Get to Important Islamic Sites with Umrah Package Deals

by Safeena Rahman Travel Addict

In the past, many of the Muslims living in different parts of the world dreamt of performing their Umrah but kept postponing their plans of performing the pilgrimage due to the lack of adequate finances. However, many tour operators have come up in various corners of the globe in recent times and this has certainly brought down the costs of performing the pilgrimage to a great extent. Today, the prospective pilgrims can make comparisons between the overall costs offered by different tour operators on the packages for Umrah and choose the one being offered at the lowest price.

The Umrah package deals released by some of the tour operators from time to time allow the prospective pilgrims to have greater savings upon booking one of the best packages provided under such offers. The best way to get notified about such deals is to sign up for alerts on the websites of the tour operators. After getting registered on their sites, the prospective pilgrims would get alerts in the form of text messages or emails about the offers as and when they are released. Upon booking any of the packages specified under these deals, they would get a significant amount of savings that can be utilised during their time spent in Makkah while visiting the most important Islamic sites.

One of them is Mount Abu Qubays, which is located on Makkah's eastern frontier. It is considered as a sacred mountain and is believed to have been called 'Al Amin' during the times when pagan Arabs lived in this part of Saudi Arabia. According to one of the legends, this mountain was the place where the first of men stayed until their death. The Islamic tradition states that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had shown pagans the miracle of the splitting of the moon.

Another sacred place that can be visited with the help of Umrah package deals is Masjid al-Jinn, which literally translates as 'Mosque of the Jinn'. It is considered to be one of Makkah's oldest mosques and is also among the most important ones in the holy city. The word 'jinn' refers to genies that are supernatural creatures according to the Islamic tradition. Masjid al-Jinn has been built at the spot where a group of jinn had once assembled to hear Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) recite a portion of the Holy Quran. They later met the prophet and embraced Islam.

Many of the pilgrims never miss visiting Mount Arafat, which is a mountain situated in Saudi Arabia's Hejaz region in the plain of Arafat. This mountain is also called Jabal al-Rahmah, which translates as 'Mountain of Mercy'. It is the place where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had delivered the famous 'Farewell Sermon'. Many Muslims also believe that it is the place where the first prophet Adam (peace be upon him) was forgiven by Allah for his sin after the fall from heaven. A pillar has also been erected at the spot where this event is believed to have taken place.