Tawaf is one of the most important rituals of both the pilgrimage and the Umrah. It consists of walking round the Kaaba seven times in an anti-clock wise movement, starting at the point of the black stone and finishing at the same point. While walking, one is aware of his intention, addressing God with his glorification and supplication, or reading the Qur’an. There are three tawafs during the pilgrimage and one for the Umrah. These are the tawaf of arrival, the tawaf of ifaadhah and the tawaf of farewell. The first, i.e. the tawaf of arrival should be done as soon as possible after one has arrived in Makkah. In order to indicate the need for doing it immediately, scholars of earlier times recommend that it should be done before a pilgrim looks for a place to stay. This is increasingly difficult these days with the great number of pilgrims arriving every day in Makkah, a medium sized city. It is better to settle first at one’s place of residence, then do the tawaf as soon as possible after that.
Tawaf is an act of worship, which is described by the Prophet as akin to prayers, except that it is permissible to talk during it. However it is much preferable not to busy oneself with any talk during tawaf, but to concentrate on one’s worship. Tawaf is the greeting offered to the Kaaba, which distinguishes it from all other mosques which are greeted with a voluntary prayer of two rakaahs.
This means that whenever one goes into the Haram, one may start with tawaf as a greeting to the Kaaba, the first house ever to be built for the purpose of worshiping God alone. This suggests the reason for doing the tawaf of arrival so early. A pilgrim takes such a hard journey to go to Makkah for worship.
He should show that nothing diverts him from his purpose of demonstrating his submission to God in the most vivid way. That is, after all, the whole purpose of the pilgrimage. It is an act of worship which requires that one sheds all worldly considerations and demonstrates one’s submission to God alone.
The second tawaf is that of ifaadhah, which is also called ziyarah. The first word indicates ‘completing a task and moving on,’ while the second means, ‘a visit.’ It is called the tawaf of ifaadhah because it is done after completing the most important duty of pilgrimage, which is attendance at Arafat.
It is described as the tawaf of ziyarah, because it is normally done on a special visit to Makkah, when pilgrims should be staying in Mina for three days after Arafat. The tawaf of ifaadhah is the second main duty of pilgrimage. If missed, it cannot be compensated for. Without it, one’s pilgrimage remains incomplete, and one’s release from consecration could not be total.
Suppose a pilgrim forgets or neglects to do the tawaf of ifaadhah, and travels home after pilgrimage, he remains in partial consecration, (assuming that he has done all his other duties), and he may not have sexual intercourse with his wife until he has completed this duty. He should go back to Makkah for it, even though he might have traveled as far as New Zealand. Hence it is most important that a pilgrim should do the tawaf of ifaadhah as soon as it is convenient to do so after he or she has finished from Arafat and Muzdalifah, and arrived back in Mina.
The third tawaf is that of farewell. As its name indicates, it is the final act of worship which completes the pilgrimage. It is done immediately before departure from Makkah. Pilgrims should delay it until they are sure that they are leaving. They should pack their stuff first, and get ready for departure.
When there is only about two hours or so before their leaving Makkah, they should go to the Haram and do this tawaf, bidding farewell to the Kaaba and praying God to help them to come again on a similar blessed journey to do this great act of worship.
The tawaf of farewell is a duty of pilgrimage that is required of all pilgrims except for those who are resident in Makkah and the Haram area. This means that pilgrims who normally live in Jeddah, or Bahrah, are also required to do the tawaf of farewell. Omitting to do it requires compensation by slaughtering a sheep and giving all its meat to the poor of Makkah and the Haram area.
One may not eat or feed one’s family of the meat of one’s own compensatory sacrifice. This is different from the sacrifice of gratitude which a pilgrim using the tamattu’ or the qiran method of pilgrimage must offer to thank God for enabling him or her to do both the Umrah and the pilgrimage in the same season. It is recommended that one partakes of that sacrifice of gratitude.
The tawaf commemorates the action of Prophet Abraham who built the Kaaba with his son, the Prophet Ishmael. When its building was complete, Abraham was instructed by God to do the tawaf. He fulfilled the order, but he was confused about the number of times he completed. He appealed to God to give him a mark, and the angel Gabriel brought him the black stone which has served as its mark ever since.
The other type of walk required in pilgrimage and Umrah is the sa’ie. This is a walk between the two hills of As-Safa and Al-Marwah, which are very close to the Kaaba that they are within the precincts of the Haram. We are required to walk between these two hills, going up a little distance at the foot of each, every time we come to either one. We should walk between them seven times, starting at As-Safa and finishing at Al-Marwah, because a walk from either hill to the other counts as one round.
We walk normally, except for the short distance between the two green marks when we increase our speed a little to make a bit of jogging. During sa’ie we busy ourselves with reading the Qur’an, glorification of God, supplication, and praying God to shower His peace and blessings on His messenger, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). When we finish, we stand at Al-Marwah for a few minutes glorifying God and praying for anything we wish.
There is one sa’ie for Umrah and one for pilgrimage. The Sa’ie is normally offered after a tawaf. This is a straightforward procedure in Umrah which includes only one tawaf. In pilgrimage, we may do the sa’ie after the tawaf of arrival or tawaf of ifaadhah if we are doing the ifraad or qiran methods. In the tamattu’ method, it must be done after the tawaf of ifaadhah. It should be added here that a person who is doing the qiran method actually performs one sa’ie for both Umrah and pilgrimage at the same time, either after the tawaf of arrival or after the tawaf of ifaadhah.
The sa’ie commemorates the action of Hagar, the mother of Prophet Ishmael. When her husband, Prophet Abraham left both mother and little child in the valley of Makkah, which was a barren valley with no cultivation or water and went away, she needed to look for water. It must be said that Abraham was acting on God’s specific orders. She confirmed that with him before he left, and when she realized that it was God who wanted her to remain there, she said to her husband: “The One who gave you this order will not abandon us.”
Alone with a little child in this barren valley, Hagar felt as if she was hearing voices from the top of As-Safa, and she rushed there, climbing the hill but finding nothing. She then felt as if the voices were coming from the other end, and she rushed there again to find nothing. She repeated this seven times.
Then standing at Al-Marwah, she looked at the baby who was on the ground. He was crying no more. Indeed he seemed content and playing. Moreover, there was something near him that looked like water. She rushed there to find that a spring has gushed forth close to him. This is the spring of Zamzam which is within the precincts of the Haram. Hagar’s attitude was one of total submission to God, even in the most adverse of situations. Hence we commemorate it when doing the act of worship which epitomizes our own submission to God.
It should be added that the tawaf is an on-going act of worship. In fact it never ceases except at the time when obligatory prayers are offered in congregation. This happens in periods of low season, perhaps in the very hot summer months. Other than these brief periods, the tawaf continues throughout the day, every day of the year without fail. This is an act of worship marking mankind’s total submission to God. It gives us the strength of trusting all our affairs, and our whole being to God alone.
The sa’ie is also offered at all times, but the fact that the sa’ie is not offered voluntarily, at any time other than when it is part of the Umrah or the pilgrimage, makes it less frequent. Hence, when few people come for the Umrah in the summer months, there may be times when the sa’ie stops, but only for a short while.
Arab News Islam 20 January 2003
