Umrah Packages for Newly Converted Muslims: Where to Start

Two things a convert needs that almost nothing in this market mentions.

The first is a piece of paper

Proof of being Muslim is commonly requested when a convert applies for an Umrah visa, usually in the form of a Shahada certificate from a mosque or Islamic centre.

If you do not have one, get one now rather than three weeks before you fly. There is a section on exactly how below.

The second is that you may have nobody to go with

A born Muslim usually has family who have been, a community they grew up in, and somebody who knows what happens.

A convert frequently has none of that, and the honest answer is that it is entirely workable and it takes a bit more arranging.

What this page does not do

Explain the rites. That is covered properly in our first-time guide and it applies to you exactly as it does to anybody else going for the first time.

This page covers the things that are specific to your situation.

The short version

Get a Shahada certificate from your mosque or Islamic centre before you book. Commonly requested for the visa.

You do not need Muslim family to go. Join a group booking, which is what most solo pilgrims do.

Nobody is checking whether you know enough. The Haram is full of people from a hundred countries who do not speak Arabic either.

Use the legal name on your passport. Everything must match.

Do not rush. Go when you are settled rather than as something to prove.

Tell us your situation and we will build around it

The certificate

The single most useful practical thing on this page.

What it is

A document from a mosque or Islamic centre confirming that you have taken the Shahada. Frequently called a Shahada certificate or a certificate of conversion.

Why it matters

Proof of being Muslim is commonly requested when a convert applies for an Umrah visa. It is not asked of everybody and it is asked often enough that you should have one before you book.

The honest caveat

Requirements change and they vary. We confirm the current position for every booking, and if something specific is needed for your application we will tell you before you pay anything beyond the deposit.

How to get one

Ask at the mosque or Islamic centre where you took your Shahada, if there was one. They frequently issue certificates as a matter of course.
If you took it privately, ask your local mosque or an Islamic centre. Most will arrange it and it is a normal request.
Ask for it on headed paper, signed and dated, with the organisation’s contact details.
Ask for more than one copy. You will want one for the visa and one to keep.
Photograph it and store the image where you can reach it without data.

What if I took my Shahada years ago

It does not matter when. A certificate issued now confirming that you are Muslim serves the same purpose as one issued at the time.

What if the mosque will not issue one

Unusual, and if it happens, try another. Islamic centres and larger mosques issue them regularly and none of them will find the request odd.

What if there was no ceremony

Many people take the Shahada without any formal occasion. A mosque can still issue a certificate confirming your declaration in front of witnesses, and that is a normal situation they will have dealt with before.

And the practical timing

Get it before you book, not after. It costs nothing, takes very little arranging, and it is the difference between a straightforward application and a rushed one.

Going without Muslim family

The honest position

You do not need Muslim family, a Muslim spouse or anybody you already know in order to go. What you need is a group booking, and that is what most solo pilgrims of any background use.

What a group booking gives you

Arranged transfers, so you are met at Jeddah rather than working it out alone
A group leader who has done this before
Other people staying in the same hotel
And for a woman travelling without a Mahram, it is what the current regulation requires

What it does not give you

Supervision. Nobody follows you round Makkah and you come and go as you like. The group is a structure rather than a constraint.

The room, and the cost

This is where travelling alone actually costs you. A room to yourself is from £949. A place in a shared quad is £499.

What to ask for

Whether a group is going on your dates with a spare place, or whether you can be matched into a shared room with others of the same gender.

Both cost £499 and both are entirely normal requests. Ask before you accept a single supplement.

On sharing with strangers

A reasonable thing to be uncertain about. What most people report is that it was fine and frequently better than fine, because people travelling alone for Umrah tend to have a good deal in common.

If you would rather share with one person than three, a twin is from £679.

Finding a group

Ask us. We know what is going on which dates and whether anybody has room, and it is the single most useful question a solo traveller can put to an agency.

What to ask about the leader

Whether there is one, whether they speak English, and whether they are travelling with the group rather than meeting it there.

For a first trip alone that matters more than the hotel does.

And on mosque groups

If you attend a mosque regularly, ask whether they run a trip. Many do, and joining one means travelling with people you already recognise even if you do not know them well.

Not knowing things

The part people worry about most and the part that turns out to matter least.

The worry

That you will be asked something, or watched, or expected to know Arabic, or exposed as somebody who has not been doing this since childhood.

What is actually true

Nobody is checking. There is no examination, no supervision and nobody assessing whether you belong there.

On Arabic

Pilgrims arrive from a hundred countries and a very large share of them do not speak Arabic either. Indonesians, Turks, Nigerians, Bosnians, Malaysians and a great many British Muslims.

You will hear more languages in an hour at the Haram than in a year anywhere else.

On the prayers

Everybody around you is following the same imam and the same movements. If you are unsure, following the row you are in works, and people do that constantly for all sorts of reasons.

On the rites

There is no queue, no marshalling and no instructions at the Haram. Everybody works it out by watching, including people who have been ten times.

The full sequence is set out in our first-time guide and knowing the order is enough.

If somebody does ask

They are almost always asking where you are from rather than testing you. Curiosity at the Haram is normal and it is nearly always friendly.

And the thing worth hearing

A great many people go for the first time as adults, having grown up in households where nobody went. You will not be the only person in your group learning as they go.

What we would suggest

Learn the sequence, learn the Talbiyah, and ask someone qualified about the restrictions of Ihram. That is the whole preparation and it takes an evening.

Do not try to memorise every supplication. Take a book or an app.

Non-Muslim family

A real part of this for many converts and worth addressing rather than stepping around.

Explaining the trip

Some families are supportive, some are confused, and some find it difficult. All three are common.

What tends to help

Describing it in plain terms. A pilgrimage to a specific place, a week long, that Muslims make. Most people understand a pilgrimage even if they do not know this one.

The practical version

You are going to Saudi Arabia for a week, staying in a hotel, on a booked package with a group. Framed like a trip rather than a statement, it lands more easily with families who find the subject hard.

Safety questions

Families frequently worry, largely from news coverage that has nothing to do with Makkah or Madinah.

What is true

Both cities are heavily policed, busy at all hours, and among the most organised places anywhere for handling large numbers of visitors. People walk at every hour of the night.

Leaving details with somebody

Worth doing regardless. Flight numbers, hotel names and a rough plan, with somebody at home. And agree roughly how often you will be in touch, so that silence means something.

The side benefit

Families who worry are considerably calmer when they have the details in front of them.

Bringing something back

Dates, Zamzam and small gifts are the usual things. For a family who found the trip difficult, coming back with something for them is frequently the thing that shifts it.

And if the family reaction is hard

That is not something a travel company can help with, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What we can do is make the trip itself straightforward so that part is not also difficult.

The name question

The rule

Everything must match the passport you will actually travel on. The visa, the flight booking and the passport all carry the same name.

If you have taken a Muslim name

Common, and it does not change anything unless you have changed it legally.

If it is not a legal change

Use your legal name for the booking, the visa and the flight. The name on your passport is the name that travels.

If it is a legal change

Then your passport should reflect it, and everything else follows the passport. If the passport has not yet been updated, use the name currently on it.

What we need from you

The name exactly as it appears on your passport, including middle names and spellings. Not the name you use day to day if they differ.

On the certificate

If your Shahada certificate is in a different name to your passport, mention it at the enquiry. It is a normal situation and it is better raised early than discovered during the application.

What tends to help

Asking the mosque to issue the certificate with both names, or with your legal name and the Muslim name noted. Most will do that without hesitation.

The passport itself

Six months validity from your travel date, not from today. Check it before you book anything.

And if you are changing your name legally

Allow time. Passport renewals take weeks and can take longer at busy periods. The simplest answer is to travel on the current passport and change it afterwards.

The case for not rushing

The section that costs us a booking, and it needs saying.

The pressure

Some converts feel they should go immediately. Occasionally because somebody has suggested it, occasionally as something to demonstrate, and occasionally because it feels like the thing a new Muslim does.

What we would say

There is no deadline. Umrah can be performed at any time of year, every year, for the rest of your life.

What tends to make it better

Being settled in the prayers, so that five a day at the mosque is a familiar thing rather than a new one
Knowing a few people at a mosque, so you are not doing everything alone at once
Having read the sequence properly rather than learning it on the plane
Having the money without straining, so the trip is not also a financial worry

The honest observation

People who go once they are settled describe it very differently from people who went as a proving point. That is not a rule and it comes up often enough to be worth mentioning.

And the other side

Plenty of people go within months of taking their Shahada and it is exactly right for them. If you feel ready, you are ready, and nobody including us gets to tell you otherwise.

What we actually mean

Go because you want to, at a point that suits you, rather than because you feel a clock is running. There is not one.

And if you are going soon

Then get the certificate now, take ten nights rather than seven, go in a quiet month, and tell us it is your first trip. The rest of this page is how.

When to go

The answer

November or mid to late January, both at £499 and both the quietest months in the calendar.

Why it matters for a first trip

	November or January	Last ten nights of Ramadan
Ground floor Tawaf	At your own pace	Effectively impassable at peak
Crowds	The quietest of the year	The densest of the year
Room to watch and learn	Plenty	None
Getting into the mosque	Straightforward	Frequently not
7 nights, 3 star	From £499	From £1,199

The point

Doing your first Tawaf at your own pace, with room to stop and watch how it works, is a completely different experience to being carried by a crowd.

It also costs £700 less, which is an unusual combination.

What we would advise against for a first trip

The last ten nights of Ramadan, and July or August. The most crowded conditions of the year and the hottest are both difficult places to be learning.

If Ramadan is what draws you

The first ten nights at £749 rather than the last ten. Manageable crowds, a hotel you can actually use, and iftar at the Haram is one of the better things anybody experiences.

And the sequencing we suggest

A first Umrah in a quiet month, and Ramadan on a later trip once you know what you are doing.

Every month compared is in our best time guide.

What to book

The length

Ten nights at £545. Six Makkah nights and four in Madinah, which gives you time to settle rather than rushing.

Why not seven

Seven gives you four Makkah nights and three in Madinah, and loses most of a day to the transfer between cities. It works and it is tight for a first trip.

The room

A shared quad at £499 if you are comfortable with it. A twin at £679 to share with one person. A room to yourself from £949.

What we would suggest

Ask about a group with a spare place first. You get the quad rate and you are travelling alongside people rather than beside strangers.

The tier

Three star is genuinely fine in November or January, when the walk from seven hundred metres is comfortable.

The month

November or mid to late January.

What to tell us

That it is your first trip. It changes the month, the length and how much we explain.
That you are a convert, so we can check the certificate position for your visa application.
Whether you are travelling alone, so we can look for a group with a spare place.
Whether you would share a room, because it is worth £450 to you.
Your name exactly as it appears on your passport.

None of that is unusual

We book these trips regularly. Nobody on our side will find any of it surprising and nobody in your group will either.

What we would build

If you are	Book	From
Going alone, first trip	10 nights, shared quad, November	£545
Going alone, own room	10 nights, single occupancy	On request
Sharing with one person	10 nights, twin	From £745
With a mosque group	Whatever the group is taking	From £499
On the tightest budget	7 nights, shared quad	£499

Prices

Configuration	7 nights	10 nights	14 nights
Shared quad	From £499	From £545	From £625
Twin, sharing with one	From £679	From £745	From £845
Single occupancy	From £949	On request	On request

Per person, three star, off-peak. Includes return flights, both hotels named in writing with the distance in metres and the nearest gate, the Saudi Umrah visa, all three transfers and guided Ziyarat in both cities. Held with a £99 deposit.

The decision that matters most

Shared quad against a room to yourself. £450 on a seven night trip, and it is the largest single saving available on any booking in this market.

What we would recommend

Ten nights in a shared quad at £545, in November or mid to late January.

The deposit

£99, and it fixes your price in writing.

The instalments

Interest free across the months to eight weeks before departure, when you book four or more months ahead. A £545 package booked ten months out is around £45 a month.

Why that is worth knowing

Because £45 a month is manageable for a great many people who could not find £545 in one payment, and it means the trip does not have to wait for savings.

What is not included

Food beyond breakfast where included, the Taneem taxi for an additional Umrah at £10 to £20, tips and anything you buy. Around £100 to £150 on top for a week.

How we price

We check comparable UK packages every month and sit £20 under the lowest we can find for the same nights and the same hotel tier.

What to do now

Get a Shahada certificate from a mosque or Islamic centre. Before you book, not after.
Check your passport. Six months validity from your travel date, and use the legal name on it for everything.
Ask someone qualified about the restrictions of Ihram. Ten minutes, and it is the most useful conversation before you travel.
Read the sequence, not every supplication. Ihram, Tawaf, two rak’ahs, Zamzam, Sa’i, cutting the hair.
Ask us whether a group is going on your dates with a spare place. £499 rather than £949.
Go in November or January, and take ten nights rather than seven.
Leave your details with somebody at home, which helps them as much as you.

The one that saves a problem

The first. A convert who discovers the certificate requirement three weeks before departure has a problem that ten minutes at a mosque would have prevented.

And the one that saves the most

The fifth. Most solo travellers are quoted a single supplement and never ask whether sharing is available.

The summary

Get the certificate first

Proof of being Muslim is commonly requested for a convert’s Umrah visa. Ask your mosque or an Islamic centre, on headed paper, and get more than one copy.

You do not need Muslim family to go

A group booking gives you transfers, a leader and people in the same hotel. It is what most solo pilgrims of any background use.

Nobody is checking whether you know enough

The Haram is full of people from a hundred countries, a very large share of whom do not speak Arabic either. There is no examination.

Use the legal name on your passport

For the visa, the flight and everything else. If your certificate is in a different name, mention it early.

And there is no clock running

Go when you are settled rather than as something to prove. Umrah can be performed every year for the rest of your life.

Tell us your situation and we will build around it

Ask us anything, including the obvious things

Whether the certificate is needed for your dates, whether a group is going with a spare place, what happens on which day, and anything you feel you should already know.

We book these trips regularly and there is no question we have not been asked. Tell us it is your first and we will explain as much or as little as you want.

Packages Umrah

WhatsApp or call: +44 7737 144 335

Office: 7 Huxley Avenue, Manchester, M8 0SJ

English and Urdu. Same-day quotes.

From £499pp sharing, ten nights from £545pp. £99 deposit fixes your price.

Trading name of Uraan Travel Ltd.

Ask us about your first trip

New Muslims and Umrah: 59 questions answered

Grouped by topic. Direct answer first. Anything requiring a religious ruling goes to someone qualified.

The certificate

Do I need proof that I am Muslim?

It is commonly requested when a convert applies for an Umrah visa, usually a Shahada certificate from a mosque or Islamic centre.

Is it always required?

Not of everybody, and often enough that you should have one before you book.

Where do I get one?

The mosque or Islamic centre where you took your Shahada, or your local mosque if there was no ceremony.

What if I took it privately?

A mosque can still issue a certificate confirming your declaration in front of witnesses. It is a normal situation they will have dealt with.

What should it say?

Headed paper, signed and dated, with the organisation’s contact details.

How many copies?

More than one. One for the visa and one to keep, plus a photograph stored where you can reach it without data.

Does it matter when I converted?

No. A certificate issued now confirming that you are Muslim serves the same purpose as one issued at the time.

What if a mosque will not issue one?

Unusual. Try another. Islamic centres and larger mosques issue them regularly.

When should I get it?

Before you book. It costs nothing and it is the difference between a straightforward application and a rushed one.

Will you check what is needed?

We confirm the current position for every booking and tell you before you pay anything beyond the deposit.

Going without Muslim family

Can I go if I have no Muslim family?

Yes. What you need is a group booking, which is what most solo pilgrims of any background use.

What does a group booking give me?

Arranged transfers, a group leader who has done this before, and other people in the same hotel.

Will I be supervised?

No. Nobody follows you round Makkah. The group is a structure rather than a constraint.

What does travelling alone cost?

A room to yourself is from £949. A place in a shared quad is £499.

How do I get the lower price?

Ask whether a group is going on your dates with a spare place, or whether you can be matched into a shared room.

Is sharing with strangers difficult?

Most people report it was fine and frequently better than fine. People travelling alone for Umrah tend to have a good deal in common.

What if I would rather share with one person?

A twin is from £679. £180 more than a quad and £270 less than a single.

How do I find a group?

Ask us. It is the single most useful question a solo traveller can put to an agency.

What should I ask about the leader?

Whether there is one, whether they speak English, and whether they are travelling with the group rather than meeting it there.

Should I ask my mosque?

If you attend regularly, yes. Many run trips, and joining one means travelling with people you already recognise.

Not knowing things

Will anybody test me?

No. There is no examination, no supervision and nobody assessing whether you belong there.

Do I need Arabic?

No. Pilgrims arrive from a hundred countries and a very large share of them do not speak Arabic either.

What if I am unsure during prayer?

Everybody is following the same imam and the same movements. Following the row you are in works and people do it constantly.

How will I know what to do at the Haram?

By watching. There is no marshalling and everybody works it out that way, including people who have been ten times.

What if somebody asks me something?

They are almost always asking where you are from rather than testing you. Curiosity at the Haram is normal and nearly always friendly.

Will I be the only one learning?

A great many people go for the first time as adults. You will not be the only person in your group learning as they go.

What should I actually prepare?

The sequence, the Talbiyah, and the restrictions of Ihram. That is the whole preparation and it takes an evening.

Should I memorise the supplications?

No. Take a book or an app. Nobody is testing you.

Non-Muslim family

How do I explain the trip?

In plain terms. A pilgrimage to a specific place, a week long, that Muslims make. Most people understand a pilgrimage.

What framing helps?

Describing it as a trip. Saudi Arabia for a week, a hotel, a booked package with a group.

My family are worried about safety.

Both cities are heavily policed, busy at all hours, and among the most organised places anywhere for handling large numbers of visitors.

Should I leave details with them?

Flight numbers, hotel names and a rough plan, and agree how often you will be in touch so silence means something.

Does that help them?

Considerably. Families who worry are much calmer with the details in front of them.

Should I bring something back?

Dates, Zamzam and small gifts are the usual things, and for a family who found the trip difficult it frequently helps.

What if the reaction is hard?

That is not something a travel company can help with and we will not pretend otherwise. What we can do is make the trip itself straightforward.

The name

Which name do I book in?

Exactly the one on your passport, including middle names and spellings.

I have taken a Muslim name.

It does not change anything unless you have changed it legally. Use your legal name for the booking, the visa and the flight.

What if I changed it legally?

Your passport should reflect it, and everything else follows the passport. If it has not been updated, use the name currently on it.

My certificate is in a different name.

A normal situation. Mention it at the enquiry rather than during the application.

What helps with that?

Asking the mosque to issue the certificate with both names, or your legal name with the Muslim name noted. Most will do it without hesitation.

What passport validity do I need?

Six months from your travel date, not from today.

I am changing my name legally soon.

Allow time, because renewals take weeks. The simplest answer is to travel on the current passport and change it afterwards.

When to go

Should I go straight away?

There is no deadline. Umrah can be performed at any time of year, every year, for the rest of your life.

What makes it better?

Being settled in the prayers, knowing a few people at a mosque, having read the sequence, and having the money without straining.

What if I feel ready now?

Then you are ready, and nobody including us gets to tell you otherwise.

What are you actually saying?

Go because you want to, at a point that suits you, rather than because you feel a clock is running. There is not one.

Which month is best?

November or mid to late January, both at £499 and the quietest in the calendar.

Why does that matter?

A first Tawaf at your own pace, with room to watch how it works, is completely different to being carried by a crowd.

How much cheaper is it?

£700 less than the last ten nights of Ramadan, and the better trip.

What should I avoid?

The last ten nights of Ramadan, and July or August.

What if Ramadan is what draws me?

The first ten nights at £749 rather than the last ten at £1,199.

Booking

How long should I go for?

Ten nights at £545 rather than seven at £499. Six Makkah nights and four in Madinah.

Why not seven?

It loses most of a day to the transfer and leaves the Madinah stay rushed for a first trip.

What tier?

Three star is genuinely fine in November or January, when the walk from seven hundred metres is comfortable.

What should I tell you?

That it is your first trip, that you are a convert, whether you are travelling alone, whether you would share, and your name as it appears on your passport.

Is any of that unusual?

None of it. We book these trips regularly and nobody in your group will find it surprising either.

What is the deposit?

£99, and it fixes your price in writing.

Can I pay monthly?

Interest free when you book four or more months ahead. A £545 package booked ten months out is around £45 a month.

What else should I budget?

Around £100 to £150 on top for a week. Food beyond breakfast, the Taneem taxi, tips and shopping.