Ihram is the intention to enter the rite, and it is a pillar. Bathing and applying perfume before it are sunnah.
The steps
- Ordinary grooming before ihram when needed, such as clipping nails and removing hair that is normally removed. This is not something specific to ihram; ask a scholar for the details.
- Take a bath, then apply perfume to the body, not to the ihram clothes (for men).
- Men: a waist wrap and an upper sheet, preferably white, and sandals. Women: any modest, covering clothes that are not showy, in no particular colour.
- The intention at the miqat, by saying: “Labbayka ‘umratan” (Here I am for Umrah).
- Whoever fears an obstacle such as illness may add a condition: “If something prevents me, then my place of leaving ihram is wherever I am prevented.”
- Then begin the talbiyah.
The evidence
The hadith of Duba‘ah bint al-Zubayr about adding a condition (al-Bukhari 5089, Muslim 1207), and the words of Aishah: “I used to perfume the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for his ihram before he entered ihram” (al-Bukhari 1539, Muslim 1189).
Common mistakes
- Believing there is a special prayer for ihram. Most scholars hold that it is recommended to enter ihram after a prayer, obligatory or voluntary.
- Keeping the right shoulder uncovered (idtiba‘) for the whole of ihram; it is a sunnah during tawaf only.