and this is also indicated by the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both: “Except that concession was made for the menstruating woman.” (1) This is because the Farewell Tawaf is not one of the rites of Hajj itself, but is ancillary to them; therefore, it is waived when its performance is legally impossible. This differs from the Tawaf al-Ifadah, which cannot be waived for either a menstruating woman or a woman experiencing postnatal bleeding.
If someone were to ask: Do you regard physical incapacity as equivalent to legal incapacity?
That is, if a person is ill and unable to perform tawaf either on his own or with another’s assistance, is the Farewell Tawaf waived for him?
The answer is no, because one of the Mothers of the Believers sought the Prophet’s ﷺ permission to forgo the Farewell Tawaf due to illness, but he told her: “Perform tawaf behind the people while riding.” (2) Thus, we say to such a sick person: the matter is easy—praise be to Allah. There are wheelchairs on which he may ride while performing tawaf, or he may perform tawaf on a litter.
Thus, the Farewell Tawaf is waived only for the menstruating woman and the woman experiencing postnatal bleeding.
“If he remains, or engages in trade after it, he must repeat it. If anyone other than a menstruating woman omits it, he must return to perform it; but if this is difficult, or if he does not return, then he must offer a sacrificial animal …”
His words, “If he remains,” mean: if he remains in Mecca after performing the Farewell Tawaf.
By this, the author indicates that this tawaf must be a person’s final act, and that is indeed the case, due to the statement of Ibn ‘Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both: “The people were commanded that their last act be at the House, except that concession was made for the menstruating woman.” (3) From this, you may recognize that what some pilgrims do—performing the Farewell Tawaf, then going out to Mina, stoning the pillars, and then departing—is mistaken, because their final act is the stoning, not