Preparing for Hajj: Physical and Mental Preparation Tips

With the introduction of online platform based Hajj booking by the Hajj Ministry and the elimination of the traditional Hajj packages by local travel agencies, it is often chaotic and stressful for Muslims living in the Western countries. Having been through the process last year, I wanted to share a few Tips to Prepare for Hajj mentally and physically.

Hajj is all about submission. The rituals of Hajj are highly spiritual and can be physically demanding. So it is evident that you prepare not just spiritually but reset your mind and prepare physically for your journey of Hajj as well.

The Mindset: Tips to Prepare for Hajj

1. Get in the right mindset. Surrender all control and have complete reliance on Allah. Surrender with absolute submission.
2. Pray Istikhara for guidance in selecting your hajj packages. It’s not a sunnah to pray istikhara before selecting your packages or anything but something I did.

   Hajj 2022 May go down as the most chaotic hajj for hajjis going from the Western countries. It was a roller coaster of crying, stressing and everything in between for me when the Hajj Ministry cancelled our confirmed hajj package and decided to launch the Motawif portal(now called Nusuk), hajji selection by lottery and other uncertainties.

   Not only we were guinea pig to a system getting build on the fly(I’m a software engineer with 14+ years of industry expertise, I know when a system is half baked), we lost our beloved scholars and spiritual leaders who we wanted to accompany with during this journey of a lifetime.

   But as soon as I gave up my control and asked Allah for His complete guidance and prayed istikhara, things just become so smooth from there on, alhamdulillah.

3. You are going on Hajj. You will be tested in different ways so remind yourself to be patient and to not complain.
4. You are invited as Allah’s guests so check your manners that a guest of Allah swt should have.
5. Decide on what/who you are going to follow beforehand and don’t get confused when people tell you that your Hajj won’t be accepted.
   We followed Sh. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Yaser Birjas as our initial plan was to go to hajj with them.
6. Something that is making you upset could verily be your test. Did I already say not to complain?
7. Your goal is to perform Hajj in the best of your ability so Allah swt accepts it.

   You are not going there to change the Saudi government or fix the ignorance of the ummah.You are not going there to argue about who is right and wrong.

   You have a lifetime to do those outside of your Hajj. This is not the trip for such things.

8. Don’t get caught up in what other people’s accommodation is like, what they ate or what their Mina tents are like. Focus on yourself, and your personalized tests designed by Allah swt.
9. Get ready to embark on a journey of lifetime.

 

How to Prepare for Hajj Physically

1. Walk, walk, walk and walk some more. Walk regularly in the weeks before Hajj to build endurance.
2. Boost your immunity. Leading to the days of hajj, i made sure we are hydrated and ate enough fruits and vegetables. During breakfast and dinner, I also drank warm water mixed with honey and freshly squeezed lemon juice and mint for an extra dose of natural immunity.
3. Your goal is to conserve your energy as much as you can for the day of Arafah, the days in Mina and the hajj rituals. So pace yourself after you get to Makkah/Madinah.
4. Follow all guidance by the Ministry of Hajj on entry requirements and vaccination.

I pray you are chosen and invited to be guest of Allahs set this year. May He accept your intention and your worship.

P.S. If you have recently been to hajj, please share your tips and benefit those intending to go.

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