Alhamdulillah I had the opportunity to be a guest of Allah this year along with my mother and wife. I made pilgrimage to the House of Allah to perform Hajj. It was amongst one of the best experiences of my life to be exorcised out of the rat race of dhunya and to begin regularly performing ibadah at two of the most sacred places on earth – the House of Allah in Mecca and the Masjid of the Prophet in Medina.

To summarize the experience in one sentence – There is an uncanny satisfaction and satiation that one experiences in being able to fulfill and embody the ultimate purpose for ones creation.

Where better a place to fulfill that purpose than the House of Allah and the Masjid of His beloved messenger, Prophet Muhammad? Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah.

Having returned from experiencing Hajj I have to say and emphasize that every Muslim obligated to do so should make a firm niyah to go and begin the planning. I also recommend proper preparation prior to going. Listen to lectures and seminars by knowledgeable shayookh. Two such shayookh that have prepared lectures and given seminars are Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui (excellent CD set can be found here) and Shaykh Ibrahim Dremali (I had the privilege to perform Hajj with Shaykh Ibrahim Dremali and was dumbfounded with the vast knowledge he was providing us directly from the Quran and sunnah but have not researched whether CDs/videos from the Shaykh are available. A quick Google search did reveal a video documentary which can be found here).

Other advice I can provide is as follows

To Take and Not To Take:

YES:
- Showl Kashmiri as it can get cold during nights in Medina and in Muzdullifah
- Easily portable sleeping bag in order to sleep in the open in Muzdullifah
- Nail cutter, shaving blades (not for your beard, but for areas like underarms and such)
- Scentless Wet wipes
- Advil/Tylenol, a course of antibiotics (keep in mind, hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of the world aggregate in one area. Keep your immune system on guard!)
- Alarm clock. Cell phone alarm clock is adequate and can kill two birds with one stone (this is a figure of speech, please do not kill or hunt animals in Mecca with stones or otherwise regardless of whether you are in ihraam or not)
- Money – bring a safe amount and also bring some small bills in case you need only a few dollars during your travels (on our return to JFK, the airport was charging $3 for a trolley that can carry luggage out of the arrival area.
- Cell phones – I recommend taking a cellphone but I say this with precaution. Please read my follow-up article regarding cell phones. If you don’t already have one, try to get one with a good battery life since you will be traveling a lot and may not be able to charge the phone everywhere you go. A second battery may come in handy. I don’t know which frequency band works in Saudi but you can’t go wrong with a quad-band world phone as it will work in most countries. Having a cell phone on which you can take notes can also be very convenient as you can easily jot down thoughts, notes, tasks, reflections and so on. You are on a journey of a life-time and inshaAllah, Allah will inspire you.
- Small pocket notebook and pen – again, this is a journey that has changed the lives of many Muslims. Take a small pocket notebook as you may remember something while waiting for salat, or traveling on a bus, or walking to the masjid. If Allah has reminded you of a sin that you committed against someone long time ago, it would be a shame to forget that sin and not ask that person for forgiveness.  A small pocket notebook can also be used to jot down tasks, reflections, and contact numbers.

QUESTIONABLE:
- Some say bring a plastic bag for slippers, however, plastic bags are readily available in Mecca. In fact, even if you buy a 4 rial shwarma you will probably be given a plastic bag.
- Some say bring zip lock bags to put pebbles in prior to stoning of the jamarat, however, I forgot where my zip lock bags were when I needed pebbles and was able to use a plastic bottle of water which is readily available. In fact, you can see many people using some type of plastic bottle as it fits the right size of pebbles, is less prone to breaking and ripping like zip lock bags, and plastic bottles can easily be sealed. My recommendation is to leave the zip lock bags at home and save yourself the trouble and just get a 1 rial plastic bottle of water (plus you can drink the water to empty it out for the use of collecting pebbles).

NO:
- Although cell phones will come in very handy, I recommend against bringing a camera phone. My wife was turned away from Masjid Nabawi because women were checking purses at the entrance of Masjid Nabawi and my wife had a camera phone (keep in mind that this means that you may be turned away for having digital cameras as well). I am not sure of the exact reason why cameras and camera phones are not allowed in Masjid Nabawi for women but it is probably a precaution taken for 2 reasons – they don’t want pictures taken of other women and they don’t want pictures taken of the grave of the Prophet.

GENERAL ADVICE
- In Mecca, it is particularly important to arrive for salat early (at least half an hour early) so that one does not have trouble finding a spot to pray inside the haram
- Medina is generally less crowded but it is still a good practice to go early and find a good spot to pray salat. Also, keep in mind that waiting for salat is a good deed in the sight of Allah (see Q&A article).
- You may encounter beggars who approach you and ask you for money (even in the haram unfortunately). I am not going to advocate or discourage anyone from giving money (as there may be people in dire need, Allahu Alim). Whether you choose to give beggars money or not, keep in mind that there are people who take advantage of the good niyah in which people attend Hajj and use the opportunity to generate easy money by leveraging the generosity of Muslims during this sacred season and place.
- Carrying a bottle of water around during hajj may come in handy if you want to avoid bathroom lines and if you are in transit, you can make wadu on bus and may even need to wash your hands occasionally

The above list is by no means complete . However, it is a start and I will continue augmenting the list, inshaAllah. Please share your Hajj experiences in comments and any recommendations from your experiences. I will try to augment this article with your suggestions and inshaAllah this article will be of benefit to the ummah.