Islamic Fiqh > Hajj and umra > The pillars and obligations of hajj
What belongs to the pillars (without which hajj is invalid) and the obligations (compensated by sacrifice per the schools).
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
Ibn Hubayra reports: "They agreed that the duties of hajj are three: the ihram of hajj, the standing of Arafa, and the tawaf of the visit, also called the tawaf of obligation"; an-Nawawi confirms: "This tawaf is a pillar of hajj, without which the hajj is not valid by the umma's agreement", and Ibn Qudama adds that he knows of no divergence in it. Ibn Abd al-Barr: "The fullness of hajj is the standing at Arafa and the tawaf of ifada".
The standing at Arafa: Ibn al-Mundhir reports the agreement: it is a duty such that "no hajj for whoever misses it", and the hajj is made up the following year. The tawaf of ifada rests upon "and let them circle around the Ancient House" (al-Hajj 29), upon the case of Safiyya whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) declared held back by this tawaf (al-Bukhari 1670, Muslim 1211), and upon the consensus reported by Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abd al-Barr, Ibn Hazm and an-Nawawi.
The majority (Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis in one view) make the sa'i between Safa and Marwa a pillar that blood does not replace: "The messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed the sa'i, and the Muslims too: it was a sunna; by my life, Allah does not complete the hajj of one who does not perform the sa'i between Safa and Marwa" (al-Bukhari 1698, Muslim 1277). The Hanafis and Ahmad (in the narration chosen by the Qadi and preferred by Ibn Qudama) make it an obligation repaired by a sacrificial animal: the proof establishes obligation in general, not that the hajj is invalid without it. Ibn Hubayra reports agreement on a practical point: the sa'i performed after the arrival tawaf is valid and dispenses from repeating it after the tawaf of the visit, without divergence.
The fuqaha also enumerate duties performed within the pillars. For the ihram: departing from the spatial miqat, pronouncing the talbiya, avoiding the ihram's prohibitions. For the standing: the Hanafis and Hanbalis require extending the stay beyond sunset; for the Shafi'is it is a sunna; for the Malikis, what follows sunset is the pillar and what precedes it an obligation. For the tawaf: the Hanafis make the last three circuits a duty (for the majority, the seven are pillar); they further require purity from hadath and impurities, covering of the body, starting from the Stone, keeping the Ka'ba to one's right and including the Hijr: the majority makes these conditions of validity. Walking for one able: a duty among the Hanafis and Malikis, a sunna among the Shafi'is and Hanbalis. The two rak'as after the tawaf: duties among the Hanafis, the Malikis in the madhhab and one Shafi'i opinion; a sunna among the Hanbalis and the soundest view. And for Abu Hanifa, the tawaf of the visit must fall within the days of sacrifice: a delay is valid but engages an animal.
Holding the hierarchy in mind avoids costly mistakes: what is a pillar is not repaired by an animal, what is an obligation is, what is a sunna remains forgivable. The hajj's practical order follows this hierarchy: ihram, Arafa, the tawaf of the visit, the sa'i.