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MAKKAH — The first Umrah pilgrims are expected to arrive in the Kingdom on Nov. 13 signaling the start of the Umrah season which begins usually on the first day of Safar and continues until the end of Ramadan.

The last batch of pilgrims, who performed Haj this year, left the Kingdom on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

“Only 15 days separate the end of Haj and the beginning of the Umrah season,”  spokesman of the Haj Ministry Hatim Al-Qadi told Makkah daily on Tuesday.

He said the ministry uses this interval to review its final plans for the season and to inform the Haj companies of any new arrangements.

A total of 1,327,944 pilgrims have arrived and 1,327,751 of them have departed the Kingdom for their respective homes after performing the Haj.

“The ministry avails the lapse of 15 days to go again over its plans formulated as early as September so as to ensure the success of the season and provide pilgrims with the services that will enable them to do their rituals in ease, peace, and comfort,” he said.

Qadi said the new Umrah plans were made after taking into consideration the remarks and observations of the previous season.

He noted that the citizens and expatriates living in the Kingdom usually avail themselves of this period to perform Umrah or visit Madinah as the two holy cities will not be too crowded.

The ministry provides the Umrah pilgrims coming from outside with a package of services beginning with the travel date, the air carrier, location of accommodation and its distance from the Grand Mosque or the Prophet’s Mosque, number of beds in each room, date of proceeding to Madinah, sustenance and the date of final departure.

The Umrah visa is normally valid for two weeks. The ministry also closely watches the service-providing companies ensure that they are committed to providing the pilgrims with the services agreed upon.

Any company which fails to provide excellent services to the pilgrims will be prevented from contracting new pilgrims for the entire season.

Recently, Haj Minister Bandar Al-Hajjar said a new Umrah system and its executive bylaws will be issued soon with a view to increasing the number of pilgrims every year.

He told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that starting next year, as many as 1.25 million pilgrims are expected to arrive every month compared to the present number of 400,000.

Hajjar said the new system is aimed at increasing the number of pilgrims so as to fully utilize the gigantic projects implemented by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Hajjar said the ministry will continue to use its e-portal under which procedures to issue a visa will not take more than a few minutes.

According to the ministry’s figures, five million Umrah visas were issued in 2013 and six million each during 2014 and 2015. It is expecting 10 million visas to be issued in 2016 and 60 million by 2018.

Article by: saudi gazette

British haj travel umrah packages here:

1. Golden Umrah Package
2. Economic Umrah Package
3. Umrah Package

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When I hear the talbiyah and takbeeraat on TV these days, it brings back sweet memories of last year, when I had the fortune of performing Hajj.
Around three years ago, my beloved husband passed away. With him departed his promises of performing Hajj together. We had performed Umrah together and I hadn’t thought much about Hajj, but when he left, the thought struck me – my mehram was gone.
However last year when I was least expecting it, my maternal uncle offered that my sister and I go for Hajj with him. We jumped at the opportunity. I had led a normal life for the most part, but had just recently gotten close to the divine mission. I had started praying and found the kind of solace in prayer that my relatives’ condolences and support didn’t fulfil.
We were to go for Hajj in a group of twenty five. The organisation that was arranging for these groups said that all slots had already been filled and I lost hope. However, Allah (SWT) was especially kind my sister and I, and even though all slots were taken, the organisation made an exception for us. In their 33 years of making arrangements for Hajj, they had never added extra people in these groups. Had it not been for this miracle, I don’t think I would ever have gotten a chance to visit the house of God. On November 9, 2011, we flew for Hajj.
I have travelled to many countries in my life but this journey was one of a kind. I had seen the Ka’aba on television many times and wondered what it would be like to be some feet close to it and perform tawaaf around it. It worried me a little because I am diabetic and my feet and shins hurt terribly when I walk too much. I also get near-death feverish when I’m exhausted. I wondered if I would be able to fulfil my obligation the way I wished.
Hajj is very different from Umrah in more than just the ritualistic ways. There is a lot of elbowing and nudging during Hajj, and honestly, you don’t get the calmness of contemplating in silence, like you do with Umrah.
We stayed at Mina and our journey to Arafat and Muzdalfa was on foot. We opted to walk the way through because we knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and we wanted to avail its full potential.
We began walking at Maghrib and reached at Fajr. We were carrying our entire luggage and it was difficult; we even had to sleep on the road a couple of times. It was a more peaceful sleep than I have slept in ages. During our rest breaks, I would see people in their seventies, walking on their old feeble legs with their backs hunched. This motivated me and I’d get up and get going again.
On our way, strangers offered us snacks and drinks. They weren’t workers but people like us, who had travelled from far-off lands. Language barriers didn’t stop us from communicating and no one thought twice when it came to helping others.
When we reached Arafat, all of us began to weep and plead to Allah (SWT). It was a congregation of Muslims from world over, all asking the Lord to forgive them. My dupatta was soaked in tears and my hands rose up in prayer. I naturally thought of my husband and almost everyone I have known and prayed for them individually.
(Pilgrims at Arafat. PHOTO: REUTERS)
I was beginning to realise how little worldly things begin to matter in life. Everything seemed insignificant. When I saw the Ka’aba, my eyes welled up with tears. You only realise your true insignificance when you are in front of the Ka’aba and you fall in prostration when you realise how much He has given to someone as common and unimportant as yourself. He is the Only Friend you have, who despite all your mistakes, forgives and embraces you. He is your Best Friend.
No one was thinking about anyone else, but talking to the Lord. They were in a magnanimous crowd physically, but busy conversing with their Lord as if Allah (SWT) was the only Being there apart from themselves.
One Pathan woman sat reciting something on a rosary. Upon asking her, she told that she was reciting “Bismillah”. I asked,

“Why not something else, like the Kalimah?”

To my surprise, she had never learned the Kalimah. I sat with the woman and her son and taught them the first Kalimah. She wept in gratitude and thanked me by sharing her food with me.
On my way back, I had blisters on my soles. I was also 41 degrees Celsius and I felt like I was going to faint. Inside my mind, I wished I would.
Could there be a better way to die, than at the foot of Allah’s (SWT) house?
I survived. I was glad that I did, because there was so much I was yet to do before I faced Allah (SWT). We dodged death a few times and my sister was almost trampled to death, too.
I found that my journey on foot was the essence of Hajj. It taught me more things that I can mention here.
For everyone performing Hajj, or planning to perform Hajj, I have some advice to sum it all up:
Kissing Hajr-e-Aswad is not obligatory. People don’t know how to behave and you could be squeezed to death attempting to touch the Hajr-e-Aswad. If you are a woman, I suggest that you don’t go near it during Hajj.
(Pilgrims attempting to kiss the black stone, Hajr-e-Aswad. PHOTO: REUTERS)
During Rami (stoning the Satan), I saw people actually swearing at the symbolic devil and even throwing shoes and soda cans at it. This is just a ritual in the remembrance of something. You only have to throw pebbles at it. Remember, it is the devil inside you that you must slay. You don’t have to break this stone figure.

Article by: blogs

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This blog is to provide the readers with the clear understanding of the rules ordained by Islam for Women when they are planning on performing Umrah. The blog articles discusses the clothing requirements, visa requirements, Islamic requirements and the physical requirements that need to be met to successfully perform Umrah. All females irrespective of the age bracket that are planning on moving forward to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah needs to know the basic steps and procedures to perform Umrah correctly. Little girls are certainly excluded since they are innocent. One of our recommendations is to abide by the men that the women are going with. Basically, the majority of the steps are the same for man and woman. However, there are certain areas where there is a difference.
Let us update you of the main exceptions:

• Ihram for Men is a stipulated method. however, for women it is not the case. Women only have to be properly covered.
• Women who are having their menstrual cycles need to abstain from performing Umrah.
• After the completion of Sa’yi, males have to shave off their heads. This is not the same case for women. Women are only told to cut their hair the length of a finger nail. This is to ensure that the women have also participated in that ritual.
• Al-Idhtebaa’ and Al-Raml- which are for men only.
• Talbeeyah- said loudly by men and in a low voice by women pilgrims.

The Haj Ministry has decided to limit the validity of Umrah visas to only 14 days because of the ongoing work to expand the mataf — the circumambulation area.
According to a circular sent to Umrah agencies in the Kingdom and Saudi missions abroad two days ago, the new rule becomes effective Monday.
“Yes, we have received a circular from the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi informing us that Umrah pilgrims will only be given 14-day visas from Shaban 1,” said Mohammad Abdul Razzak, a travel agent in Hyderabad, India.
He said it would come as a shock to hundreds of Indian Muslims who visit Makkah and Madinah during Ramadan. “Naturally, everyone who visits Saudi Arabia for religious pilgrimage would want to stay in Makkah and Madinah for as long as they can,” he said. “However, we are told by our counterparts that it is very congested out there in Makkah and that the hotels are heavily booked for the coming two months.”
Rahman Azim, who works for an Umrah operator in Jeddah, said the rule is for all nationalities. “There is a good reason for the decision. It will lead to more people performing Umrah because of the constant movement of foreign pilgrims,” he said.
According to Azim, the new step is being described in travel circles as 14-14-14. “Once the Umrah visa is issued, it will remain in the system for 14 days, meaning it should be stamped within 14 days of the issuance,” he said. “Once it is stamped, the person should travel within 14 days, and then once the pilgrim is in the Kingdom, he should leave within 14 days.”
According to local Umrah tour operators, their quotas have also been slashed by 50 percent. “We were given half of what we used to get in the past,” said Nusrat Javed, an employee at a Makkah tour operator. “This has led us to cancel our hotel bookings which we had done in advance in anticipation of a surge in demand.”
Munir Rahman told Arab News from Lahore that he obtained a one-month Umrah visa last week. “But when we applied for an Umrah visa for my mother two days ago, we were told it would be valid only for two weeks,” he said.

Article by: arabnews