Pre-Ihram Innovations
1- Refraining from travel during the month of Safar and avoiding the initiation of any undertaking—such as marriage, construction, and the like—within it.
2- Declining to travel during the waning phase of the month or when the moon is in Scorpio.
3- Leaving the house unswept and uncleaned after the traveller departs.
4- Performing two rakʿahs when setting out for Hajj, reciting, after al-Fatihah, “Qul ya ayyuhal-kafirun” in the first rakʿah and Surah al-Ikhlas in the second; upon completion saying, “O Allah, by You I set out and to You I turn…,” followed by Ayat al-Kursi, Surah al-Ikhlas, the two chapters of refuge, and other passages listed in certain fiqh manuals.
5- Performing four rakʿahs for the same purpose.
6- A would-be pilgrim, upon leaving his home, reciting the closing verses of Surah Al-ʿImran, Ayat al-Kursi, “Inna anzalnahu” (Surah al-Qadr), and Umm al-Kitab (al-Fatihah) on the claim that these secure the fulfillment of one’s needs in this world and the next.