How to MAXIMIZE your time in Makkah

By Asma bint Shameem

Makkah is the best place on earth. Allaah Subhaanahu Wa Ta'ala decreed Makkah to be a sanctuary the day He created the heavens and the earth.

So when we're in Makkah, we want to utilize each and every SECOND of our time so that we can MAXIMIZE our ibaadaat in the short time we're blessed to be in this Sacred Sanctuary.

Here are some things we can do:

🌷FIVE DAILY PRAYERS

Go to the masjid for the five daily prayers.

🍃 The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

"One prayer in al-Masjid al-Haraam is BETTER than one hundred thousand prayers elsewhere." (Ahmad and Ibn Majaah 1406; saheeh by al-Albaani)

🌷TAWAAF

Try and do at least one Tawaaf a day if possible. Remember that one complete tawaaf consists of seven rounds.

Making tawaaf of the Ka'bah is one act of ibaadah that's not available anywhere else in the world.

It erases sins, raises your status and is equivalent to freeing a slave. Subhaan Allaah!

The Sahaabah knew that and would take FULL advantage of that. And they tried to do as many tawaafs as possible.

🍃 Ibn Umar radhi Allaahu anhu said that he heard the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam say:

"Whoever circumambulates (the Ka'bah) seven times, counting them, and then prays two rak'ahs (after tawaaf) it will be equivalent to his freeing a believing slave."

And "No man lifts his foot and sets it down but ten hasanaat (good deeds) will be recorded for him, and ten sayi'aat (bad deeds) will be erased from his record, and he will be raised thereby ten degrees in status."

(at-Tirmidhi; saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi)

🌷PRAY THE JANAAZAH PRAYER

After every fardh salaah, almost always there's a Janaazah prayer for someone or the other.

Do pray this prayer, whether you're a man or a woman, because it's recommended for both to offer this prayer and brings tremendous rewards.

🍃 The Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said:

"Whoever attends a funeral until he offers the (funeral) prayer will have one qiraat (of reward) and whoever attends until the burial is done will have two qiraats."

It was said: "What are the two qiraats?"

He said: "Like two great mountains." (al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

And imagine the rewards of praying in Masjid al-Haraam, where prayers offered are multiplied a 100,000 times!

Yes, the reward for offering prayers in Masjid al-Haraam applies to ALL prayers, obligatory AND voluntary.

🍃 Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

“Some scholars say that what brings the multiple reward in al-Masjid al-Haraam is the five daily prayers only, and other prayers do not bring the multiple reward.

What appears to be the case from the apparent meaning of the hadeeth is that it includes ALL prayers, and the janaazah prayer is included in this general meaning of the reward for prayers in al-Masjid al-Haraam being multiplied. And Allaah knows best.”

(Liqa’ al-baab il-Maftooh 116/11).

🌷NAWAAFIL

Pray all the nawaafil you can.

Pray them at the times that one is allowed to pray nawaafil and do TAWAAF at times when it's not allowed to pray salah.

This way you MAXIMIZE your time and not one second is wasted In shaa' Allaah.

Since each prayer in the Haram is equal to 100,000 prayers anywhere else then what better place to pray as many nawaafil as possible here in Makkah?

Some of the nawaafil you can offer:

🌿Tahajjud

Of the nawaafil, pay special attention to the tahajjud prayer.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

"The BEST prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer at night (qiyaam al-Layl)." (Muslim)

And he said:

"You should pray qiyaam al-layl, for it is the custom of the righteous who came before you and it brings you closer to your Lord, and expiates sins and prevents misdeeds." (al-Tirmidhi --hasan by al-Albaani)

So it's the BEST prayer after the obligatory prayers, BELOVED to Allaah and expiated sin.

What more could a person ask!?

🌿Tahiyyatul Masjid

Masjid al-Haraam is after all a masjid so pray the two rakaat of greeting the Masjid every time you enter it.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

"When one of you enters the masjid, let him not sit down until he has prayed two rak'ahs." (al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

This applies all the time except when your intention is to do tawaaf.

Aa’ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa said:

"When the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam came to Makkah, he did wudoo', then he circumambulated the House.

And the two rak'ahs for greeting the masjid are replaced by the two rak'ahs following tawaaf." (al-Bukhaari 1614 and Muslim 1235).

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

“If he enters the masjid to do tawaaf, such as a person who is doing ‘umrah and enters the masjid to do the tawaaf of ‘umrah, or to do a voluntary tawaaf, then in this case the tawaaf replaces the two rak’ahs for greeting the masjid, because when he does tawaaf he is going to pray two rak’ahs after tawaaf.”

(Majmoo’ Fataawa 22/286)

🌿Tahiyyatul wudhu

The Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said to Bilal radhi Allaahu anhu:

"Tell me about the most hopeful act (i.e one which you deem the most rewarding with Allah) you have done since your acceptance of Islam because I heard the sound of the steps of your shoes in front of me in paradise."

Bilal said : "I do not consider any act more hopeful than that whenever I make ablution (wudoo) at any time of night or day, I offer salah (prayer) for as long as was destined for me to offer."

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

🌿Salat ad-Duhaa

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam would pray Duhaa himself and encouraged us to do so as well.

Abu Hurairah radhi Allaahu anhu said:

"My beloved ﷺ advised me to do three things, which I will not forsake so long as I live: to fast three days of each month, to pray Duha, and not to sleep until I pray Witr."

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

🌿Salaat al-Ishraaq:

This prayer is a kind of Salaah

ad-Duhaa prayed at its EARLY time, about 15-20 minutes after sunrise.

About this prayer, the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

"Whoever prays Fajr in congregation, then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two rak'ahs, will have a reward like that of Hajj and 'Umrah, complete, complete, complete."

(at-Tirmidhi -- hasan by al-Albaani)

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said:

"The Sunnah of Ishraaq is (the same as) the Sunnah of Duhaa, but if it is done early, from the time when the sun has risen to the height of a spear, then it is Ishraaq prayer; if it is done at the end of its time or in the middle of its time, then it is Duhaa prayer.

But it is (all) Duhaa prayer, because the scholars said that the time of Duhaa prayer lasts from when the sun has risen to the height of a spear until just before the zenith."

(Liqa' al-Baab al-Maftooh, 141/24)

🌿Salat al-Awwaabeen

This is also a kind of Duhaa prayer done at its LATER time.

Zayd ibn Arqam radhi Allaahu anhu said:

'The Messenger of Allaah

Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam

went out to the people of Qubaa' and found them praying (Duhaa). He said: "Salaat al-Awwaabeen is when the young camels lift up their feet (because of the heat of the sand)."'" (Muslim)

Please note:

Salaat al-Awwaabeen is NOT the prayer between Mahhrib and Ishaa as is common among some people.

Those are just general unspecified nawaafil.

🌿Unspecified nawaafil

You can read as many unspecified nawaafil as you want here in Masjid al-Haraam at all times except the prohibited times which are between Salat al-Asr to sunset and from Salat al-Fajr up until 15-20 minutes after sunrise.

So for example, you can pray unspecified and unlimited number of nawaafil between maghrib and Ishaa.

That was the practice of the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam and the Sahaabah.

Hudhayfah radhi Allaahu anhu said:

"I came to the Prophet ﷺ and prayed Maghrib with him. When he had finished the prayer, he stood and prayed, and he kept praying until he prayed 'Ishaa'.

(Ahmad --saheeh by al-Albaani)

Or you can pray these unspecified nawaafil after salat al-Dhuhr up until Asr, etc

🌷READING QUR'AAN

Utilize those times when prayer is forbidden and read Qur'aan during this period.

And don't just 'read'.

Try and read the Qur'aan with MEANINGS so that you can understand what Allaah wants from you, how you can change for the better, how you can please your Creator and enter Jannah.

🌿TWO BIRDS with ONE STONE:

You can earn double rewards by reading the Qur'aan while you're saying any of your nawaafil prayers especially tahajjud.

Just open the Mus-haf and read DIRECTLY from the Mus-haf for each of the rakaat, instead of reading those small Surahs that you always read.

This way you'll get khushoo in your prayer, AND at the same time you'll get some Qur'aan recitation along with the nawaafil done.

A beautiful way to maximize the rewards. Alhamdulillaah.

🌷REPEAT THE ADHAAN

Repeating after the Adhaan brings a lot of rewards and entry into Jannah.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said about the one replies to the words of the adhaan "from the heart, he will enter Jannah."

(Muslim)

🌷DUA BETWEEN ADHAAN and IQAAMAH

This is the best time to make duaa because this duaa will not be rejected.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

"Du'a is not rejected between the adhaan and Iqaamah, so engage in du'a (supplication)."

(Abi Dawood and others- saheeh by al-Albaani)

🌷I'TIKAAF

I'tikaaf does not only take place in Ramadhaan and it does not have to be for ten days either.

You can make the niyyah for i'tikaaf for one week, one day or even for an hour.

So when you plan to stay in Masjid al-Haraam for some time, from one prayer to another etc., make your intention to make i'tikaaf and it will count as ibaadah.

Ibn Hazm said:

"I'tikaaf in the language of the Arabs means staying... any stay in the mosque for the sake of Allaah with the intention of drawing closer to Him is i'tikaaf... whether that is for a short time or a long time, because the Qur'aan and Sunnah do not specify any number or length of time." (Al-Muhalla, 5/179)

🌷DHIKR

Any other time that's left over from all of the above ibaadaat can be filled with dhikr so even these few moments will not be wasted.

Keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala.

Make lots of istighfaar, and fill your time with Subhaan Allaah,

Alhamdulillaah, Allaahu Akbar, La illaaha illallaah, and send salutations upon the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam.

Allaah says:

"and the men and the women who remember Allaah much with their hearts and tongues, Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward (i.e. Paradise)"

(Surah al-Ahzaab :35)

🌷SAY SALAAM to everyone.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam told us the 'secret' to enter Jannah.... saying salaam to those you know and those you don't know.

Walk around in the streets JUST TO SAY SALAAM to your fellow Muslim.

This was the practice of the Sahaabah.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

"You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another.

Shall I not tell you about something which, if you do it, you will love one another?

Spread salaam amongst yourselves." (Muslim)

🌷GIVE SADAQAH

Spend on your Muslim brother/sister for the sake of Allaah.

It doesn't have to be too much money.

Even a little bit counts.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

"Whoever gives charity equal to a date from good (halal) earnings - for Allaah does not accept anything but that which is good - Allaah will take it in His right hand and tend it for the one who gave it as any one of you tends his foal, until it becomes like a mountain."

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

🌷SMILE

Sadaqah is not just money.

Even a smile is sadaqah.

The Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said:

"Do not regard any act of kindness as insignificant, even meeting your brother with a cheerful countenance."

(Saheeh Muslim)

🌷FEED THE PEOPLE

When the Sahaabah asked the Prophet ﷺ what makes Hajj Mabroor, he ﷺ said:

"Providing food to people and spreading (the greeting of) salaam."

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

🌷HELP SOMEONE

Be on the lookout for anyone that might need help.

So if you see an old man struggling with his luggage, or a child who seems lost, or someone looking for a spot to pray or a sister who can't find her shoes, JUMP on the opportunity to help them and earn tremendous rewards just because you helped your fellow Muslim in times of their need.

🌷SLEEP

Yes that's right...SLEEP.

Sleeping and resting will also bring you rewards if you make your intention to rest so that you can worship Allaah better after you've rested and slept.

Any ordinary deed can be converted into an act of worship if we make our intention to do good.

That's why Muadh radhi Allaahu anhu used to say:

"I sleep and I get up (to pray at night), and I seek reward for my sleep as I seek reward for my getting up." (al-Bukhaari)

🌿THE SAME DEEDS APPLY to MADEENAH

We can do all these ibaadaat in Madeenah as well, except of course the Tawaaf.

May Allaah give us the taufeeq to do good and earn maximum rewards in these beautiful times and places.

And Allaah knows best.