and Ibn Abbas said: “Removing the untidiness comprises all the rites of Hajj.” Mujahid said: It comprises the rites of Hajj, trimming the moustache, plucking the underarm hair, shaving the pubic hair, and clipping the nails. It was also said that, here, untidiness means stoning the pillars. Al-Zajjaj said: “We know the word tafath (untidiness), and its meaning, only from the Quran.”
His saying, exalted is He, “and let them fulfil their vows”: Mujahid said: This refers to the vows of Hajj and sacrificial offerings, and whatever a person vows concerning something connected with Hajj—that is, let them complete them by fulfilling them. It was also said that what is intended is fulfilling whatever one has vowed, according to its apparent meaning. Another view holds that it means being discharged from whatever has become obligatory upon him, whether he made a vow or not. The Arabs say of anyone who has discharged an obligation incumbent upon him, “He has fulfilled his vow.”
Asim, in the transmission of Abu Bakr, recited it as wa-liyuwaffu, with the waw vowelled with a fatḥah and the fa doubled.
“And let them circumambulate the Ancient House”: this refers to the obligatory circumambulation, namely the Tawaf al-Ifadah on the Day of Sacrifice, after stoning the pillars and shaving the head.
There are three kinds of tawaf. The first is the Tawaf of Arrival: when someone arrives in Mecca, he circumambulates the House seven times, performing ramal for three circuits from the Black Stone until he returns to it, and walking for four. This tawaf is a sunnah; nothing is due from one who omits it.
Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad al-Numaymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Ismail informed us; Ahmad—who was Abu Isa—informed us; Ibn Wahb informed us; Amr ibn al-Harith informed us, from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Nawfal al-Qurashi, who asked Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, and he said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed Hajj, and Aishah informed me that the first thing he did upon arriving was to perform ablution and then circumambulate the House; then it was not an Umrah. Abu Bakr then performed Hajj, and the first thing he did was circumambulate the House; then it was not an Umrah. Then Umar did likewise. Then Uthman performed Hajj, and I saw that the first thing he did was circumambulate the House. (1)
Abd al-Wahhab ibn Muhammad al-Kisa'i informed us; Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad al-Khallal informed us; Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm informed us; al-Rabi informed us; al-Shafii informed us; Anas ibn Iyad informed us, from Musa ibn Uqbah, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that whenever he performed tawaf in Hajj or Umrah upon first arriving, he performed ramal for three circuits and walked for four; then he prayed two rak'ahs, and then performed sa'i seven times between Safa and Marwah. (2)
The second tawaf is the Tawaf al-Ifadah on the Day of Sacrifice, after stoning the pillars and shaving the head. It is obligatory, and one does not exit the state of ihram until one performs it.