Suggestion before going to Umrah with children

10 Guidelines on before going to Umrah with children – Umrah Tips and Suggestion

Umrah is the life-long dream for every Muslim, and going for Umrah needs to be perfect. Women are only allowed on Umrah if their Mehram is accompanying them. However, a woman has to get separated from the man who is accompanying her in the Masjid a Nabawi and Masjid Al Haram, where there are separate portions from men and women. Usually, people are a little skeptical about taking their kids, especially because at these portions where men and women are separated, the women have to take the responsibility of the children. But, taking children to Umrah does not need to be a difficult or stressful as people might think, as long as some things are remembered.

Things to consider -

1. It is a good idea to talk to older kids about why the trip is being taken; importance of Umrah, how there will be regular visits to the mosques unlike the regular vacations. There is no need to worry about taking smaller kids to the trip as the local people do it all the time and there are a lot of children all around.
2. It is important to get the children vaccinated. Infants, children, and even adults are compulsorily needed to get vaccination of meningitis ACWY135. Children belonging to the age group of 2-15 years need to have meningitis and polio vaccinations, while children below and above 3 months, need ‘A’ vaccine, with two shots taken at a gap of 3 months. H1N1 vaccine is also needed.
3. How the children are dressed is quite an essential part of the travel. Western style of dressing, or dresses that may attract too much attention should be avoided. For small children, their everyday clothes should do. In a case of children who are above 6 years old, it is best to dress them in Ihram. Little girls can be made to wear a Hijab.
4. It is a good idea to take some toys to keep the young children busy during the mosque visits. However, dolls, action figures, or toys resembling life-like structures, which can be considered idols, should not be taken, as these are confiscated at the mosque gates. Electronic gadgets like video games, mobile phones, or cameras should not be given to children to play with as these are also taken away at the gates.
5. Since these places are usually crowded, one must remember to not let the children out of sight. It is very important to keep the children close, hold their hands, and be very careful about where they are going, especially at the gates. Some people make an arrangement to enter alone, leaving the kid with the spouse and then take on the child to allow the spouse to do the same. If a person enters to pray with the kid, it is a good idea to find a place that is less crowded. In case there is an infant, one could just tie elastic rope around the child and attach it to him/her, to let the children enough freedom, and yet not lose him/her.
6. Strollers are not allowed inside the mosques. However, wheelchairs are available for rent, and these can be used for seating children.
7. People often lose their shoes at the gates, and it can be particularly difficult for children to lose their shoes, as they are more sensitive. Shoes can be taken in a bag and carried inside.
8. There are several activities and site-seeing that can be done during this trip. Taking these could pique the interest of the children. For example, after the Sabah prayer, they can be allowed to feed the birds. In the Masjid a Nawab, there are classes for children during ASR and Maghreb prayers. Children below the age of 6 years are allowed to sign up after the daily ASR prayers.
9. Snacks should be brought along for the children, in case they get hungry. A small bottle should also be carried, to fill up with the zam-zam water available around the mosque. Other necessities for children must also be carried.
10. It is important to let the children have proper rest. Resting between the prayers is a good idea for the children as well as the adults who are responsible for taking care of them.

Tawhid in the Attributes of Allah (S.w.T.)

Tawhid with regards to the attributes of Allah (S.w.T.) means the realization that the positive attributes of Allah (S.w.T.) and His Essence have only one and the same sense, and not any multiple and diverse sense. Divine attributes like Divine Eternity, Divine Knowledge and Divine Power, are the same as his Essence without any duality between His Essence and His attributes.

This concept must be clearly distinguished from the fact that Allah, the Almighty and the Exalted has applied some of His names to His creatures, and although the names are common to both the Creator and the created, the connotation is quite different; For example Zaid[1] has knowledge, so the name “one who knows” is common to both the creator and the created. But in Zaid’s case, it is implicit that this quality in a limited measure was acquired by him (by Allah (S.w.T.)’s Grace) at a certain stage prior to which he did not have it; and it is also possible that he may also lose this quality at a later stage, but for Allah (S.w.T.) this attribute signifies that He is the knower of all things, past, present and future. He knows what is in the Heavens and the Earth and not an atom weight, or less than that or greater escapes Him. His knowledge is all encompassing. If we consider the Attributes of Allah (S.w.T.) as being qualities independent of Allah (S.w.T.) as we know them to be with His creatures, then we have committed Shirk. Accordingly the belief of the Ashairas is absolutely false.

 

All the good qualities of the creatures are from the Creator (Allah (S.w.T.))

To consider all the good qualities of the created to be from Allah (S.w.T.), the creator, is true Tawhid. It is our belief that all the qualities possessed by the Prophets and the Imams (a.s.) were given to them by Allah (S.w.T.)’s Grace. They did not come to acquire any of these qualities on their own. Rather Allah (S.w.T.) bestowed upon them superior knowledge, character, power and perfect morals and exalted their position.

Consequently all that exists has not come into existence on its own. But everything is dependent upon the Creator of the Universe. All the good qualities have also been given to them by Allah (S.w.T.). If Allah (S.w.T.) so desires, He increases their good qualities and gives them sustenance.

Hajj Pilgrimage 2012

Hajj Pilgrimage 2012. 

Hajj, or Pilgrimage to Mecca

An able-bodied Muslim is expected, at least once, to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Pilgrims prepare by entering the state of Ihram (symbolized by a form of clothing and a humbled demeanor) and converging together, by the throngs, indistinguishable one from the other either by race, creed or social standing, on the Kaaba for the required circumambulations.

Symbolically, the hajj is as much a return to God as a evocation of the return of Muhammad to Mecca as a conqueror—of the city’s “infidels” as well as of the “true faith.” It is a reclaiming of roots, a realization of belonging.
The pilgrimage also includes going to the slops of Mount Arafat, 16 miles outside of Mecca, in recollection of the covenant between God and Adam, and throwing stones at three pillars in Mina, less than three miles east of the city. The ritual represents the stoning of the devil—or, more accurately in Islamic beliefs, the stoning of the shaitan, as the devil is known in Arabic.
Arabs had been making the pilgrimage to Mecca—to the enormous granite Ka’aba, the old shrine at the center of the city—for hundreds, possibly thousands of years before Islam to pay tribute to 360 gods represented inside the Kaaba’s walls. Muhammad destroyed all but two frescoes—that of the Virgin Mary and that of Christ, though eventually even those representations would be banned under Islam’s subsequent prohibition of images. (The prohibition was not endorsed by the Prophet.)

Ramadan

  Ramadan -a month of obligatory daily fasting in Islam is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Daily fasts begin at dawn and end with sunset. Special nightly prayers called, Taraweeh prayers are held. The entire Quran is recited in these prayers in Mosques all around the world. This month provides an opportunity for Muslims to get closer to God. This is a month when a Muslim should try to:

	See not what displeases Allah
	Speak no evil
	Hear no evil
	Do no evil
	Look to Allah with fear and hope

"O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become God-fearing." (The Quran, 2:183)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. And he who passes Lailat al-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven (Bukhari, Muslim).

Ramadan ends with a day long celebration known as Eidul-Fitr. Eidul-Fitr begins with a special morning prayer in grand Mosques and open grounds of towns and cities of the world. the prayer is attended by men, women and children with their new or best clothes. A special charity, known as Zakatul-Fitr is given out prior to the prayer. The rest of the day is spent in visiting relatives and friends, giving gifts to children and eating.