A note before you begin. This is original study material to help you understand the meaning of each rite. It is not a recitation text. During the actual Umrah you follow the original Arabic / Lisan ud-Dawat of the Mansak and the guidance of your Musaid and the FAIZ team — their phonetic accuracy and sequencing are what count. Read this beforehand, then let the original text and your Musaid lead you on the day.
In the Bohra tradition the Umrah of Tamattu’ is woven into the larger Hajj: you enter ihram, present yourself at Baitullah, circle it, walk between Safa and Marwah, and release from ihram — all before the Hajj days proper. Whether part of Tamattu’ or on its own, the shape of the Umrah is the same, and this article follows it, drawing on the preparation, tawaf and sa’i sections of the Mansak.
1. Preparing for ihram
Before tying the ihram, the body is made clean and the heart turned toward the rite. The Mansak lists the preparations: remove the hair of the underarms and pubic area, trim the nails, men trim the moustache, brush the teeth (miswak), and perform a full ghusl with the intention of ihram — that you are bathing for the ihram, in the name of Allah.
The garments. A man wears two unstitched white cloths — a lower wrap (chowka / izar) and an upper cloth — with no sewing, long enough (about 2.25–2.5 metres each) that nothing required to be covered is exposed. After the salam of the ihram prayer he keeps his head uncovered while in ihram, and does not cover his ears or face. A woman wears unstitched white cloth and covers all her hair. Her face is part of her ihram: she does not veil it, but keeps a covering she can lower toward the face before non-mahram men. No stitched garment, coloured cloth, gloves, or mouth-veil is worn.
2. The niyyat and the prayer of ihram
You enter Baitullah, perform the welcoming tawaf, and — if it is not the moment of sunrise — pray the two rak’ats of the Salat al-Ihram with the head covered (Surat Quraysh in the first rak’at, Surat al-Ikhlas in the second). After the salam you form the niyyat: a declaration that you intend this Hajj/Umrah upon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, asking Him to make it easy, to help you, and to accept it. The Mansak gives parallel forms for performing on one’s own behalf and badaliyya (as a proxy for another), where the person’s name is inserted and the pronouns adjusted to their gender.
A longer dua follows, in which you make sacred to Allah your hair, skin, flesh and blood, and pledge to abstain from what ihram forbids — prohibited food and drink, intimacy, and perfume. From this moment you are muhrim: consecrated, set apart, travelling under restraint toward the House.
3. The talbiyah
Leaving the Masjid al-Haram, at the appropriate place along the way you begin the talbiyah — Labbayk Allahumma labbayk (“Here I am, O Allah, here I am”) — affirming that to Allah alone belong all praise, bounty and dominion, with no partner. The Mansak adds further calls: Labbayk to the Forgiver of sins, to the Caller to the Abode of Peace, to the Remover of distress.
The talbiyah is meant to fill the journey: recite it after every prayer, when you mount or dismount, when you climb a hill or descend a valley, when you meet a fellow traveller, when you wake — at every change of state. The minimum is seventy times, the more the better. Men raise the voice; women keep it low, audible only to themselves.
4. Tawaf around Baitullah
At the House you perform tawaf — seven circuits, each beginning and ending at the Hajar al-Aswad (the Black Stone), keeping the Ka’bah on your left, in wudu throughout. Facing the Black Stone you affirm your faith and covenant; if the crowd allows, you kiss it, otherwise you gesture toward it. In the first three circuits men perform ramal — a brisk, shoulder-shaking gait — between the Black Stone and the Yemeni Corner, walking with dignity (sakinah) the rest of the way. At each corner and station a particular dua is recited. After the seven circuits you come to the Multazam, the wall between the Black Stone and the Door, press your body to it and supplicate, then pray the two rak’ats of tawaf at Maqam Ibrahim. Drink and sprinkle Zamzam, asking that it be abundant provision, beneficial knowledge, and a cure.
5. Sa’i between Safa and Marwah
Leaving by the Bab al-Safa, you go to Safa and make the niyyat of the sa’i — seven circuits between Safa and Marwah. The Qur’an’s own words frame it: “Indeed, Safa and Marwah are among the symbols of Allah.” Men run (raml) through the marked stretch — today between the green lights — while women walk it. Each ascent of Safa or Marwah, facing the House, carries its duas. (For a fuller treatment, see the companion article Sa’i between Safa and Marwah.)
6. Halq — and release
The Umrah closes with cutting the hair. Releasing from the consecrated state restores what ihram had made forbidden. In the Hajj sequence the Mansak treats the full halq (shaving) at Mina; for the Umrah of Tamattu’ it is sufficient to take from the hair, after which the ihram garments are removed and ordinary clothes worn again — until, in due course, you re-enter ihram for the Hajj itself.
Wherever this summary is silent, defer to the original Mansak text and your Musaid. The exact wording of every niyyat and dua belongs to the sacred text, not to this study note.