Umrah and Hajj for women

Ihram clothing

A woman has no special garment for ihram. She keeps her ordinary clothes, loose, modest and unperfumed, in any colour she likes: white is not an obligation. She may wear shoes, socks and stitched clothing; the prohibition of stitched, fitted garments applies only to men.

Her clothing prohibitions are two: covering her face with a veil cut to fit it (niqab, burquʿ) and wearing gloves. The Prophet ﷺ said: “The woman in ihram shall not wear a face veil, nor shall she wear gloves.”

When non-mahram men pass close to her, she may draw part of her head covering down over her face, as ʿA’ishah reported of the women who accompanied the Prophet ﷺ (a hadith whose chain is disputed). She observes her other prohibitions just as men do: perfume, cutting the hair and nails, hunting, marital relations.

References al-Bukhari 1838 (Ibn ʿUmar); Abu Dawud 1833 (ʿA’ishah), disputed chain

Periods and post-natal bleeding during Umrah and Hajj

Menstruation (hayd) and post-natal bleeding (nifas) prevent neither entering ihram nor performing the rites, with one exception: the tawaf around the Kaaba, which requires a state of purity. When ʿA’ishah got her period at Sarif, on the way to Hajj, she began to weep; the Prophet ﷺ said to her: “This is something Allah has decreed for the daughters of Adam. Do everything the pilgrim does, except that you do not perform tawaf around the House until you are pure.”

1. At the miqat

   She takes the full bath (ghusl) for cleanliness, even though it does not purify her, puts on protection, then makes the intention and says the talbiyah like everyone else. Asma’ bint ʿUmays, who had just given birth at Dhul-Hulayfah, received this instruction from the Prophet ﷺ: “Bathe, bind yourself with a cloth and enter ihram.” She does not pray the two units of ihram.

2. During Umrah

   She waits for her period to end and takes her ghusl, then performs the tawaf, the saʿi and the cutting of the hair. Meanwhile, she remains in ihram and may make supplications and dhikr, and recite the Quran from memory or from a screen according to many scholars; according to the majority, she does not enter the Sacred Mosque during her period.

3. During Hajj

   She performs the standing at Arafat, the night at Muzdalifah, the stoning, the sacrifice and the cutting of the hair like the other pilgrims. Only the tawaf al-ifadah, and the saʿi that follows it if it has not already been done, wait for her purity. After the stoning of the 10th and the cutting of the hair, everything becomes permissible for her again except marital relations, until that tawaf.

4. On departure

   A woman who has her period when leaving Makkah is exempt from the farewell tawaf, with nothing to make up: “The people were commanded to make their last act at the House, except that the menstruating woman was granted a dispensation.” When Safiyyah got her period after the tawaf al-ifadah, the Prophet ﷺ only asked whether she had performed it, then allowed the departure.

If her period begins before the Umrah tawaf of a tamattuʿ and lasts beyond 8 Dhul-Hijjah, the pilgrim enters ihram for Hajj without having performed the tawaf of her Umrah. According to the majority of scholars, her Hajj then becomes qiran, as was the case for ʿA’ishah during the Farewell Pilgrimage; according to the Hanafis, she abandons her Umrah and performs it again after Hajj, which ʿA’ishah did from al-Tanʿim.

Taking medication to delay menstruation during Hajj is permitted according to many scholars, provided it does not harm her health: speak to your doctor several weeks before departure. Bleeding that is not menstruation (istihadah) prevents nothing: the woman performs wudu for each prayer and carries out all the rites, including the tawaf.

References al-Bukhari 305, Muslim 1211 (ʿA’ishah at Sarif); Muslim 1218 (Asma’ bint ʿUmays); al-Bukhari 1755, Muslim 1328 (Ibn ʿAbbas, farewell tawaf); al-Bukhari 1757, Muslim 1211 (Safiyyah); al-Bukhari 1556 and 1784, Muslim 1211 and 1212 (ʿA’ishah, qiran, then Umrah from al-Tanʿim)

Travelling without a mahram

Saudi regulations no longer require a mahram for Umrah and Hajj for adult women, who can obtain a visa and permit alone or in a group (see the Nusuk and visas page). The religious question is a separate one: the Prophet ﷺ said: “A woman shall not travel except with a mahram”, and scholars differ on how this hadith applies to the obligatory Hajj.

Those who allow the obligatory Hajj with a safe group cite, among other evidence, the words of the Prophet ﷺ to ʿAdi ibn Hatim foretelling that a woman would travel alone from al-Hirah to the Kaaba, fearing no one but Allah. A woman who has no mahram available and is unsure would do well to consult a scholar of her school.

References al-Bukhari 1862, Muslim 1341 (Ibn ʿAbbas); al-Bukhari 3595 (ʿAdi ibn Hatim)

Other differences in the rites

• The talbiyah is said quietly: loud enough for her to hear herself and the woman beside her, according to the common view of scholars.
• No raml (brisk walking in the first three circuits) and no idtibaʿ (uncovered right shoulder): these two practices concern men.
• During the saʿi, a woman walks between the two green markers without hurrying.
• She does not shave her head: she gathers her hair and cuts off the ends, about a fingertip’s length. “Shaving is not for women; women only shorten.”
• She does not force her way among men to touch the Black Stone: a gesture of the hand, from a distance, is enough. ʿA’ishah used to perform tawaf apart from the men.
• She may leave Muzdalifah after the moon has set, with the weak, as Sawdah and Asma’ were given permission to do.
• If she is ill, elderly or pregnant and the crowd at the pillars puts her in danger, she may appoint someone to stone on her behalf, after he has stoned for himself.

References Abu Dawud 1984 and 1985 (Ibn ʿAbbas, cutting the hair); al-Bukhari 1618 (ʿA’ishah and the tawaf); al-Bukhari 1679 and 1681, Muslim 1290 (Asma’ and Sawdah at Muzdalifah)

Pregnant, with a baby or with children

Pregnancy rules out neither Umrah nor Hajj, but the fatigue, the heat and the crowds are real. Several countries refuse Hajj to women in the third trimester or with a high-risk pregnancy, and airlines often require a medical certificate from the 28th week and refuse boarding late in pregnancy. The tawaf and the saʿi can be performed in a wheelchair or an electric cart, on the upper floor.

A child’s Hajj and Umrah are valid and rewarded: a woman held up a small child to the Prophet ﷺ and asked: “Does this one have Hajj?” He replied: “Yes, and you have a reward.” This Hajj does not replace the one that will become obligatory on the child on coming of age, according to a statement of Ibn ʿAbbas. The parent makes the intention for a very young child, carries the child during the tawaf and the saʿi, and stones on the child’s behalf.

• For a baby: a sling rather than a pushchair in the crowd, unscented nappies and wipes, a hat and water.
• Write your phone number and the name of the hotel on a bracelet on each child’s wrist.
• Choose the least crowded times for the tawaf and the saʿi, and the upper floors, which are airier.

References Muslim 1336 (Ibn ʿAbbas, a child’s Hajj); al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra (statement of Ibn ʿAbbas on a child’s Hajj)

Practical tips

• Loose, breathable, light-coloured clothes and an underscarf that stays in place: you walk a lot, often in the wind and heat.
• Safety pins, a small bag worn at the front, a pouch for your shoes in the mosque.
• Plenty of sanitary protection, even if you are not expecting your period: travel and fatigue often upset the cycle.
• At the Prophet’s Mosque, prayer in the Rawdah is open to women at times reserved for them, with a permit from the Nusuk app: book as soon as you arrive in Madinah.
• Locate the women’s entrances and prayer halls on the first day, and agree on a meeting point with your group.