good, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.” He would likewise conclude his other supplications with these words. The imams agree that no particular formula of remembrance is obligatory during circumambulation. Circumambulation of the House is like prayer, except that Allah has permitted speech during it; whoever speaks during it should therefore say only what is good.

For this reason, the person circumambulating is instructed to be free of both minor and major ritual impurity, to cover his private parts, and to avoid the impurities that a person praying must avoid, performing his circumambulation in a state of purity. However, scholars disagree over whether ritual purity is obligatory for circumambulation. No one has reported that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—commanded purification for circumambulation or prohibited someone in a state of ritual impurity from circumambulating. He did, however, circumambulate in a state of purity. It is also established that he prohibited menstruating women from circumambulating.

The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“The key to prayer is purification; its sacred state begins with the declaration ‘Allah is the Greatest’ and ends with the salutation of peace.”

Thus, the prayer for which he required purification is that which begins with the declaration of Allah’s greatness and ends with the salutation of peace. This includes prayers involving bowing and prostration, the funeral prayer, and the two prostrations for forgetfulness. Circumambulation and the prostration of recitation, however, do not fall into this category.

By scholarly agreement, a mosque is required for ritual retreat, but ritual purity is not a condition for it. A woman observing ritual retreat is prohibited from remaining in the mosque while menstruating, although she may remain there in a state of minor ritual impurity.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said in his son ʿAbd Allāh’s Manāsik al-Hajj (The Rites of Hajj): “We were told by