Muslims Can Now Book Their Umrah Packages Using Smartphones

by Safeena Rahman Travel Addict

Umrah is one of the Islamic pilgrimages undertaken by Muslims across the world and involves visiting the holy city of Makkah from their place of residence. As the major pilgrimage in Islam is Hajj, it is often called the 'lesser pilgrimage' or the 'minor pilgrimage'. When compared to Hajj, it is not mandatory for Muslims. However, it is the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and has some spiritual benefits associated with it. This is the reason why many of the Muslims living in different parts of the world perform this pilgrimage by making their journey to the holy city of Makkah.

About two decades back, Muslims wanting to perform the lesser pilgrimage had to depend on one of the travel agents in their neighbourhood or far from their homes for getting their journey to Makkah arranged. The overall cost of the journey in those times was unaffordable to many and this is the reason why they had to keep postponing their plans of performing this pilgrimage. In recent times, many tour operators or travel companies have come up in various corners offering cost-effective Umrah packages and this has made the journey to Makkah much more affordable for many Muslims.

Most of the tour operators and almost all the travel companies that offer the Islamic religious tours of Hajj and Umrah have their websites, where all the packages are arranged in different categories. They are usually categorised according to the popular seasons or months when many pilgrims make their journey to Makkah. Some of the packages are also categorised according to their overall costs and the type of hotel where the accommodations for pilgrims are arranged, such as 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star. The presence of a wide range of packages gives Muslims many options to choose from.

Today, most of the individuals around the world use smartphones. For making their websites easier to browse using such phones, the tour operators or travel companies providing packages for the lesser pilgrimage have made their websites mobile-friendly. As a result, the Muslims looking for a suitable package can browse through their websites effortlessly using their smartphones and select one that suits their budget. They can also search for various options in packages for the lesser pilgrimage on the popular search engines. In the search results, they can get various options in packages as well as the tour operators offering them.

While browsing through all the available options in these search results, they can choose the one that suits their budget and then verify the authenticity of the tour operator offering the package. This is one of the most essential aspects of booking a package for performing Umrah. Although there are many tour operators spread across the world, only the ones authorised by the Hajj Ministry of Saudi Arabia can provide the packages for Hajj and Umrah. Once it is confirmed that the tour operator has been authorised by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj, the prospective pilgrims can go ahead and book their desired package.