of what they have witnessed — you can just imagine. Wallahi al-'Azeem, on the day of Eid in Madinah al-Munawwarah, a scholar here from this institute told me he froze — in Ramadan, on Eidul Fitr — he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Get yourself accustomed, because why? We're thinking, "SubhanAllah, I guard my gaze — I work downtown Chicago, I work in San Francisco, I'm fine." But when you go to Medina — you put your guard down.

My beloved brothers and sisters, put your guard up. As Mawlana Suleiman mentioned so importantly after Isha — the ayah he recited and explained — the Haram is such a place that even the mere intention of committing a sin, Allah warns that He will make you taste a painful torment. In other places you don't get punished on the basis of a mere intention. But in the Haramain it is very sacred — how dare you allow a bad thought to come into your heart? Just having a bad thought can actually become a means of major sin and the punishment of Allah.

So speak to your wife and your kids — or your husband and children — and say: "Listen, just as previously there were different trials, we are going in now also with trials. Make sure, number one, you guard your gaze." I cannot over-emphasize this. Whoever cannot guard his gaze in Medina and Mecca — in the airport, in the Haram — in my opinion, his not going would have been far better than his going. Because to commit the sin of letting the gaze roam around in these blessed lands will bring about such darkness to the heart that no amount of Zamzam will clean that out.

Alhamdulillah, many brothers have opened up to me about this. My Sheikh, Hafizahullah, has told me: those who are married should try their best to always come to the Haramain with their spouses. Imagine — my elder Sheikh is saying this. He said things have gotten to such a state now that in Mecca and Medina, if a person is married, it is better that husbands and wives come together. May Allah improve our relationships — and if your relationship is not good, fix it first, because you could cause bigger problems over there. But may Allah allow husbands and wives to become a libas for each other and a means of protecting from every sin. Allahumma Ameen.

One of the senior scholars of tazkiyah, Sheikh Yunus, Rahimahullah — originally from South Africa, tracing back to India — he passed away in 2011 after performing Tawaf. He said in one of his talks: "A man came to me in Medina and said, 'I had a dream — can you give an interpretation?'" The Sheikh heard it, then looked at the man and said: "May I ask you something? Did you commit zina in Medina?" And the man said: "Yes, I did." He said: "That is what this dream is about."

Then Sheikh Yunus said — and he said this to make us careful — "Be very careful about the children you leave behind in your rooms. Many times you say 'someone is not praying so we leave them in the room.' You do not know what fitna is happening." I actually heard with my own ears from a student who went with a high school group for Umrah: "We're in Medina, we have guys and girls in the same room and we're playing music and dancing." He said this himself — this is what happened in his high school senior Umrah group from an Islamic school, not a public school.

This is how Shaytan works. He knows that someone can change, and Mecca and Medina is the most powerful place for that change — so Shaytan puts his most powerful generals on the ground, and his special focus is on those people who are going to the Haramain, men and women, young and old. How can he ensure they have not only an unfruitful trip, but an extremely harmful one?

Because of the abundance of opportunities — you know those swipe-right, swipe-left apps, those who know them know them — a brother told me: "SubhanAllah, I'm standing outside Masjid al-Nabawi. I turned on the app — and SubhanAllah, I see a bunch of people offering themselves: 100 feet away, 200 feet away." الْعَقْلُ تَكْفِيهِ الإِشَارَةُ — these are direct stories I have heard. But why in Medina? Because Shaytan creates an idea — look at how many affairs happen when a husband and wife are lawfully married and living together. We deal with this a lot — every Imam will tell you how many affairs are happening in our community between married couples. SubhanAllah, why? A big chunk of divorce is because of affairs, or at least addiction — addiction to the worst types of content. But you have a wife next to you, you have a husband next to you — why are you doing this? That's what Shaytan does. What you have halal, he will turn you away from it. What is haram, he will make you focus on that.

A brother told me last week: a person from a specific profession had a good offer overseas, so he moved with his wife and kids — thinking he would be close to Mecca and Medina. Then, his friend started posting on WhatsApp status that he was attending, with his friends and his kids, a concert by one of the most fahish artists and musicians. The brother messaged him: "In your entire life in America you never dreamed of going to any concert, much less this one — why did you go all the way there, from near Mecca and Medina, to attend a concert like this?" The friend said: "Well, we had guests coming over from overseas and we didn't know what to do, so we just went." Look at how Shaytan plays. In America, he would never have done this. But look at how this evil Iblis took him over there in the name of being close to the Haramain and involved him in things he never did. This is just the beginning — Allah knows what the future will hold for those children.

May Allah protect all of us. What we're dealing with is unprecedented. There are always fitan, but what we're dealing with today is very subtle, very quick, and it presents itself in noor — it's what we call a nurani waswasa. It's a waswasa of Shaytan packaged like medicine. It's like poison packaged like medicine. It's like drugs put into an ajwa date. That's why Nabi, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said that towards the end of times:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5590)

They will make silk halal, they will make drinking halal — and they will just change the name. Nabi, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, also talked about riba — how you cannot avoid riba at the end of times. If you don't indulge directly in riba, you will be touched by its smoke.

So my beloved friends — Mecca and Medina is the place of ruhaniyah, the ultimate place of spirituality. But think of it as though it's surrounded by layers and layers — like an onion you have to peel. When a person goes to Mecca and Medina, put on these glasses and say: "I am here to get to the treasure, and I am not going to get distracted by anything else." Focus on constantly building a relationship with Allah.

Instead of focusing on how many a'mal we're doing, focus on staying away from sin. And the most important sin to stay away from is the misuse of the gaze. Train yourself to look down. Do your dhikr. Look down and walk — this is how our asatidha taught us to walk. Look at your shoes and walk, obviously using common sense so you don't trip or bump into somebody. Just keep a habit of looking down, alhamdulillah.

Similarly, in Tawaf — make sure your gaze is also lowered. You are going around the Ka'bah right now. You have a proximity to the opposite gender that you've never had in your entire life, and they're all Muslims, so Shaytan creates even more fitnah. You have to guard your heart and your gaze.

One person shared a vision with me. He said: "I see the Ka'bah. The noor of Allah is pouring down — like a Niagara waterfall — pouring down, splashing on all the people doing Tawaf, cleansing their hearts and purifying them from their sins. But then there are certain people — that waterfall, that noor, is simply bypassing them. It's pouring down but it's not hitting them, it's just going around them." I asked: "Who are those people?" He told me — when he looked closely, those people did not have human faces. Their faces were of pigs and monkeys — قِرَدَةً وَخَنَازِيرَ. "Who are these people with faces like pigs, faces like monkeys, whom the noor is clearly missing?" He said: "These are the people who are performing Tawaf with the wrong intentions" — intentions of fuhsh, of lewdness.

When I used to take the youth, I would tell the young men: "Be careful — even of certain men — be aware of what is going on around you." My students would come back and say: "Sheikh, thank you so much for that advice — subhanAllah, that happened to me and I was able to quickly realize what was going on and protect myself." Women are never going to open up and share that this happened to them and how they got violated. But they do get violated. Young boys get violated. Men get violated. My dear brothers, there is no place where Shaytan does not attack.

I already told you from the very beginning — this is not a typical Umrah workshop. The books, the links are there; you can listen to that. I'm focusing on the specific dimensions that people don't speak about, that you find hard to find in books, but from my experience I've seen them happening. So do not ever put your guard down thinking that we're in the blessed city and nothing will happen here. Rather, understand that even more things can happen — because Shaytan is working extra hard to ensure that you have a bad, negative experience. Go into the storm knowing what you're dealing with, and put chains on your tires. I'm not saying don't go. Go — but just chain yourself properly.

The Danger of Spiritual Unpreparedness

The worst possible attack of Shaytan — what could be the worst thing? That a person begins to doubt their deen and actually leaves Islam. This past month, a brother reached out to me and said: "How do I deal with my son? He came back from university and I see he doesn't pray." He said, "I paid top dollar for one of the top elite universities of America — I cannot believe you don't pray." The son said: "No, I don't pray. I don't believe in Islam anymore." He told me: "We even went for Umrah." I said, "Tell me what happened in Umrah." He said: after coming back from Umrah, his son's doubts or distance from Islam actually started from that very trip. He said: "I felt it hollow." And his son's best friend is in the exact same situation — they both went for Umrah, and they're both now ex-Muslims.

As shocking as this may seem — this is not shocking to me. I have seen multiple, unfortunately, incidents where people have left Islam after performing Umrah, and some while they were over there. This is happening more often. If this is scaring you, it should — it scares me. This is the era of fitna. This is not a joke. This is not exaggeration. There's not a hint of exaggeration in what I am saying to you, in the house of Allah.

There was a brother who came here after Dhuhr with questions about Islam — basically he said he's no longer Muslim. A young boy from our local community, not too far from here. One of our students spent two hours answering his objections in person, then kept meeting him for a week. Eventually he asked him: "Look, we're not going anywhere — what's your deal?" He said: "No, I don't want to accept Islam. I just love arguing." And then he said — this is a desi brother — "When did you leave Islam?" He said: "When I just came back from Umrah. I left Islam, and now I just want to argue with people."

Take these stories and understand from them: Umrah is not automatically a solution to a person's spiritual slump. One hundred years ago, that journey itself would fix a person up. But right now, those external benefits don't simply pour in. You really have to go searching for them. And if you're already spiritually sick, you're not going to go searching — instead you'll lose your slippers, you'll get frustrated at crowds, you'll lose your bag, you'll say "I can't believe it, I would never recommend anyone to go on this journey." What kind of iman is that?

Why is this happening? Because people are not spiritually ready to go. We have to clean things out first. There is a concept in Tasawwuf and Tazkiyah — Takhliyah and Tahliyah. Takhliyah means to empty out the container first. Like getting rid of all the cobwebs and insects in the corners of your garage before you throw on a fresh coat of paint. If you do not sweep and clean first and just start painting, you'll have a messed-up wall — all those dead insects stuck like fossils. So that spiritual work of emptying our heart from filth must be done first, before we start adding things to our soul. Make sense? Empty first, then beautify.

I visited a drug rehab center in South Africa — Darul Islah — a 90-day program that is open to Muslims and non-Muslims dealing with drug, alcohol, and all sorts of addictions. Part of their strict regimen is that you must do 100,000 istighfar within the first fourteen days, among tens of other things. They had multiple Hindu clients who, by the time they finished 100,000 istighfar, accepted Islam. No one pressured them — they were just doing istighfar. They came in sincerely: "I'm a drug addict, my wife kicked me out, my parents kicked me out, I'm lost, I need help." And Allah gave them Islam and cured them of their addiction.

So no matter how far we are from the deen, if we hold on to istighfar and do it properly — and the ulama say: اسْتِغْفَارُنَا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الاِسْتِغْفَارِ — our istighfar itself requires istighfar, meaning the quality of our istighfar is so poor that we need to repent from our repentance. The istighfar has to be done with remorse: "Ya Allah, please forgive me. I messed up. If I die in this state, I'll be in big trouble." A person has to feel broken inside. The hadith says:

(Reported in various narrations with similar wording; cf. al-Suyuti's al-Jami' al-Saghir)

Allah says: if you want to find Me, you will find Me with those whose hearts are broken for My sake. When was the last time we cried and said: "Ya Allah, I'm crying because of how much I have sinned against You. You could have made me choke on my lunch. You could have made me slip on black ice. You could have made my brakes fail. But You saved me, every single day, from all of this — and yet I have sinned so much."

Tawbah: The Key to a Beneficial Journey

My beloved brothers — if I can give you one word to make our trip to the Haramain Sharifain beneficial and successful, it is: tawbah.

Tawbah is not just saying "astaghfirullah" repeatedly. Astaghfirullah is a component of tawbah. So what is tawbah? Repentance consists of several parts:

First — a person has to immediately give up the sin they are involved in. If you're repenting, it does not count if you are still involved in it. But a person might say: "SubhanAllah, I'm an addict — I can't live without it." In that case, at least have a firm resolve: "I want to stop. If someone could yank it out from me, I'm ready. I hate what I'm doing." Some people are fully addicted and need therapy, a rehab center, spirituality, and someone above their head to help them. If you sincerely feel guilty about your bad habit, seek assistance — that's a sign of true desire for change.

Second — make a firm resolve never to go back to it again.

Third — feel genuine remorse and guilt. Nadamah.

Fourth — seek forgiveness from Allah earnestly. Say "astaghfirullah" with a broken heart.

Fifth — if the sin involves someone else's rights — if you have usurped someone's rights, attacked someone's honor, carried tales, said terrible things about people — then seek forgiveness from them. You don't have to go and say, "By the way, I said all these xyz things about you — are you going to forgive me?" Don't say it like that; you don't want to pour salt on wounds. They might not even know about it. Instead, say generally: "Please forgive me for anything I may have intentionally or unintentionally done towards you." And then try to make it up — do a Tawaf on their behalf, recite a thousand salawat and dedicate the reward to that person, send salam on their behalf to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.

This was the du'a of Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, himself:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2601)

"O Allah, I am only a human. So for any servant of Yours that I may have cursed, or hit, or hurt — oh Allah, allow the pain he has suffered through my hands and through my tongue to become a means of him being forgiven and becoming close to You." This is Rasulullah's, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's, own du'a for himself. Imagine how much more you and I need to make such a du'a. But when do we make du'a? It's always everyone's fault except ours. We never want to look inside and say: "What am I doing wrong?"

And as Mawlana Sahib was saying in Medina: deen is not about doing what you feel like doing; deen is about doing what you need to do. A person says: "Sheikh, I want to do one more Umrah." Do you know what is more important than your second Umrah right now? Calling your sister whom you haven't spoken to in three years. Seeking forgiveness from those you have hurt. Mending your relationship with your relatives. That is more important than the second Umrah. That is more important than the third khatmul Quran. More important than giving iftaar to fifty people. Because we seek forgiveness from those people whom we have hurt.

Sixth — come up with a game plan for how you are going to get rid of this sin going forward. For example: "I don't wake up for Fajr. In the Haram I slept three hours and was there from Tahajjud till Isha — but when I come back home I still don't pray Fajr." You have to sit in Medina or Mecca and say: "How will I ensure that I will never miss Fajr again in my life?" You need a game plan. If your answer is "I'll put an alarm" — well, did you not do that before? If it still didn't wake you, you have to make some major changes.

Why Are Repeated Trips Not Bringing Change?

So my beloved brothers — why is it that trips to Mecca and Medina are not bringing the changes that one journey used to produce? Today there are people doing repeated Umrah, repeated Hajj — and when they come back on the flight, you can't tell if they're coming back from the Bahamas or from Medina. They went the same and they came back the same. They were missing salat going, missing salat coming back. They are not present in the Masjid afterwards. Dear men — after Umrah, if you're not present for daily Salah in the Masjid, what have you gotten? That is the basic thing we should come back with.

What about our major sins? Disrespect to parents — not only from the young ones, but from those of us who are married with kids and now have elderly parents. What is our relationship with our mom and dad? The stories that come to us — wallah, your heart and your hair stand on end. Recently someone approached me saying: "We're thinking of kicking our mom out of the house." I said: "Literally — you want to ask my advice about kicking your mother out of the house?" "All the siblings have agreed, I just want your input." Allahu Akbar.

What else? Riba — indulgence in riba. If you're paying riba on something or taking riba from it, astaghfirullah — repent. Say: "Ya Allah, get me out of this mess." Is Allah capable or not capable of helping you out? If you say He's not capable, then you're not a Muslim. If you say He is capable, then start begging Allah for help. A young physician told me: he came to the Masjid after Maghrib one evening and cried like crazy in a corner — like his parents had died — because he was going through medical school but couldn't take an interest-bearing loan, and he didn't know what to do. An uncle from the Masjid went to him, asked what was wrong, heard the story — and paid for his entire medical school. When I shared this story, that man was in the room. His own wife and kids did not know. He came to me afterwards and said: "That was me. That happened twenty years ago." The power of du'a. No matter what situation you are in — cry like this: "Ya Allah, I'm sick of sin. I want to get out."

Other major sins to repent from: eating from non-halal or doubtful sources — this destroys our good deeds and kills motivation. Watching haram and listening to haram — repent from that. Misusing our tongue — cursing, lying, making false claims and false promises, backbiting. These are major sins of the tongue. Neglect of the Quran — in Ramadan we open it, but what about the rest of the year? Have we been reading? Have we been reflecting on the meanings? That too is a major sin we need to repent from.

Haya, Hijab, and Modesty

Having a life of haya and modesty — from the modesty of how we dress to the modesty of how we speak and look. I will earnestly ask my beloved mothers and sisters to please repent from the sin of not covering properly. It cannot be that a person goes for Umrah and Hajj without observing hijab, then observes it over there, and then comes back without it. That does not make sense. This goes directly against our deen and the teachings of the Quran and Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. People say: "Do I have a jinn? Did I get nazar? Did I get black magic?" Number one — if a person does not follow hijab, you don't need anyone to do black magic on you. This is sufficient to invite all sorts of problems.

And hijab is not just covering the hair. Hijab is an entire way of life. And who must observe this way of life? Men as well. When we're talking about men, we don't use the word hijab — we say a life of haya. The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, has been described in the hadith as having had more haya than an unmarried girl sitting in her carriage (hodaj):

So I don't want anyone to think that hijab and haya are only for women. Absolutely not. A brother came from a wedding very upset and told me: the boy came, the girl came, they danced with their friends to music and DJs, everything was inappropriate — dancing, music, immodest clothing. But what broke his heart was this: he went to the lobby and saw some of the main uncles — from a different Masjid — with their cameras on, recording. A 60–70-year-old man, in a room full of 500 people — his own kids, his grandkids, his wife right there — videotaping girls dancing. That is what you call a man who has no haya. That is just as wrong as the immodesty he was recording. Both are wrong. Our deen is beautiful — it does not focus on just one gender.

And the last thing to repent from — not caring about the Ummah. The fact that our heart does not ache for the Ummah — for the frozen children who have died in Gaza this week, multiple children dying in Sudan, Yemen, across the entire globe where Muslims are being persecuted and oppressed. How much does our heart ache? And number two — how much does our heart ache when we hear all of these stories I just shared with you? Your heart should cry: "Ya Allah, what is the Ummah of my Nabi, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, going through? How much pain is Nabi, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, experiencing?"

People who have had dreams and come to share them with me — multiple people share experiences of seeing Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, in their dreams, and Nabi, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, is most definitely very hurt. One of his students, broken-hearted, went to say salam to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He poured his heart out: "Ya Rasulullah — the Ummah is in blood. What's happening in Al-Aqsa, what's happening here and there, deen is being desecrated, people aren't following the Sunnah." That night, he had a dream — there was a line of people going in to say salam, and his turn came. He went inside and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, was crying. He started crying too, seeing the Prophet crying. Then the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said: "There are two things the Ummah is doing that is hurting me greatly." One — the misuse and excessive use of smartphones, because every sin is coming through this. And the second — those who come to say salam to me while not maintaining their beards. "This hurts me."

So let us ask Allah: "Ya Allah, whatever major or minor sin I am involved in — that I am aware of and that I am not aware of — allow me to repent from it."

And the last sin to repent from: negligence of amr bil ma'ruf wa nahy 'anil munkar. Our Nabi, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, did it. And that is exactly what the Quran says:

You are the best of peoples, brought forth for mankind — you invite towards good, and you forbid from evil. Today nobody does that anymore. A father cannot correct his son. An Imam cannot correct his congregation. But subhanAllah, we have to — we're not answerable to the people, we're answerable to Allah. And remember — speaking the truth needs to be done with wisdom. If we don't do it with wisdom, it'll actually have a more harmful effect.

Practical Advice for the Journey

This is the reason why I encourage all of us to spend time in Umrah with a scholar who focuses on spirituality. If you go to a museum — any museum — you need a guide unless you are yourself an expert in that field. Haramayn Sharifayn is the most beautiful place, but how are you supposed to extract the noor that is descending on the Ka'bah? You need experts, and they will tell you: one of the key things is adab and respect. The more respect we have for Medina and Mecca in our hearts, the more benefit we will derive.

So whatever happens on this journey — do not complain. With all of the things I've mentioned, like this happening and that happening — we should not make that the focal point. When Nabi, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, was sent, was Makkah better or worse? There were idols inside the Ka'bah. People were performing Tawaf naked. But the Ka'bah was still the Ka'bah. So focus on ourselves. You and I are not government officials. Just stay low key, do your thing, and come back — inshallah — super strong. That is the most beneficial approach.

Salah on the Journey

Make sure you pray your Fard Salah on the journey. Pray Salah based on where you are — not based on where you're going or where you came from. If you cannot stand up and pray due to regulations, then pray in your seat, but make it up once you land. This is the safest opinion — because the inability to stand was due to rules, not a physical incapacity, and qiyam is Fard. So you will pray Dhuhr, Asr, and Isha as two raka'at (qasr), and Witr as three raka'at. Fajr remains two and Maghrib remains three.

When you are stationary — staying in the Haram — ideally pray your Sunnah prayers. When actively traveling, if you miss the Sunnah, that's fine. And when you are praying behind the Imam in Makkah or Medina, even as a traveler, you follow the Imam and pray the full number of raka'at.

Salatul Janazah

It is very important to learn the method of Salatul Janazah — because after almost every Salah in both cities, there will be a Janazah. When it is announced, you stand up, say Allahu Akbar, and recite the thana:

Then say Allahu Akbar. In the Hanafi school you do not raise your hands for the subsequent takbirs; in the Shafi'i school you do. After the second takbir, recite Surah al-Fatihah (in the Shafi'i school). After the third takbir, recite the du'a for the deceased. Memorize it:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 3201; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1024)

If it is a male: اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهُ. If it is a female: اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهَا. If it is a child: اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْهُ لَنَا أَجْرًا وَذُخْرًا وَاجْعَلْهُ لَنَا شَافِعًا وَمُشَفَّعًا — because the child is already forgiven, so you make du'a for the parents.

Surah al-Kawthar Before Arriving in Medina

As mentioned in In the Court of Rasulullah by Mawlana Haji Farooq, Rahimahullah, and by other ulama: recite Surah al-Kawthar one thousand times on your journey to Medina, with the intention that ya Allah, allow the reward of this to go to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, as a gift. Surah al-Kawthar is itself a gift from Allah to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. We are going to the home of the most senior creation of Allah — it is only befitting that we present a gift before we arrive.

Give Sadaqah in the Haramain

Find opportunities to give sadaqah while you are in Mecca and Medina. Ask your group leader to buy food and serve it. There are many poor people and refugees there. In Mecca there are people from Burma, for example, who have been living there for fifty or sixty years — a very ajeeb situation. You can buy food and drop it off. You can also give to the workers in the Haram — those who clean and maintain the area get paid very little. Take extra money to give out; change it into riyals and go hand it out.

Drink Zamzam Abundantly

Do not forget to drink excessive amounts of Zamzam. The hadith says a hypocrite is not able to drink a lot of Zamzam. Drink so much that you feel the coolness deep in your ribs. And every single time you drink Zamzam, make the proper du'a:

(Reported by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, and others; Imam al-Nawawi mentioned this du'a in al-Adhkar)

Oh Allah, I ask You for beneficial knowledge, abundant sustenance, and cure from every disease. And make your intention for both spiritual and physical disease — don't limit it to physical only. The hadith says: the water of Zamzam is for whatever it was drunk for — whatever niyyah you make while drinking it, inshallah you will get that.

I'll tell you from my own experience — alhamdulillah, multiple times I've been in front of the Ka'bah after a half hour of Tahajjud and Tawaf, waiting for Fajr, and suddenly needing to use the bathroom badly. If I leave, the gates will close and I'll never make it back in. So I grab some Zamzam, drink it, and say: "Ya Allah, please remove this need from me." And subhanAllah — not once, but multiple times — I was able to stay all the way past sunrise, past Ishraq, an extra two hours. The need was gone. Zamzam is powerful.

Prepare a Du'a List

Create a Google Form and share it with your family and community: "I am going for Umrah on this date — please put your du'a requests here so I can go make this du'a on your behalf." Mashallah, I get like 300 requests — it takes me hours. But honestly, I benefit enormously, because many times I am crying more at other people's du'as than my own, because they are making such amazing du'as. You genuinely put your heart into it. And every du'a you make for somebody else: an angel says "Ameen," and an angel says: "And may you have the same." It's a win-win-win situation.

Also write your own personal du'a list — because in the peak of the moment, looking at the Ka'bah, you can go blank. Usually we remember a lot of things when we're falling asleep or driving. Write them down. Print them out and keep them with you. You can start on your 14-hour flight — sleep, eat, pray your Salah, then pull out your paper and start making du'a. One round on the flight, one round in Medina, one round in Makkah, one round on the journey back. Allahu Akbar — that is the best gift you could have given anybody, and you've given it to yourself as well.

Tawaf: Upstairs or Downstairs?

Regarding whether to do Tawaf close to the Ka'bah on the ground floor or on the second floor to avoid contact with the opposite gender — my ustad prefers the second floor, just to have his own space. This is not a marathon or a time trial. Quality is important. If it takes you two hours, go ahead — just do it nicely. However, if you're a bit elderly or weak, doing it from upstairs might be more challenging. Know yourself. And with regard to the concern about the opposite gender during Tawaf — do not overthink about it. This is also a problem. The cure for waswasah is: say أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ and move on. If you have glasses, keep them off, look down, and be lost in du'a — keep your hands raised and make tons and tons of du'a. Cry to Allah.

Closing: Keep These Points in Mind

I hope inshallah we can keep these points in mind. The rest of the books mentioned are available — see if they're outside. Useful Advice for the Travellers and others are there, inshallah.

If I said anything of benefit, it is only from Allah. May Allah allow me to benefit from what I said most, and all of us as well. If I said anything inappropriate or wrong, may Allah forgive me for that, and I ask forgiveness from all of you as well.

Last but not least — this is why I encourage all of us to spend time in Umrah with a scholar who focuses on spirituality. This is why I make a point to invite my Sheikh, Mawlana Abdullah, Hafizahullah, every December. May Allah allow us to benefit from him regularly and to spend time with him or with other scholars. Haramayn Sharifayn is the most beautiful place — but you need someone who can guide you to extract its noor.

Du'a

Oh Allah, oh Most Merciful, oh Most Kind — we ask You to glance at us with a glance of mercy. Oh Allah, do not allow us to leave this gathering in a state that our sins have not been forgiven. Accept our gathering and replace our sins with good deeds. Oh Allah, grant us all the tawfiq to lead a life that is pleasing to You, and to lead our lives in accordance with the teachings of Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Oh Allah, remove the love of everything from our hearts that goes against what You want us to love, and replace it with the love of those things and those people that You want us to love.

Ya Allah, rectify our hearts and our souls and our minds. Ya Allah, protect our gazes from looking at haram, our hands from touching haram, our ears from listening to haram, our tongues from speaking haram, our hands and feet from being used in haram, and our money from being spent in haram or earned from haram. Oh Allah, close the doors of haram. Ya Allah, grant us the ability to remember You profusely every single day and every single night. Allow us to keep our tongues moist in Your remembrance. Oh Allah, allow us to be punctual in our tasbihat, our morning and evening adhkar, our post-Salah dhikr, and our du'a.

Ya Allah, allow us to love reciting the Quran, allow us to feel contentment and enjoyment in reciting the Quran, allow us to make an effort to understand its meanings, and of course practice upon its teachings. Ya Allah, allow us all to become true lovers of Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and true lovers of his Sunnah. Oh Allah, allow us and our family members to be a means of bringing a smile upon the face of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Oh Allah, save us from becoming a means of bringing tears to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Oh Allah, save us from hurting the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.

Oh Allah, those who are going on this journey of Umrah and Ziyarah in the next week or very soon — Ya Allah, allow their journey to be accepted, and allow it to become extremely transformative. And those who will be going later on, and those who do not have the means to go right now — Ya Allah, provide for them the means to go as well. Whenever we go, however we go — oh Allah, allow our Ziyarah to be an accepted one, one that is weighty in our scales. Ya Ilah al-'Alamin — we ask Ya Allah to save us from committing any sin or crime in our journey to Mecca and Medina that would become a means of our hearts being sealed on evil or of us being turned away from You.

Oh Allah, we ask You to allow us to care and love the Ummah, and to constantly be aware of what is happening with the Ummah. Inspire us with solutions to help the Ummah. Ya Allah, make us amongst those who can confidently, with wisdom, invite people towards goodness and prohibit them from evil. Allow our actions and our presence to become a source of da'wah.

Oh Allah, grant shifa to our brothers and sisters from our community — multiple brothers and sisters, from our loved ones and community members who have recently had surgery, some who are about to have it, some of our students' parents who are very ill. Oh Allah, we ask You to grant all of them complete, complete, complete shifa — restore their physical strength, their mental strength, their spiritual strength. Grant them all shifa'an kamilan 'ajilan mustamilan. Those who have passed away from our loved ones, our students, relatives, and community members — we ask You to grant each and every one of them complete forgiveness in Jannatul Firdaus.

Oh Allah, allow this weekend retreat to become a means of hidayah and guidance across the globe. Allow it to become weighty in the scales of the speakers, the staff members, the well-wishers, the patrons, the attendees, and all those who wanted to be here but were unable to make it. Oh Allah, allow the youth programs, the women's programs, the men's programs — each and every one of them — to be well-attended and extremely beneficial. Oh Allah, whoever is here wanting a specific du'a — You are aware of the secrets of their hearts. We ask You to grant them the best of both worlds and fulfill all of their needs beyond their expectations.

Ameen. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.