Saudi Arabia is no doubt an advanced country in a number of standards. However, it is a bit conservative in treatment with men and women on their dress code and lifestyle as compared to other Muslim countries. While packing out for Umrah, women who are usually making arrangements of packing dresses and other stuff, find themselves in a dilemma about what to wear. The dress code in the case of men is specified to be a loose two pieced white garments without covering their heads. However, women are more concerned as there is no uniform or specified dressing in their case. So they should take clothing which is not only modest in terms of the religious climate of Arabia but also that it is comfortable for them to perform their prayers easily without diverting their attention.
If you plan to avail cheap Umrah packages from London, Arabia will be a greatly different land for the ladies performing the holy pilgrimage. Thus, below are mentioned some guidelines they should keep in mind while considering they are going to take for this sacred journey. This might be the perfect one but is recommended by the professional travel experts of Islamic Travel UK. These include:
1. Women are allowed to wear a loose dress or an abaya which covers their elbows, collarbones, legs, and heads in general. The color for their dress is not specified but they should also try to wear white despite colorful clothing, which may attract other people’s attention during worship. It should also be preferred to take at least three pairs of Ihram or white abayas as one can get dirty or torn during the arduous journey.
2. Men are not allowed to cover their heads with any covering or hat, however, women are encouraged to cover their heads with a proper head covering called hijab. They should wear a properly pinned up hijab that allows their hair to stay in place and would not cause distraction of making it proper during Tawwaf or other prayers.
3. Wearing white may expose the body due to moist and humid weather in Arabia, so women should wear proper white garments under their abaya to avoid such a situation. As they are allowed to wear any other loose and normal clothing as well, they should not prefer black color. This is because the weather is very hot and black color absorb great amount of heat.
4. The choice of proper shoes is as important as the choice of dress as you have travel for long and uncomfortable shoes may create difficulty as well as a distraction from worship. Wearing joggers or sneakers is a good idea as they are comfortable but there might be a chance of tripping over to tie laces. In the case of women, covering feet is also a part of the hijab so try to choose something which is comfortable as well as easy going.
5. Carrying heavy stuff during Umrah particularly Tawwaf and Sayee may create additional distress and discomfort. As carrying backpacks is not allowed in Masjid ul Haram, try to keep small shopping bags of minimum and necessary items for Tawwaf.
