The logistics of devotion

KARACHI:

The suitcase was open for days before we actually packed it. Not properly open either. Just lying there on the floor, with a few things inside and a lot still undecided. I would walk past it, stop, think of something we might need, and then leave it for later. It didn’t feel like packing yet. It felt like preparing to pack.

In the beginning, it was just supposed to be me, my wife and my daughter. That was the plan. Simple enough. Then I decided to take my parents as well. After that, the whole thing changed. Not suddenly, but you could feel it. The planning became heavier. It wasn’t just about getting there anymore. It was about making sure everyone would be comfortable once we did.

It was December, so I wasn’t too worried about the heat. But then other questions came in. Would it get cold at night? Should we carry extra layers for my parents? Then medicines came in. Then food. Then what kind of food.

I wasn’t sure what would be easily available there, or what my parents would actually eat without any issue. So we decided to take food from here. We didn’t just pack randomly. We tried to think it through. How many days we would stay. Which days we might eat outside. What would last? What would be easy to carry? What would actually be eaten and not just carried around. It sounds like a small thing, but it took time and lots of decision-making.

I had lived in Saudi Arabia for around 11 years, so I knew the environment, the food, and the general routine. It wasn’t new for me in that sense, but it was more than 20 years ago, so things might have changed, and arranging Umrah yourself is different.

Earlier, my father used to handle all of this. I never really thought about how much goes into it. Tickets would just be there. Everything would somehow be arranged. This time I was the one trying to put it all together.

Flights, layovers, timing of arrival, how long it might take to get out of the airport, how we would reach Makkah, and whether we would be able to perform Umrah soon after checking in or not.

Once I told people we were going, the advice started. From everywhere. Colleagues, relatives, friends, even people I hadn’t spoken to in a while. Some told me about medicines. Some insisted on getting the basic Umrah items, unscented soap, tasbeeh, slippers, small things that keep coming up in every conversation. Others went into detail about movement. Which bus to take. Where to get off. What time is better? When not to go.

A colleague who had recently gone with his parents explained everything to me very carefully, almost step by step. And then there were family members who had gone earlier, each with their own version of what matters and what doesn’t.

This is usually how it happens here. People think about Umrah for years. Then one day the decision is made. After that, you look at the finances, adjust things, and make it possible. And then the practical part starts. Applications, tickets, bookings.

Pakistan’s place in this movement is significant. In one recent Umrah season, Pakistan ranked second among countries sending pilgrims to the Kingdom, behind Indonesia.

Along with that, you start asking people. What problems they had faced. What they would do differently. What should not be forgotten. And slowly, without realising it, you are carrying too many lists in your head. Medicines. Slippers. Unscented soap. Food from Pakistan because many people said they couldn’t adjust to the food there, or just found it easier to have something familiar.

At some point, it gets a bit confusing. You are trying to remember everything, and in that process, you can forget very basic things. Things you don’t usually think about. The preparation doesn’t feel organised anymore. It just feels ongoing.

For me, the biggest worry was the travel. Our flight was landing in the morning. After that, there were still a few hours before we would reach Makkah. We hadn’t slept properly the night before. And the idea was that after reaching, after checking in, we would perform Umrah.

The first day was exactly how it sounds. Tiring. A bit heavy. Not very clear. But after a few days, things started settling. You understand the timings. When to go. When to rest. How the buses work. Which hours feel easier.

When I think about it now, the journey didn’t begin with the flight. It had already started at home, with that open suitcase. With conversations that kept repeating similar advice in different ways. With small calculations about money, comfort, and what might go wrong.

For many Pakistani families, that’s where Umrah really begins. Not at the airport. Not on arrival.

Jalil Ahmed, an Umrah trainer who also takes groups for Umrah, said this nervousness is common among first-time pilgrims. Some fear the restrictions of ihram, while others feel the weight of entering the House of Allah for the first time. “On one side, there is happiness that Allah has given them the chance,” he said, “but on the other side, there is also fear.

At home, where everything comes together at once, faith, family, budgeting, advice, and a quiet kind of tension, packed slowly, and never all at once.

Booking faith

After the packing at home, the process shifts somewhere else. For most families, that means a travel agent.

It doesn’t always feel like a big step. Sometimes it is just a number shared by someone, or an office you visit after hearing about a package. But this is where things start becoming fixed. Dates, tickets, hotels, visa, transport. The journey that felt personal now starts turning into something structured.

That structure now serves millions. According to Saudi official statistics, more than 15.22 million people performed Umrah in the first quarter of 2025 alone, including 6.52 million international pilgrims, most of whom arrived by air.

Behind these individual bookings is a much larger system. Saudi Arabia’s Pilgrim Experience Programme aims to increase capacity to 30 million Umrah pilgrims by 2030, almost double its 2025 target of 15 million.

“The first thing is what would be the whole package,” said Azaz, a travel agent in Karachi. “Which includes the flights, hotels and the other things involved in that.”

That question comes up almost immediately. Once the price is shared, the next concern usually follows: distance from Haram.

“Once it is communicated that the hotel would be at a specific distance from Haram, then we get feedback that they need a hotel nearby so they can also walk,” he said.

That is where the adjustments begin. Closer hotel, higher cost. Farther hotel, lower cost. Most families end up somewhere in between.

According to agents, a common package runs for around 15 days. “They spend eight days in Madinah and then the rest in Makkah,” Azaz said. But even that is not fixed. Some land in Jeddah and go straight to Makkah. Others start from Madinah. It often depends on ticket prices more than preference.

“The airline is not considered much,” he said. “People don’t want to spend too much, even if the transit is longer.”

A basic package usually covers the essentials: ticket, visa, hotel and shared transport. “Shared transfers are included, not the private ones,” he explained. Some agents also provide a small kit, including tasbeeh, ihram and other basic items.

Food is usually not part of the package. Neither are private transfers, extra trips, laundry, porter help, tips and small day-to-day movements. These may seem minor at the time of booking, but once the trip begins, they start adding up.

Hotel distance plays a bigger role than many first-time pilgrims expect. “The farther you are, the less the charges,” Azaz said. “The closest ones and the farthest ones can have a difference of even 10 to 15 times.”

The season also changes the amount. “Our fee does not change, but the hotel charges and air tickets change, around 20 to 30 percent,” he said, adding that it varies.

Many people now compare packages online, but the cheaper option is not always simple to understand. “They usually don’t understand the difference between prices,” Azaz said. The difference may be in hotel quality, distance, airline route, transit time or transfer arrangements.

Ahmed, the Umrah trainer, said travellers should check who they are booking with. “When choosing an agent, people should check how experienced the agent is and how large or reliable their setup is.”

For him, reliability is not only about an office or a lower price. Travellers should ask whether the agent has proper ticketing access, whether the visa is being processed through his own setup or through someone else, and how directly he is connected with the Saudi-side arrangements.

Kaleemullah, another traveller, learned this during his own journey. “I searched online about the packages,” he said. Some cheaper offers looked attractive at first, but later he found that airline tickets were not included, which changed the total cost. He eventually chose an agent who explained the expenses clearly.

Most arrangements worked. Until Madinah. “When I reached the Madinah hotel, there was no booking under my name,” he said. He had no local contact there, only a number for Makkah. “Because of the time difference, I had to wait for five hours in the hotel lobby.”

Even after that, it took more time to find the manager and arrange a room. “It was in a terrible condition and had bed bugs,” he said. His Makkah stay was better, but the Madinah experience stayed with him.

Food also became an unexpected cost. “One meal, almost three times more than what it would cost in Pakistan,” he said. The family had to look for cheaper options and cut down on what they planned to bring back.

Looking back, one thing stood out. “When I completed my journey, I realised hotel distance matters a lot,” he said. If the hotel is far, transport has to be reliable. “Otherwise you will find trouble in reaching Haram.”

Not every journey goes this way. Many pass without major problems. But for Pakistani families, an Umrah package is not just a booking. It is trust. Families are handing over their savings, their time, and the comfort of those travelling with them. When things work, the details fade away. When they don’t, even small gaps can follow them through a journey meant to bring peace.

The suitcase economy

After the tickets are booked, people start going to the markets. It’s not something you plan properly. It just starts happening. Someone says we should get slippers. Then someone else says don’t forget unscented soap. Then suddenly you are in a shop looking at things you didn’t think about a few days ago.

Some people come prepared. “They do come with lists,” one shopkeeper in Karachi said. “But many just ask for the Umrah kit.” That’s usually the starting point. Listing what people ask for the most. These are the things that come up in conversations again and again, so by the time people reach the shop, they already have these in mind.

There isn’t really a fixed season for this anymore. “Ramadan is busy,” he said, “but now people are going throughout the year.” So the flow just continues. What changes is the kind of customer. “First-time pilgrims are more conscious,” he said. “They don’t want to leave anything.” They keep asking what else they might need. Even after buying the basic things, they ask again.

That question, what else, doesn’t really have an end. “If they have the budget, they take more,” he said. Not always because they need it, but because it feels safer to have it. Most people pick up a ready-made kit. “That is the most selling item,” he said. It saves time. You don’t have to think too much in the shop. Just choose a version and move on.

But no one really stops at the kit. After that, things get added slowly. Medicines. ORS. Small bottles. Extra slippers. A better bag. Then things you didn’t think about at first. Chargers. Power banks. SIM cards. And then food starts entering the conversation.

Waqas described it simply. “We bought Umrah kits, slippers, umbrellas, SIM cards, suitcases, hand carries and tin-packed food,” he shared. It didn’t happen in one go. Things were added over a few days. Someone would remember something, and it would go into the pile.

At home, the packing became its own discussion. “My wife prepared the packing list,” he said. Then added, in a lighter tone, “I was looking at the travel, but I did include many items and the ones I included were overpacked.”

That’s how it usually goes. You try to be careful, and that turns into taking more. Later, some of it doesn’t make sense. “We did not use the unscented soap because it was available there,” he said. “We also overpacked food.” Their routine changed after reaching. “We would go in the morning and come back at night, and have lunch near Haram,” he said.

So the food they carried mostly stayed in the bag. “Some food remained unused and we brought it back,” he said. When he looked back at it, the thought was straightforward. “We were over-conscious; there were many things I wish I hadn’t taken.”

That word stays, over-conscious. Because that’s really what this stage is. People are not just packing what they need. They are packing for what might happen. What if we need this and can’t find it there? What if something runs out? What if it’s expensive?

So one extra item goes in. Then another. And no one is fully sure where to stop. By the time the suitcase is finally closed, it has more than just things inside it.

There is advice in it. Things people insisted on. Things are repeated in conversations. There is also a bit of worry, not strong, but there. In the end, the suitcase doesn’t feel like just luggage.It feels like preparation in a physical form.

And somewhere in between them, that small need to feel ready for a place that is familiar to many, but still not home.

Why food travels with pilgrims

Food usually gets decided earlier than most other things. Before the packing really starts, before the suitcase is properly opened, someone brings it up. How much should we take? What should we take? Whether we should take it at all.

And almost always, someone says yes, take it. One traveller Abbas put it simply: “We took qorma, biryani, karhai, haleem, koftay and daal, all tin-packed from a famous restaurant in Karachi.”

It sounds like a normal meal at home. That’s the point. The idea doesn’t come from one place. It builds through conversations. “I talked to many people and they suggested that I take food with me,” he said. Part of it was the cost. “The food over there is not only expensive…” And then he paused on the other part. “…and also tasteless according to the taste buds of Pakistanis.”

It’s not really about the food being bad. It’s just not what people are used to. “I think it was for all of these reasons,” he said. Cost, taste, everything together. “What I heard and then experienced, the food price was quite different. It was three or four times more expensive than what we have in Pakistan.”

For a single person, maybe that’s manageable. For a family, it changes things. Still, carrying food doesn’t mean you end up eating it all the time. “There were some days when we ate outside because we did not want to travel back to the hotel,” he said. Most of the day is spent near Haram. Going back, opening tins, heating food, it takes time, and we wanted to spend maximum time at the place we were there for, offer all prayers at Haram, these are not normal days, these are precious days and you don't want to miss a chance to be here. So to save time and stay near Haram, we decided to have food there,” he said. “But it was quite expensive.” So it becomes a mix. Some meals outside, some from what you brought.

Then there are children. “I was travelling with my four-year-old son,” said Abbas. “So I had to take things for him too because he eats a very limited type of food.” That one line explains a lot. You can adjust your own routine. You can’t always do that with a child.

There’s also another thought that stays in the background while packing. “We had also heard that people can get sick when they reach there,” he said. “So we wanted to avoid food poisoning or anything.”

Whether that actually happens or not, people plan for it. Even what worked had its limits. “All the gravy items helped,” he said. “Biryani was a bit tricky to warm up.”

There’s no proper system for heating food in most rooms. People figure it out. In their case, they used what they had. The food would go into plastic bags and then into hot water from the electric kettle. It sounds inconvenient, but at that point, it’s normal.

Travel agents don’t really factor food into the package. “They do ask sometimes, but usually they don’t,” said the agent Azaz. “They know that the package doesn’t include food.” What they do suggest is simple. “They can take tin packs, which can stay fresh for months.”

After that, it’s up to the family. Some carry more, some less. Some rely more on restaurants. Most do both.And even when food comes back untouched, people don’t regret taking it. “Yes, I would definitely carry food again,” he said. “It helps a lot.”

That’s the part that stays. Because it’s not only about saving money, or even about taste. It’s about knowing that after a long day, you can sit down and eat something that feels familiar. Something you didn’t have to think about.

In a place that is not unfamiliar, but still not home, that small thing carries weight.

Preparing the body, soul and wallet

By the time the suitcase is closed and the tickets are booked, many families feel that the difficult part is over. But Umrah has a way of showing that preparation is not only about what goes into the luggage. The body has to be ready, the soul has to be ready, and the wallet has to be ready too.

The physical side is often understood only after reaching Makkah or Madinah. There is walking before prayers, walking after prayers, walking inside the Haram, walking to buses, walking because a gate is closed, and walking because the heart still wants to go back. For elderly pilgrims, and for those travelling with parents, this becomes even more important.

A pharmacist, Sharmeen said most people who come before Umrah usually buy medicines for cold and flu, body pain, muscle pain, headaches and basic first aid. According to her, many pilgrims fall sick after reaching Saudi Arabia because they are exposed to crowds, weather changes and people coming from different parts of the world.

For elderly people, diabetics, blood pressure patients and heart patients, she said, regular medicines should be carried for the full duration of the trip. Buying medicines there can be expensive, some may not be available without prescription, and seeing a doctor can take time or cost a lot.

The basic medicine kit, she said, should include paracetamol, antiseptic or pyodine soultion, bandages and first-aid items. Those who take medicines regularly should not take chances with quantity.

Walking preparation is also important. Facilities such as wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs and carts exist, but they can add to the cost.

Ahmed, the Umrah trainer, said that first-time pilgrims often carry unnecessary fear. Much of that fear, he said, is around the ihram. Pilgrims worry about its restrictions, although many of them are not things a person normally does every few hours. “A person does not cut his nails every day anyway,” he said, explaining that the fear often comes from not understanding the rules clearly before travelling.

For him, spiritual preparation begins with understanding and reading the Quran, and studying the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), especially the 23 years after the first revelation.

But reading alone is not enough, he said. Pilgrims should attend guidance sessions and sit with people of knowledge and experience. “Just reading books will not do anything,” he said. “You will have to sit with some experienced people.”

This is where many pilgrims fall into a common pattern. They prepare their bags more carefully than their hearts. Ahmed said this depends on the person. Those already connected with prayer and fasting usually prepare spiritually as well. Others may treat Umrah like any other trip, focusing more on what to carry and how to manage than on why they are going.

For Ahmed, that preparation has to begin before departure. “It is better that we establish our relationship with Allah before going there,” he said. “The stronger this relationship will be here, the stronger it will be there.”

Technology has made some preparation easier. YouTube videos and WhatsApp groups help pilgrims see what earlier generations could not: the hotel, the route to Haram, the walking distance, the roads and the time it may take. Used properly, Ahmed said, these tools can reduce uncertainty.

Then comes the costs many people do not calculate. Every pilgrim expects to bring back dates, Zamzam and gifts. One traveller said this was already part of his budget because anyone who goes on such a spiritual journey brings back tabarruk. In his case, extra luggage was not needed because the food cans they had carried were used, leaving space for gifts.

But other costs appear slowly. Ahmed said shopping, optional ziyarat to places like Badr or Taif, visiting relatives in nearby cities, repeated Umrah trips from Masjid Ayesha or Jorana, taxis, laundry, SIMs, snacks and wheelchairs can all add to the spending.

Ahmed said that when pilgrims return, many complaints are about hotels, cleanliness, food, agents, closed gates on busy days or delays at airports. Sometimes the problem is not only the arrangement, but the tiredness with which people face it.

That is why Ahmed tells pilgrims to carry patience with them. “When you have tied the ihram, you have gone on that journey, you are in worship,” Ahmed said. Whether a gate closes, a bus is late or the walk becomes longer than expected, the journey is still part of the test

In the end, the best preparation is not only knowing what to carry. It is knowing why one is going.