Training
Free pre-departure training
Formats
Three ways to take it
Ask us for the next date and we will tell you when it is. Sessions usually run within a fortnight, and always before your departure.
Individuals and families
At our office
Come to Shankarpura and sit down with us. Best if it is your first Umrah and you would rather ask questions than be lectured at.
- About 90 minutes
- Any number up to eight
- Free of charge
Jamaat groups
At your masjid
We come to you and run the session for the whole group before departure, in the language the group is most comfortable in.
- About two hours
- Any group size
- Free of charge
If you are away
Online
For anyone working in the Gulf who will join the group at the airport. Same material, over a call.
- About an hour
- Recording on request
- Free of charge
What is covered
Six things, in the order you will do them
Not a lecture on virtues. The practical sequence, the places where people get stuck, and what to do about it.
- 01
Ihram and the miqat
When to enter ihram, where the miqat is on your route, what the two pieces of cloth actually require, and the restrictions that follow.
- 02
Tawaf, seven circuits
Where to start, which way to walk, what to do when the Black Stone is unreachable, and why the upper floors are often the better choice.
- 03
Sa'i between Safa and Marwah
The seven lengths, which direction each one runs, and how to count them without losing your place.
- 04
Duas and adhkar
What is established, what is optional, and the plain truth that no fixed script is required at each step.
- 05
Common mistakes
The handful of errors that come up again and again, and which of them actually invalidate anything.
- 06
Practicalities
Prayer times and crowds, wheelchair routes, travelling with children or an elderly parent, and what to do if you are separated.
- Start and finish here, at the Black Stone corner. Face it, say Bismillah, Allahu akbar, raise your right hand towards it. There is a line on the floor and a green light on the far wall.
- Keep the Kaaba on your left the whole way. If it is on your right you are going backwards, and you will know because everyone is walking at you.
- The low wall is the Hijr Ismail. Walk outside it. Cutting through means the circuit does not count.
- One full return to the stone is one circuit. Seven of them. Maqam Ibrahim is where you pray two rak'ahs afterwards.
We use these diagrams in the session. They are on the guide pages too, so you can go over them again on the flight.
How it works
Booking a session
- 1
Tell us who is coming
How many of you, whether it is a first Umrah, and which language suits the group best.
- 2
We fix a date
Usually within a fortnight, and always before your departure. Ask us for the next session and we will tell you when it is.
- 3
The session itself
The rites in order, with the diagrams, and time at the end for questions. Nobody is sold anything in this room.
- 4
You leave with it in writing
A printed checklist and the step-by-step guide, so you are not relying on what you remember three weeks later.
Read alongside
The written guides
Everything in the session is also written down, free and without a form in front of it.
Ask for the next session
Tell us how many of you there are and whether it is a first Umrah, and we will fix a date. If you are a masjid group, we will come to you.