and grant a further share of its nobility and majesty to everyone who performs Hajj or ʿUmrah there—an increase in honour, reverence, exaltation, and righteousness. O Allah, You are Peace and from You comes peace; so keep us, our Lord, ever in peace.
He then enters the Sacred Mosque through the Gate of Banū Shaybah and begins with the Ṭawāf al-Qudūm (the circumambulation of arrival). This tawāf is exclusive to a pilgrim who reaches Mecca before the standing at ʿArafah. Anyone who travels to Mecca not for a devotional rite is recommended to enter in a state of iḥrām for Hajj or ʿUmrah; according to one opinion this is obligatory, unless his entry is frequent, as with a woodcutter or a hunter.
Section
Every form of tawāf has obligatory elements and Sunnah practices.
Obligatory elements
• The private parts must be covered and one must be free from both ritual impurity and physical filth. Should a minor impurity occur during tawāf, he performs ablution and continues; another opinion holds that he must start over.
• He keeps the House on his left, beginning at the Black Stone and passing his whole body level with it. If he starts elsewhere, the circuit does not count; when he reaches the Stone he starts from it again.
• If he walks on the shadhrwān (the ledge at the base of the Kaʿbah), touches the wall while parallel to it, or enters through one opening of the Ḥijr and exits through the other, his tawāf is invalid; there is, however, another view regarding merely touching the wall.
• He must complete seven full circuits within the bounds of the Mosque.
Recommended practices
• To perform tawāf on foot.
• At the start of tawāf he touches the Black Stone, kisses it, and places his forehead upon it; if unable, he merely touches it, and if unable even to touch, he gestures toward it with his hand. He repeats this at the beginning of every circuit.
• He neither kisses nor touches the two Levantine corners, but he touches—without kissing—the Yemeni Corner.
• At the outset he says: “In the name of Allah; Allah is Most Great. O Allah, [I do this] in faith in You, in confirmation of Your Book, in fulfilment of Your covenant, and in following the sunnah of Your Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him.”
• Opposite the Door he says: “O Allah, this House is Your House, this sanctuary is Your sanctuary, and security is Your security; this is the station of one who seeks refuge with You from the Fire.”
• Between the two Yemeni corners he says: “Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire,” and he may supplicate with whatever he wishes.