- Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) related that he would never arrive at Mecca without spending the night at Dhi Tuwa; he would remain there until morning, perform a full bath (ghusl), and he traced this practice back to the Prophet ﷺ. Agreed upon. (1)
Vocabulary
• Dhi Tuwa: The initial ṭāʾ may be pronounced with ḍammah, fatḥa, or kasra, the ḍammah being the clearest and most common. The wāw is light, and the final letter is a shortened alif. Al-Nawawī says it is a spot by one of Mecca’s gates, along the customary ʿumrah route near Masjid ʿĀʾishah, and today it is known as the Zāhir wells. I add: the Well of Tuwa is still found in Jarwal opposite al-Widlāh Hospital, and al-Nawawī’s description covers the three districts of al-Zāhir, al-ʿUtaybiyyah, and northern Jarwal.
• ḥattā: a preposition meaning “up to”; the verb that follows it is in the subjunctive through an implied an, and the phrase functions as a genitive construction meaning “until his entering the morning and his bathing.”
Points derived from the ḥadīth
- It is recommended to perform ghusl on entering Mecca. Fatḥ al-Bārī cites Ibn al-Mundhir: “Bathing upon entering Mecca is recommended by consensus of the scholars.”
- Al-ʿAynī notes that this bath is not due to being in iḥrām; rather, it is out of reverence for Mecca itself, so it is recommended even for one who is not in a state of consecration. The Prophet ﷺ bathed for this purpose in the Year of the Conquest, and he would