Our Illuminated Tours are always open to anyone with an open heart, of any and every faith background, any nationality, any age group.
We are geared towards friends who are spiritually open and seeking, and committed to a respectful experience of a sacred culture.

The tours do call for a fair amount of walking in an urban context. 
 
The Umrah program alone among our program is for our Muslim participants.  You can be a convert, even a recent one, as well as someone who is returning to the faith after a period of distance.  We emphatically welcome friends from Sunni and Shi'a backgrounds, as well as those who do not identify with a particular Muslim school.  All that we ask for is the attestation of Divine Unity and the finality of the Prophet Muhammad's mission for the whole of creation.

The majority of our participants have always been women, and we are honored to foster a safe and welcoming environment for all. 

We do recommend for you to take time to study the Martin Lings book on the Prophet titled Muhammad:  His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, and Omid's book Radical Love:  Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition.

None. Bring your open and curious heart. That is it. You can join this tour from any or no tradition at all as long as there is respect and curiosity about the rich culture we are in.

The tours are offered in English.

We would love to welcome you to our Morocco, Turkey, or Rumi Retreats.  

The Umrah experience is exclusively for friends who identify as Muslim.

As you can imagine, much will be as it has always been: travel to a beautiful destination, immersion in a rich and sacred culture, and being in the company of fellow travelers and seekers.

And some steps will be different now to reflect the new conditions of the world:

• Participants will be asked to follow the guidelines of the CDC & WHO, plus the policies of Illuminated Tours.
• The program will require being fully vaccinated, which will mean having had two vaccines plus the necessary number of booster shots by the time of travel.
• All participants will be required to sign the COVID19 waiver.
• All participants will be required to purchase their own travel insurance to cover situations like cancellation of the trip, need for evacuation, COVID treatment, or medical attention. We recommend some of the companies listed here: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/best-travel-insurance/

Assumption of risk: The decision to travel during COVID19 requires us to make a few changes to our outlook and approach to travel. By joining us on our Tour to Morocco or Turkey or Umrah journeys, you are assuming a higher degree of risk than you otherwise would. Thus, we ask that you join us embracing a flexible and understanding nature as we, together, negotiate the challenges of international travel during a global pandemic. In turn, we commit to making every effort to protect the health and safety of our participants and to being fair and just in any financial or administrative situations that may arise.

Given the fluid situation worldwide, please make sure you read our refund policy for all possible situations (see FAQ below).

About 2/3 of our participants come alone.  We match people with appropriate same gender roommates.  Yes, do come solo, and know that you will be welcomed into our caravan. 

There is not a straight forward answer and we would love to have a conversation with you about it.

We have had families with children as young as three, and many teenagers. 

Here is what we would say:  The Umrah journey is challenging, particularly the period in Mecca.  In some cases, it can be challenging for young children. 

In cases of teenagers, talk with them about their experiences, and whether they have the curiosity and maturity to welcome such an experience.  Our programs also ask participants to minimize the time on smart phones and social media to maximize us being present to each other and this sacred context.  And then talk with us about it to see about the fit.

As you can imagine in these uncertain times, we are having to take concrete precautionary steps to protect you and the program in terms of planning.

We will send you a more detailed listing of our refund policy, but in short:

VI. CANCELLATION BY THE TRAVELER

 As soon as we receive your payment, we forward the payments to the various hotels in Mecca and Medina.  Those hotels have non-refundable policies, and as such our program fees are also non-refundable.  This is why we encourage you have travel insurance.


VII. CANCELLATION BY ILLUMINATED TOURS
Should Illuminated Tours deem it necessary to cancel the scheduled trip after payments from the traveler have been received, payment will be refunded or applied towards a future Illuminated Tours trip. In circumstances where the cancellation is due to external events outside our reasonable control, including but not limited to COVID, travel bans, airlines shut downs, etc., refunds will not include any unrecoverable costs.

Further, Illuminated Tours is not responsible for any incidental expenses that you may have incurred as a result of your booking, including, but not limited to visas, vaccinations, travel insurance excess or non-refundable flights.

We aim to make the journey as easy as possible. 

1)  As soon as you are committed, contact Isa Sophia at [email protected].  We will set up a brief conversation with you to answer remaining questions, and make sure we are right for each other.  You will then be forwarded the link to officially register. 

Send us the full legal names and ages of all the participants, their gender, and rooming preferences.  

2)  When we notify you, make your international ticket purchase to and from Saudi Arabia. 

3) Given the uncertainties of this period, we strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance. 

4). Follow up by arranging for an Umrah through this link:  https://visa.visitsaudi.com/

Here is a list of what is included:

We’ll have two shuttles to pick friends up from Jeddah airport and bring them to Mecca;

the hotel in Mecca (5-star, five minutes from the Ka’ba);

all breakfasts in Mecca;

Umrah guide in Mecca;

visit to holy sites around Mecca;

either high speed train or bus to go from Mecca to Medina;
accommodations in Medina, either the private house next to Mount Uhud or 5-star hotel right next to Prophet’s Mosque;

teachings from me, Sidi Hamza, and Sa’diyya shaikh;

guide in Medina;

all breakfasts in Medina;

all dinners in Medina;

course taught by me on the being of the Prophet in Medina.

We will insha’allah have participants joining us from many different countries.  As such, we follow the “land only” policy, not including the cost of international travel which can vary widely.  The cost of the program itself is $ 4,450 USD.