The second is that they are not required. This is the view of most of the early generations and the position of Abū Hanīfah and others. This is the correct view, for those who require the same conditions for circumambulation as for prayer have no evidence other than the saying attributed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Circumambulation of the House is prayer.”

Even if this were established as a statement of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, it would not support their position, as explained earlier. Indeed, the scriptural evidence indicates otherwise.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not require those circumambulating to maintain ritual purity or avoid impure substances. Rather, he said:

“The key to prayer is purification; its consecration is the proclamation of Allah’s greatness, and its release is the salutation of peace.”

Circumambulation is not like this. What is obligatory in prayer is not obligatory in circumambulation, nor is what is forbidden in prayer forbidden in circumambulation. Thus, the claim that it is equivalent to prayer is untenable.

They have also argued by analogy that circumambulation is an act of worship connected to the House, and therefore ritual purity and the other conditions are required for it, just as for prayer. This analogy is invalid. The response is: We do not concede that the effective cause of the ruling in the original case is its connection to the House, and they have provided no evidence for this. A sound analogy is one in which the feature shared by the original case and the new case is shown to be the effective cause of the ruling, or an indicator of that cause.

Furthermore, ritual purity is required because the act is prayer, whether or not it is connected to the House. Do you not see that when they prayed towards the Rock, ritual purity was still a condition of prayer, although it was not connected to the House? Likewise, when someone prays