Tawaf and sa'i

The tawaf of the visit: seven circuits

After leaving Arafa, the night at Muzdalifa, the throwings and the sacrifice at Mina, the pilgrim comes to Mecca to perform the tawaf of the visit, also called the tawaf of ifada. Seven circuits: all are pillar with the majority, for the measures of worships are taken from the sunna, not from opinion; the Hanafis make the three circuits and the essential part of the fourth a pillar, the completion being a duty repaired by a sheep, not a cow.

Its own conditions

Three conditions add to the tawaf's general ones: being preceded by ihram, being preceded by the standing of Arafa (a tawaf before it does not dispense, by agreement), and the intention: the majority (Hanafis, Malikis, Shafi'is) does not require specifying it, the hajj's intention covering all the acts, like one fasting Ramadan with a vague intention; the pilgrim who, arriving in Mecca, turns without specifying settles according to his ihram. Walking for one able: a duty among the Hanafis and Malikis, leaving it with capability engaging an animal; an excuse (illness, old age) entails nothing. Whoever turns riding without excuse: the Hanafis make him repeat as long as he is in Mecca, else an animal; al-Shafi'i imposes nothing, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) having turned mounted on the day of sacrifice, ill in the hip; but the transmitted practice to this day is the walking tawaf. An interruption (prayer, funeral, need): Ibn Hazm, Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i: pray, go out then resume the count; Malik, for the obligatory tawaf, restarts except for the prescribed prayer; Ibn Hazm rejects that division upon "and do not render your deeds vain" (Muhammad 33). If the tawaf is delayed beyond the days of sacrifice: Shafi'is, Hanbalis, the two Hanafi companions and a narration of Malik: nothing upon him, but his wife remains forbidden until he returns; the fidya never replaces a pillar. The Hanafis impose an animal for the delay without excuse.

The sa'i between Safa and Marwa

Seven laps between the two mounts, from Safa towards Marwa and back, after the tawaf among the four imams; the order is a condition for most: starting at Safa, ending at Marwa. The sa'i depends on the tawaf: whoever sets off before it does not count, says Ibn Qudama; Ahmad grants forgetfulness on the word "no hardship". Its rank: pillar for the majority (Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis in one view), on Aisha's word already cited; an obligation repaired by an animal for the Hanafis and a version of Ahmad. Its original time: the day of sacrifice after the tawaf of the visit, with the licence to advance it after the arrival tawaf; with no last term, and the Hanafi who has gone back to his family owes an animal if he delays without excuse.

The Black Stone and the Rukn yamani

Touching the Black Stone and kissing it is a sunna followed since the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Ibn Umar said: "I saw the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) touch it and kiss it" (al-Bukhari 1523, Muslim 1268); Ibn Umar kissed his hand after placing it, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), mounted on his she-camel, was content with a sign. Umar had cautioned: the Stone neither profits nor harms, the act has worth only as a following of the Sunna. The tawaf is done keeping the Ka'ba to one's right.

Practical note

The order to hold: Arafa, Muzdalifa, Mina (throwing, sacrifice, shaving), then the tawaf of the visit and its sa'i, the majority allowing the sa'i from the arrival tawaf. Purity, covering and the seven laps counted from the Black Stone avoid the reparations.