Drop your luggage at the hotel, perform ablution, keep saying the talbiya. Enter the mosque with the right foot, with the entry supplication, behind the guide. Agree on a meeting point (gate, pillar number). When you see the Kaaba, make any supplication you wish.
Educational guide. If in doubt, ask your guide or a scholar.
Schools differNo specific supplication is authentically reported upon seeing the Kaaba: pray in your own words. Raising the hands at that moment is reported from some Companions.
Supplications
بِسْمِ اللهِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ، اللَّهُمَّ افْتَحْ لِي أَبْوَابَ رَحْمَتِكَ
Bismi Llāh, wa-ṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā rasūli Llāh, Allāhumma ftaḥ lī abwāba raḥmatik
In the name of Allah, blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah. O Allah, open for me the gates of Your mercy.
Muslim 713, Abu Dawud 465 (entering the mosque)
Common mistakes
- Entering without ablution: tawaf requires purity according to the majority.
- Leaving the group without a meeting point.
- Taking photos instead of praying when first seeing the Kaaba.
What if…
Too crowded at the planned gate?
Follow the guide to another gate; the mosque has dozens. Flows are signposted.
I lost my group?
Go to the agreed meeting point; call the guide; as a last resort, mosque staff will direct you.
Checklist
- ☐ Ablution done
- ☐ Meeting point noted
- ☐ Phone charged, guide’s number
- ☐ Entered right foot first with the supplication
Sources
- Muslim 713, Abu Dawud 465 (entering the mosque)
All steps
- 1Stay in Madinah
- 2Preparing ihram at the hotel
- 3Ihram at the Dhul Hulayfah miqat (Abyar Ali)
- 4Madinah → Makkah journey in talbiya
- 5Entering Makkah and the Sacred Mosque
- 6Tawaf: 7 circuits around the Kaaba
- 7Prayer behind Maqam Ibrahim and Zamzam water
- 8Saʿi: 7 laps between Safa and Marwa
- 9Halq or taqsir: leaving ihram
- 10The return