Hajj dos and don'ts
Hajj is five days in which two million people do the same things in the same places. Almost every avoidable problem comes from a small rule nobody explained: a scented wipe in ihram, a stone thrown at the wrong time, a permit screenshot, an unlicensed taxi. This list covers what to do and what to avoid in the order you will meet it, with the reason each time, and notes where the schools of law differ.
Before you leave
- Do Register only through the official channel for your country: Nusuk Hajj for Muslim-minority countries, your national Hajj authority elsewhere.
Why
Since 2024 no travel agency can book Hajj for pilgrims from the Nusuk direct countries; a package sold outside the system is not a Hajj permit.
- Do Train for it: 30-45 minutes of walking daily for two months, building to 10 km.
Why
Hajj involves 20-30 km of walking on the busiest days, in heat, often at night.
- Do Get the MenACWY vaccine and any others required by your country's health guidance; carry the certificates.
Why
They are checked at entry, and Mina's density makes outbreaks a real risk.
- Do Learn the rituals of all five days before you travel; know which type of Hajj you are performing (tamattu', qiran or ifrad).
Why
Your group leader will guide you, but in a crowd of thousands you will sometimes have to act on your own.
- Don't Do not travel with a passport valid for less than six months after your return, and do not leave the Hajj permit card or app access behind.
Why
Both are checked repeatedly, including at the entrances to Mina and Arafah.
- Don't Do not perform Hajj without a permit, even if you are already in the Kingdom.
Why
Since 2024 the fine is substantial, offenders are deported and banned, and the Hajj is performed in defiance of the authority that the scholars require pilgrims to obey in matters of organisation.
Ihram rules (from the 8th of Dhul Hijjah, or from the miqat for qiran and ifrad)
- Do Men: two unstitched white cloths; women: modest ordinary clothing, hair covered, face and hands uncovered.
Why
Stitched garments and head covering are prohibited for men; the niqab and gloves for women.
- Do Pack two or three sets of ihram for the days in Mina.
Why
You will sweat through them; a spare set is a mercy on the 9th and 10th.
- Do Use only unscented soap, sunscreen and wipes until you exit ihram on the 10th.
Why
Perfume and scented products are prohibited; sunscreen is essential at Arafah.
- Don't Do not cut hair or nails, use scented products, cover the head (men), argue, or have intimate relations with your spouse.
Why
These are the prohibitions of ihram; intimacy before the first tahallul invalidates the Hajj, the others require compensation if deliberate.
- Don't Do not remove the ihram to sleep in Mina.
Why
You remain in ihram continuously until you have stoned Jamrat al-Aqabah and shaved or cut on the 10th.
- Don't Do not worry about forgetful mistakes.
Why
Forgetfulness and ignorance are excused in the majority view; deliberate violations are not. Ask your group's scholar.
Mina (8th, 11th, 12th and 13th)
- Do Memorise your camp number, gate and the route from the jamarat bridge back to it; photograph the signs.
Why
Mina's tents look identical at night and after hours of walking; every year thousands are lost for hours.
- Do Stay in Mina overnight on the 11th and 12th (and 13th if you stay).
Why
Overnight stay in Mina is obligatory (wajib) in most schools; leaving to sleep in a Makkah hotel requires compensation.
- Do Sleep when you can, eat lightly, and keep your feet dry and clean.
Why
The days that follow are long; foot infections and exhaustion are the commonest reasons pilgrims miss rituals.
- Don't Do not wander between camps or leave the group without telling someone.
Why
Mobile signal collapses at peak; your group leader is the only reliable way back.
- Don't Do not leave litter or block tent corridors with luggage.
Why
Corridors are evacuation routes; the fire risk in Mina is real and has cost lives.
Arafah (9th)
- Do Make sure you are inside the boundaries of Arafah (marked by signs) at some point between noon and sunset.
Why
"Hajj is Arafah": missing the standing invalidates the Hajj. Namirah mosque is partly outside the boundary; check the signs.
- Do Spend the afternoon in dua, facing the qibla, with your hands raised; combine Dhuhr and Asr at Dhuhr time.
Why
It is the most valuable afternoon of the year; scholars recommend dua over anything else.
- Do Stay until the sun has fully set before leaving for Muzdalifah.
Why
Leaving before sunset requires compensation in the majority view and defeats the sunnah.
- Don't Do not climb Jabal al-Rahmah or push toward it.
Why
It has no special status for the standing; the crowd there is dangerous and the heat exposure is severe.
- Don't Do not skip water, shade and rest; the heat at Arafah has been over 45 °C.
Why
Heatstroke on the 9th is the leading cause of Hajj deaths; the standing counts even from inside a tent.
Muzdalifah (night of the 9th)
- Do Pray Maghrib and Isha together on arrival, then rest on the ground; collect pebbles here or in Mina.
Why
Combining the prayers there is the sunnah; the pebbles can be picked anywhere and only need to be the size of a chickpea.
- Do Stay at least until after midnight; the sunnah is to pray Fajr there and leave at first light.
Why
Staying at Muzdalifah is wajib in most schools; the weak, women and their carers may leave after midnight.
- Don't Do not collect large stones or wash the pebbles.
Why
Small pebbles are the sunnah; large stones injure people at the jamarat. Washing is an innovation with no basis.
- Don't Do not sleep on the road or in the bus lanes.
Why
Vehicles move through the night; sleep only in the marked areas.
Stoning the jamarat (10th to 12th/13th)
- Do Go at the time your group is allotted; use the level and route assigned to your camp.
Why
The timetable is what prevents crushes at the bridge. The stoning is valid at any time in the permitted window.
- Do Throw seven pebbles one at a time, saying Allahu Akbar with each, and make sure each lands inside the basin.
Why
A pebble that misses the basin does not count; throw from a distance where you can see it land.
- Do On the 11th and 12th stone all three jamarat in order: the small, the middle, then al-Aqabah, after noon.
Why
The order and the time (after zawal) are conditions in the majority view; a delay to evening is allowed and safer.
- Don't Do not throw shoes, umbrellas or large stones, and do not throw all seven at once.
Why
The pillars are not the devil; the act is obedience, not anger. Throwing objects injures pilgrims below.
- Don't Do not go against the flow on the bridge or stop to pray on it.
Why
The bridge is one-way by design after the 2015 crush; blocking the flow is dangerous.
- Don't Do not appoint someone to stone for you unless you genuinely cannot walk there.
Why
Proxy stoning is permitted for the ill, the elderly and the pregnant; the healthy must do it themselves.
The 10th in Makkah: sacrifice, hair, tawaf al-ifadah
- Do Pay for the sacrifice through the official Adahi scheme or your package; do not try to arrange it yourself.
Why
Slaughter outside licensed abattoirs is prohibited and the official scheme distributes the meat properly.
- Do Men: shave or trim the whole head; women: cut a fingertip's length from the ends.
Why
Shaving is the more rewarded option for men on the 10th; partial trimming is insufficient in most schools.
- Do Perform tawaf al-ifadah and the sa'i of Hajj (for tamattu') within the days of Tashriq if you can; it may be delayed.
Why
Tawaf al-ifadah is a pillar; without it the Hajj is incomplete and the second tahallul does not occur.
- Don't Do not put on perfume or resume marital relations until tawaf al-ifadah is done.
Why
After stoning and shaving everything is lawful again except your spouse; that returns after tawaf al-ifadah.
- Don't Do not leave Makkah without tawaf al-wada' (the farewell tawaf).
Why
It is wajib in most schools for those not resident in Makkah; menstruating women are excused.
Saudi law, health and money
- Do Carry your Hajj permit, ID card and passport copy at all times; wear the wristband your group provides.
Why
Checkpoints between the holy sites check permits; the wristband is how lost pilgrims are returned to their camp.
- Do Drink water constantly, use the misting fans and shade, and rest in the heat of the day.
Why
Heat illness is the number one killer of pilgrims; most cases are preventable.
- Do Use the Mashaer train or your package's buses between the sites.
Why
Walking is permitted and sometimes faster, but only along the marked pedestrian routes.
- Don't Do not photograph security staff, checkpoints or military sites, or film people without consent.
Why
It is an offence and a frequent cause of detention for visitors.
- Don't Do not carry or accept any narcotics, alcohol or unlabelled medicines.
Why
Drug offences carry the most severe penalties in Saudi law; keep prescriptions in original packaging.
- Don't Do not hand cash to people who offer to "help you find your camp" or sell pebbles, prayer spaces or shortcuts.
Why
Every one of these is a known scam; Haram and Mina staff help for free.
- Don't Do not post or say anything that criticises the Kingdom or the authorities while you are there.
Why
Visitors have been detained for social media posts; it is not the trip for that.
General guidance; schools of law differ on some points. Follow your group's scholar.