Some of them were intent on observing exactly how he performed his circumambulation, while others simply wished to gaze upon his noble person, and so they pressed in around him. Out of perfect compassion for his community and his desire to treat them all alike, he mounted a camel and began to circle the Kaʿbah on it so that everyone could see him. In his hand he carried a crook-headed staff with which he would touch the Corner and kiss the Stone, as Muslim narrates in another version of this report.

Points derived from the hadith

1. It is permissible to perform tawaf while mounted when there is an excuse, for walking is better in principle; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ only rode because an overriding benefit required it. Ibn Daqiq al-ʿId remarked: an action may be superior in itself, yet when another, weightier consideration arises it takes precedence without nullifying the merit of the first. When the overriding factor disappears, the original ruling returns.
2. It is recommended to touch the Corner with one’s hand if possible; otherwise one may do so with a staff or the like, provided that he does not harm the people with it.
3. Muslim adds the words, “and he kissed the staff,” and likewise relates—on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar—that the Prophet ﷺ touched the Stone with his hand and then kissed it. Ibn Hajar comments in Fatḥ al-Bārī that the majority therefore hold the sunnah to be: touch the Corner, then kiss one’s hand; if one cannot reach it by hand, he may touch it with an object and then kiss that object.
4. A scholar should demonstrate his deeds alongside his words so that complete emulation and effective instruction may be achieved.
5. Ibn Daqiq al-ʿId also inferred from this hadith that the urine of animals whose meat is lawful to eat is pure, since there was no guarantee that the camel would not void urine while circling inside the mosque. Had such urine been impure, the Prophet ﷺ would never have exposed the mosque to defilement—especially when he forbade matters far less serious out of reverence for the mosques. The default ruling is purity unless evidence proves otherwise, and here the evidence supports the default.
6. Shaykh al-Islam said: Frequent tawaf around the House is one of the most virtuous deeds and is better than leaving the Sanctuary to perform a local ʿumrah, for this was not the practice of the earliest predecessors among the Emigrants and Helpers, nor did the Prophet ﷺ encourage it.