there is disagreement, though the majority hold that ritual purity is not required for it. For all other rites, ritual purity is not required, by agreement of the scholars.

The scholars then differed over whether ritual purity is a condition for the validity of circumambulation, as it is for prayer, or an obligation whose omission is compensated for by offering a sacrifice, like failing to enter ihrām at the designated boundary, omitting the stoning of the pillars, or similar omissions. There are two well-known opinions, both reported from Ahmad.

The better-known report from him—which is also the position of Mālik and al-Shāfi‘ī—is that ritual purity is a condition for its validity. Thus, anyone who circumambulates in a state of major or minor ritual impurity, or while menstruating, out of forgetfulness or ignorance, must repeat the circumambulation upon becoming aware.

The second opinion is that ritual purity is obligatory, so anyone who does this must compensate by offering a sacrifice. According to Abū Hanīfah, however, someone in a state of major ritual impurity or a menstruating woman must offer a badanah (a large sacrificial animal), whereas someone in a state of minor ritual impurity must offer a sheep or goat.

Ahmad required a sacrifice without specifying a badanah. He explicitly addressed the case of someone who circumambulated forgetfully while in a state of major ritual impurity, saying in this report: “He must offer a sacrifice.” Some jurists of his school therefore restricted the two reported opinions to those with an excuse, such as forgetfulness. Others applied both reports without restriction to those who acted forgetfully, deliberately, and in similar circumstances.

Those who made ritual purity a condition argued that circumambulating the House is like prayer