I now have a corner of our bedroom dedicated to “Hajj packing.” Shopping bags filled with abayas, (long, loose outer garment) scarves, new clothes, an ihram, a medicine bag, toiletries, towels, sheets and the like are piled high waiting to be packed in suitcases for our impending journey.

I never realized how much practical planning goes into Hajj preparations. When my husband and I made our niyyah (intention) for this life-altering journey, I thought reading, research, and spiritual preparation would take up all my time. But as much as my family and friends are giving me help to achieve the right frame of mind, I’m also getting flooded with advice on what to take, how to pack, what to wear, and so on.

So, I’m juggling multiple lists that keeps growing and growing with items suggested by all our loved ones. What will really be useful at the critical time? I’ll be able to tell you that when we return. But for now, here’s my compiled list of what you need for Hajj:

1. Proper clothing for women: Abaya or jilbab. Pants and kurtas (loose shirts) to wear inside. Scarves and headbands to keep back hair completely. A few changes of clothes to wear under your abaya when in Madinah. A clean new abaya, scarf and inside clothing and bag that will be your ihram for the days of Hajj. Something new for `Eid Al-Adha. A sweater to wear inside your abaya if it is cold at Fajr (dawn) time. Rubber slippers for the days of Hajj and comfortable, cheap sandals to wear at other times—slippers and sandals easily get lost, I’m told, so bring a few pairs.

2. Proper clothing for men: Of course, the two pieces of unsewn white cloth for the ihram; a belt to wear with your ihram to keep necessities, other clothing depends on your personality. My husband plans to take some Indian-style kurta/pajama sets and a few pants and shirts. He says he will buy a few of the Arab-style kanturas to wear while he is in Makkah and Madinah; rubber slippers and comfortable, cheap sandals; undergarments.

3. A medicine bag: This should include Tylenol (or your preferred headache/general ache medicine), cough and cold medicine, throat lozenges, stomach medicines like Imodium or Pepto Bismol, any prescription drugs you may need, band-aid plasters and gauze.

4. Toiletries: A separate bag for each person, including the standard toothbrush, toothpaste, hand soap (unscented with no dyes, and a plastic bag to keep it in), many packets of tissues, a small pair of scissors (for women’s hair to be cut), a nail cutter, Q-tips, cotton balls, and any other personal affects you may need.

5. Miscellaneous: A flashlight, a cheap sleeping bag, a sheet, some hand towels, a roll of paper towel, a small diary with a list of people you need to pray for and appropriate phone numbers and such, some packets of energy drinks, some dry snacks (like cookies, chips, and whatever else is nonperishable and easy to carry), a packet of safety pins, a small Qur’an if you have one you like to read from, a prayer mat, a book instructing you what to do, some small bags for gathering stones, and money.

6. Which of these items will turn out to be unnecessary? I’ll only know when I’m there. When I return, I’ll give an amended list based on my real experience.

Getting Life in Order

Here’s what I think, you’ll never be totally ready, but you can try your best. I have another list in my head of things that must be done before we leave. This runs the gamut of paying the bills to getting all my kid’s favorite groceries to writing out my son’s exact schedule for his grandparents to follow. This list also includes a hopeful marker to get my friend’s daughter back to her house if possible.

You may remember from my last entry that my friend’s daughter has become our temporary legal ward since they are fighting (what is in my humble opinion) a totally ridiculous child abuse charge that began the day after `Eid Al-Fitr when their daughter had a fall and sustained a fractured skull.

At the time I wrote my second entry of this Hajj diary, my friends were on the eve of the trial to get their daughter back and refute these preposterous charges. We were all hoping against hope that the trial would go off without a hitch; the judge would see the light of truth, and the baby would be given back to our friends.

You can imagine how disappointed we all were. But, Allah Most High does things for reasons often beyond our understanding. Our immediate concern was that we—the current legal guardians—are getting ready to leave the country for three weeks. Thanks Allah, the judge and child welfare services approved my friend’s mother to be the baby’s guardian for the three weeks of our Hajj.

So it wasn’t the solution we wanted, but it wasn’t any worse then what we have been enduring.

And so now I’ve crossed that off my list—I won’t worry about it anymore. My concentration now is getting everything in order for our children to make my in-laws’ work as easy as possible. But, as I am told, you’ll always feel like you’ve left something undone.

But more important is that Allah Most High has a way of taking care of things for you in ways you can’t imagine. When you know that it’s your time to fulfill that fifth obligation of Islam, everything falls into the place that it should be in—your home, your work, your children, and your faith. And that gives me a lot of comfort. Because I’m ready to leave it all behind to give myself to Allah.

* Dilshad D. Ali, an IslamOnline correspondent for the arts and culture section for the past three years, has made her intention to go for Hajj this year with her husband, Mir T. Ali. This weekly diary will chronicle her preparations—physically and mentally—leading up to their departure on January 11, 2005, and also will narrate the experience itself and the feelings after.

* Dilshad D. Ali's writing reaches across the United States to address lifestyle topics pertinent to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Ali has covered movie premieres, film festivals, art exhibitions, concerts, and numerous other cultural stories, including the effect of September 11 on New York’s cultural landscape for IslamOnline. Ali, a 1997 University of Maryland journalism graduate, resides in New York with her husband and two children.

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