speaks the truth before a tyrannical ruler. Such a person is killed while striving in Allah’s cause, and his death benefits the religion of Allah Most High.

As for explaining the prohibition on a menstruating woman’s circumambulation by reference to the sanctity of the mosque, I have seen some Hanafis offer this explanation. Abū Hanīfah’s position is that purification is a duty (wājib) for circumambulation, but not a strict obligation (fard) within it or a condition of its validity. However, this explanation accords with the view that circumambulation in a state of minor ritual impurity is not forbidden. This was the position of Mansūr ibn al-Mu‘tamir and Hammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, as Ahmad reported from them.

‘Abd Allah said in his Manāsik (Rites of Pilgrimage):

“My father narrated to me: Sahl ibn Yūsuf narrated to us: Shu‘bah informed us, reporting from Hammād and Mansūr: ‘I asked them about a man circumambulating the House without having performed ablution, and neither saw any harm in it.’”

‘Abd Allah said:

“I asked my father about this, and he replied: ‘I prefer that he circumambulate the House having performed ablution, because circumambulation is prayer.’”

Two positions are explicitly transmitted from Ahmad concerning purification: is it a condition of circumambulation or not? His statements likewise imply two positions concerning whether purification is obligatory for circumambulation.

Some Hanafis similarly said that purification is not obligatory for circumambulation but is recommended, while also holding that omitting it requires a compensatory sacrifice. Thus, anyone who holds that a person in a state of minor ritual impurity may circumambulate, unlike a menstruating woman or someone in a state of major ritual impurity, can explain the prohibition by reference to the sanctity of the mosque rather than to circumambulation itself. Speaking, eating and drinking are permitted during circumambulation, so it is not like prayer. Moreover, purification is the key to prayer; its opening declaration, “Allah is Most Great,” brings its restrictions into effect, and its closing salutation lifts them. Circumambulation is not like that.

He would also say that naked people were prohibited from circumambulating only because others could see them, and because of the sanctity of the mosque as well.