655 – Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported: “People were instructed that their last act in the Sanctuary be at the House, except that the menstruating woman was granted a concession.” Agreed upon. (1)

Points derived from the ḥadīth

1. The central purpose of the Major Ḥajj is the Ancient House itself; the other holy sites are venerated and honored only by virtue of their closeness to it. Just as the newcomer performs the Circumambulation of Arrival (ṭawāf al-qudūm), so the departing pilgrim is prescribed the Farewell Circumambulation (ṭawāf al-wadāʿ).
2. In the phrase “People were instructed,” the one issuing the instruction is the Prophet ﷺ, as Muslim relates from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Let none of you depart until his last encounter with the House is (its circumambulation).”
3. A prophetic command denotes obligation; therefore the Farewell Circumambulation is obligatory, though the juristic disagreement regarding it will be discussed later.
4. The ḥadīth is explicit that it is not obligatory for a menstruating woman, and the same applies to a woman in post-partum bleeding.
5. The ḥadīth is explicit that the Farewell Circumambulation is performed at the moment of departure. Taking care of minor travel needs after it, waiting briefly for one’s companions, or bidding relatives farewell does not invalidate it. What does invalidate it is spending the night in Mecca, engaging in trade, or remaining for an extended period—though the jurists differ on the exact limits.
6. Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm said: Whoever performs the ṭawāf of ifāḍah before throwing the pebbles and intends in it both the ṭawāf of ifāḍah and of farewell, that does not suffice for the farewell, because he has not yet completed the rites of Ḥajj. Had that circumambulation been performed after he finished the stoning