Q. When we offered the pilgrimage, we were told that our group will leave Mina for our home directly at 5 p.m. on 12 Dul Hijjah. When we asked about the tawaf of farewell, we were told to do it the day before, which we did. Is this right? If not, then what should we do in compensation?
V. Shaikh
A. The tawaf of farewell is the last thing one should do on one’s pilgrimage. The only people who are exempt from it are women who are in their periods and have to join their groups on traveling home, and also the pilgrims residing in the Haram area. The Prophet (peace be upon him) issued an order that no one should start their travel without doing this tawaf which should be the last action. Hence, scholars say that if one does the tawaf of farewell and remain in Makkah for sometime afterward, he must do it again before he leaves. What the reader and his group did was to perform the tawaf of farewell and then stay another day in the Haram area, which includes Mina. This means that their tawaf counts as a Sunnah tawaf and they should do the tawaf of farewell before departure. They were given wrong information. Therefore, we can either consider this as a genuine mistake, in which case there is nothing that they are required to do. Or else, we consider it an omission that must be compensated for by slaughtering a sheep in the Haram area and giving its meat to the poor. I am more inclined to this second alternative as it ensures a more perfect pilgrimage.
Intercourse During the Day of Fasting
Q. What does Islam say about sexual intercourse between man and wife during the day of fasting? If this is prohibited, what is the penalty? And if the penalty is paid, does it compensate for the sin?
M. Althaf, Dammam
A. What is forbidden for us during the day of fasting is to eat, drink and have sex. All these become permissible when the day ends at sunset. It is certainly a grave sin to have intercourse with one’s wife during the day of fasting. It does not only invalidate the fast, but it also means committing a sin for which a heavy penalty is applicable.
Before the abolishing of slavery, the penalty was to free a slave. Since this is not available now, the alternative penalties are applicable. Hence, a man who commits this sin must fast two consecutive months. In addition, he must compensate for the day he invalidated by fasting a day instead.
This means that he fasts 60 consecutive days in penalty, and one day in compensation. If the person concerned is too weak to fast, then he must feed 60 poor people, two meals each, of the average meal he and his family normally take.
This is applicable whether the intercourse is done deliberately during a day of Ramadan, or if the man has forgotten that he is fasting. Some scholars require the woman to pay the same penalty, but many are those who say that she does not incur the penalty. They universally agree that if the man forces his wife while she resists, then she does not incur any penalty, but she has to fast a day instead of the one spoilt by the intercourse.
When a sin is committed, which carries a specific penalty, and the penalty is given, the sin is totally compensated for, and the person concerned will not be questioned about it on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, if a man who has had intercourse with his wife during the day of Ramadan pays the penalty and compensation, i.e. he fasts 61 days, his sin is forgiven, God willing.
One or More Tawaf
Q. Whenever I go to Makkah, I perform the tawaf twice, but a friend told me that this is wrong because the tawaf is a greeting to the Haram, and no one offers the prayer known as Tahiyyat Al-Masjid, or greeting of a mosque twice.
If one does the tawaf twice or more in succession, does he have to separate them with offering the two rak’ahs of Sunnah after each one of them? Should he, alternatively, offer this Sunnah for each tawaf after he has finished them all? I am told that one Sunnah is sufficient even if one has made the tawaf ten times.
When I am in the state of consecration, or ihraam, I do not go near Al-Multazam, because of the perfume used there. Please comment.
A.H. Anwar
A.Your friend is confusing two points: That the greeting to the Kaaba is by tawaf, not the normal two rak’ahs of Sunnah, and that tawaf is a form of prayer. You may offer the tawaf on entry into the Haram as greeting to the Kaaba, and this would be one tawaf, of seven rounds. But you can do the tawaf as many times as you wish, since it counts as voluntary prayers. The first tawaf counts as greeting to the Kaaba, and the second as a form of prayer. Each tawaf consists of walking around the Kaaba seven times, starting at the Black Stone and finishing at the same point.
If you do the tawaf twice or more, consecutively, you need to pray the two rak’ah of Sunnah once only at the end. Even then, this is voluntary, not obligatory. Needless to say, praying at the Haram is richly rewarded. So, if you have time, you may pray as many rak’ahs as you wish. You should not worry about the perfume applied near Al-Multazam, because it is not a perfume you are using yourself. If it attaches to your ihraam garments, it does so accidentally.
You are only doing a Sunnah, with the intention of following the Prophet’s guidance. This means that you stand at Al-Multazam after your tawaf and pray as you wish. May God accept your worship and grant you all you pray for.
