time, and would do so frequently.

Likewise, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed the custodians of the House not to prevent anyone from doing so at any time. Jubayr ibn Mut‘im narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“O descendants of ‘Abd Manāf, do not prevent anyone from circumambulating this House and praying there at whatever hour of the night or day he wishes.”

[Reported by Muslim in his Sahīh] (*), and by the other compilers of the Sunan collections, such as Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasā’ī, Ibn Mājah and others.

Allah, Exalted is He, said to His close friend, the leader of the pure monotheists, whom He commanded to build the House and who called people to perform pilgrimage to it:

“Purify My House for those who circumambulate it, those who remain there in devotion, and those who bow and prostrate.”

In the other verse, He says:

“And those who stand in prayer.”

Thus, He mentioned three kinds of worship: circumambulation, remaining in devotion, and bowing together with prostration. He placed them in order, beginning with the most restricted in scope, for circumambulation is prescribed only around the Ancient House, by the consensus of the Muslims. Hence, they agree that whoever circumambulates anything else is misguided—for example, someone who circumambulates the Rock, the chamber of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the mosques built at ‘Arafah, Minā or elsewhere, or the grave of a shaykh or a member of the Prophet’s household, as many ignorant Muslims do.

Circumambulating anything other than the Ancient House is impermissible by the consensus of the Muslims. Moreover, anyone who believes this to be part of religion and a means of drawing near to Allah is informed that, by the consensus of the Muslims, it is not part of religion, and that this is something necessarily known in the religion of Islam. If he persists in treating it as part of religion, he is put to death.