Discussion of the prerequisites. One of the conditions concerns the very space in which tawaf is performed. The vast majority of scholars hold that the Hijr—that semi-circular enclosure adjoining the Ka‘bah—is part of the House itself; consequently, whoever circumambulates the Ka‘bah must include the Hijr within his circuit, and doing so is a requirement for the validity of Tawaf al-Ifadah. Abū Ḥanīfah and his associates, however, regard this only as a Sunnah.
The majority’s proof is the report transmitted by Mālik from ʿĀʾishah, in which the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“If your people had not so recently emerged from unbelief, I would have demolished the Ka‘bah and rebuilt it upon the foundations of Abraham; for they left out seven cubits of it—the area of the Hijr—because they lacked sufficient funds and timber.”
Ibn ʿAbbās held the same view and argued from the Almighty’s statement,
“And let them circumambulate the Ancient House” (al-Ḥajj 29),
adding, “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—performed tawaf from outside the Hijr.” Abū Ḥanīfah’s evidence, by contrast, is the plain sense of the verse.
As for the times when tawaf is permitted, the scholars have adopted three opinions:
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It is allowed after the dawn (ṣubḥ) and afternoon (ʿaṣr) prayers but forbidden at the actual moments of sunrise and sunset. This was the position of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, and it is likewise the view of Mālik, his school, and many others.
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It is disliked after dawn and after ʿaṣr, and prohibited at sunrise and sunset. This was held by Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Mujāhid, and a number of scholars.
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It is permissible during all of these times. This is the position of al-Shāfiʿī and others.
Their evidentiary foundations revert to whether prayer itself is forbidden or permitted in these intervals. With respect to sunrise and sunset, the traditions are unanimous that prayer is prohibited; the disagreement lies in whether tawaf is to be treated as equivalent to prayer.
Among the proofs cited by the Shāfiʿīs is the ḥadīth of Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, in which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“O sons of ʿAbd Manāf—or, O sons of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib—if control of this matter should ever be yours, do not bar anyone who has circumambulated this House from praying in it at whatever hour of the day or night he wishes.”
Al-Shāfiʿī and others narrated it from Ibn ʿUyaynah with his chain of transmission to Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim.
They also differed over the validity of tawaf without ritual purity, even though they unanimously agree that performing tawaf in a state of purity is from the Sunnah, and they said… (continues).