Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Virginia Danielson, The Voice of Egypt: 

Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and Egyptian Society in 

the Twentieth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago 

Press, 1997); Michal Goldman, Umm Kulthum: A Voice 

like Egypt (Waltham, Mass.: Filmmakers Collaborative, 

1997); Laura Lohman, “ ‘The Artist of the People in the 

Battle’: Umm Kulthum’s Concerts for Egypt in Political 

Context.” In Music and the Play of Power in the Middle 

East, North Africa and Central Asia, edited by Laudan 

Nooshin (Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate Press, 2008).

umra

 

(Arabic)

The  umra is the lesser pilgrimage to m

ecca

.

Unlike the 

haJJ

, it is not obligatory for most Mus-

K  690  

Umm Kulthoum

---

lims, even though the q

Uran

 declares, “Complete 

the  umra and the hajj for God” (Q 2:196). It 

is thought that the umra was celebrated before 

Islamic times during the spring month of Rajab, 

the seventh month, as a local Meccan ritual 

that involved 

animal

 sacrifice. During the early 

Islamic era, it was changed. Thus, in contrast to 

the hajj, it can be done at any time of the year, 

and consists of ritual practices that are confined 

to the Sacred Mosque area only. The journey to 

Mina and a

raFat

 is not involved, nor is animal 

sacrifice required. Islamic law, however, permits 

combining the umra with the hajj. According 

to the 

hadith

, performing the umra temporarily 

absolves one of any sins committed beforehand, 

while performing the hajj earns one a place in 

paradise

.

The basic components of this pilgrimage are: 

(1) declaration of intention (niyya); (2) ritual 

purification and wearing two white seamless gar-

ments (ihram); seven circumambulations (tawaf) 

of the k

aaba

; (3) touching the b

lack

 s

tone

; (4) 

prayer at the Station of a

braham

; (5) running 

seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa 

next to the Sacred Mosque; and (6) a ritual hair 

cut or shaving of the head. Pilgrims also pro-

nounce the talbiyya (“At your service, O Lord, 

at your service!”) and other invocations during 

these rites. Many take a drink of water from the 

z

amzam

 well. For 

Women

, the umra does not 

require either the distinctive ihram garments or 

the shaving of the head.

Since the last decades of the 20th century mil-

lions of pilgrims have participated in the umra

annually. Many prefer to do it during r

amadan

, an 

especially holy month in the Islamic 

calendar

.

See also 

ablUtion

.