During the last days of Haj, many pilgrims are confused about which day they perform Tawaf Al-Wada.
Questions arise about offering sacrifices, when to leave Mina and what time they should go to Jamrat.
Indian pilgrim Mostafa Jalal said he was told by a scholar that Tawaf Wada can be performed on Eid day.
This reporter told him this was an odd fatwa and that he might want to check again with that scholar.
I suggested he may have heard it wrong especially that the scholar consulted was following a madhab that believes Tawaf Wada (farewell tawaf) is the final ritual ever. He called the scholar back and got the same first answer.
We happened to perform Tawaf Efadha and Sai of Haj together. After we finished he wanted to do Tawaf again for Wada. I was not sure of the accuracy of the fatwa he was given, but I told him about the toll-free lines distributed around Holy Mosque. I said to him he won’t lose anything by asking one more time.
We took the stairs down to King Abdul Aziz Gate were I recalled seeing those telephones. But on the way we passed by a fatwa office with few people queueing outside.
I suggested that he meet the sheikh in person. It took less than three minutes until the sheikh in the office was done with people before us. I imagined that with the number of people asking for fatwas from this office, the sheikh would be impatient. But that was not the case as he was answering the last inquirer with humor.
Our turn came and we I asked the sheikh on the behalf of my friend as he could not speak Arabic. It turned out that Tawaf Wada should be the last ritual in Haj as I thought.
My Indian friend said I never thought I could get fatwa this fast and easy from the most crowded place in the most crowded time.
“I never imagined that scholar will be so easily accessible during Haj time,” he said. Saudis are not just providing the necessary infrastructure, but also the spiritual guidance. This truly is the cradle of Islam.
As we separated, I went back to my camp and looked at the website of the General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques. It contained an electronic gate that provides numerous services for the Grand and the Prophet’s Mosques. From there you can get a free ticket to access the libraries inside the two holy mosques. They both contain huge libraries that provide books, CDs and cassettes.
Religious scholars aid pilgrims with fatwas
