Tawaf: Difference between revisions

The word "tawaf" means to surround something or to turn around something on foot. "Ta'if" (Arabic:{{ia| طائف}}; the subject-adjective form) refers to someone who turns around the house. In the terminology of jurisprudence, "tawaf" refers to the circumambulation around the Ka'ba.

In jurisprudence, "tawaf" around the Ka'ba is an obligatory ritual of [[hajj]]. The pilgrim should circumambulate around the Ka'ba seven times with certain conditions: one should start in each turn (shawt) from the [[Black Stone]] (al-Hajar al-Aswad) and finish with it. Tawaf consists in seven "shawt"s (circles).

Tawaf traces back to the period of the Prophet [[Adam (a)]]. When he was banished from the [[heaven]], he went to the Ka'ba and circumambulated around it just as [[angel]]s circumambulate around the [[Divine Throne]] ('Arsh). Tawaf was a tradition throughout the history and was an essential part of hajj. Even in the age of [[Jahiliyya]] before the emergence of Islam, people who entered [[Mecca]] or wanted to depart from Mecca, the first thing they did was the tawaf of the Ka'ba. They took it to be the most important way to become close to [[God]]. In that period, there was no specific time and place for tawaf; they went to a temple with idol inside, and circumambulated around it seven times: poor people did this with naked foot, and rich people did it with shoes on.

* They intended not to circumambulate around the Ka'ba with clothes in which they committed [[sin]]s.

* If a person went to hajj or [['umra]], they had to practice their first tawaf with clothes they borrowed from Hums. They had to throw away any other clothes, and if they did not want to lose their clothes, they had to circumambulate around the Ka'ba nakedly. It was known as Naked Tawaf.

* There is a [[hadith]] from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] according to which if someone practiced the tawaf in their own clothes in the period of Jahiliyya, then they had to give it away as [[sadaqa]]. So they had to borrow clothes for tawaf, and if they could not find anything, they, including women, had to practice the tawaf nakedly.

Tawaf and some of its rulings are mentioned in the [[Qur'an 2]]:125,{{Enote|And [remember] when We made the House a place of reward for mankind and a sanctuary, [declaring], "Take the venue of prayer from Abraham's Station." We charged Abraham and Ishmael [with its upkeep, saying], "Purify My House for those who go around it, [for] those who make it a retreat and [for] those who bow and prostrate." (Qur'an 2:125)}} and [[Qur'an 22]]:26{{Enote|When We settled for Abraham the site of the House [saying], Do not ascribe any partners to Me, and purify My House for those who go around it, and those who stand [in it for prayer], and those who bow and prostrate. (Qur'an 22:26)}} and also in Qur'an 22:29{{Enote|Then let them do away with their untidiness, and fulfill their vows, and go around the Ancient House. (Qur'an 22:29)}}. These verses imply that tawaf was an old worship common in the period of the Prophet [[Ibrahim (a)]].  

Many virtues have been attributed in [[hadith]]s to tawaf. [[Imam Ali (a)]] said: "God has put 120 mercies around the Ka'ba, sixty of which are specific to people who circumambulate around it, forty for worshippers there, and twenty for those who look at the Ka'ba. The same hadith has been cited in [[Sunni]] sources as attributed to the [[Prophet (s)]]. Here are other virtues of tawaf:

* Tawaf is the ornament of the Ka'ba.

* God is proud of those who practice the tawaf.

* Tawaf is a covenant with God.

* Tawaf prevents divine [[reward and punishment|punishments]].

* It is [[reward]]ed by God like the emancipation of one to 70,000 slaves.

* It makes one's prays be answered by God.

It is [[recommended]] for a person who visits Mecca to practice the tawaf 360 times, and if they cannot do that, then they can practice it 360 turns (shawts), and if still not possible, then they are recommended to practice it as many times as they can do while they are in Mecca.

There are 445 hadiths in ''[[Wasa'il al-shi'a]]'' regarding the details of the rulings of tawaf.

==Types==

===Obligatory===

There are two kinds of [[wajib|obligatory]] tawaf, tawaf al-ziyarah and tawaf al-nisa'.

 

====Tawaf al-Ziyarah====

* In hajj, it is the seventh action done after [[Halq and Taqsir |halq or taqsir]] (shaving or shortening of hair and nails) on [[Dhu l-Hijja 10]] with migration from [[Mina]] to [[Mecca]]. It can also be done after the return from Mina ([[Dhu l-Hijja 12]]), but it is recommended to be done on the Day of [[Eid al-Adha]]. This tawaf is done in clothes other than ihram, because after halq or taqsir, the pilgrim should take off his or her ihram clothes. This is called tawaf al-ziyarah (tawaf of pilgrimage) because after the practices of Mina on Eid al-Adha, the pilgrim goes back to Mecca to visit the Ka'ba and practice tawaf, and then returns to Mina to practice the rest of the rituals. After this tawaf, wearing a perfume -which was [[forbidden]] after ihram- becomes permissible for the pilgrim.

====Tawaf al-Nisa====

 

Tawaf al-nisa' and its prayer are the last actions in al-'umrat al-mufrada and the last actions of Mecca in hajj. The tawaf is obligatory in hajj or 'umra, after which one will be permitted to have enjoyment with his/her spouse -by ihram any sexual encounter between spouses becomes forbidden. Like [[temporary marriage]], tawaf al-nisa' is specific to [[Shiite]]s. Sunni Muslims do not recognize it in hajj or 'umra.

In addition to obligatory tawafs, one can practice recommended tawafs in [[al-Masjid al-Haram]] as well. It is recommended to practice the tawaf upon entering [[Mecca]] (tawaf of entrance) and upon leaving the city (farewell tawaf). The first obligatory or recommended tawaf practiced upon entering Mecca is called "tawaf al-qudum".

*The tawaf begins and ends with the Black Stone that is now marked on the ground with black marbles from this rukn (corner).

*Just like [[prayer]], one should have [[tahara]] during the tawaf, and no [[ghusl]] should be obligatory for the person. One's clothes should also be ritually pure.

*During the tawaf, one's left shoulder should be directed to the Ka'ba.

*Men should be [[Circumcision|circumcised]] before the tawaf.

*After each tawaf, one should say two rak'as of prayers. In obligatory tawafs, the prayers should be said behind [[Maqam Ibrahim]], and in recommended tawafs, it can be said anywhere in al-Masjid al-Haram.

*Tawaf can also be done while riding a vehicle. It is reported that when there was flood in al-Masjid al-Haram, some people practiced the tawaf while swimming.

Some Shiite and [[Sunni]] scholars of jurisprudence take this tawaf to be valid, and some people believe that if the constructions are higher than the ceiling of the Ka'ba, then it will be invalid. In 2015, it was reported that the second floor of al-Masjid al-Haram and the second floor of the metal construction in the courtyard are higher than the ceiling of the Ka'ba, while the first floor of the metal construction is lower than the ceiling.

* The material for this article is mainly taken from {{ia|[[:fa:طواف|طواف]]}} in Farsi Wikishia.

* Qāʾidān, Aṣghar. ''Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmi Makka wa Madīna''. Tehran: Nashr-i Mashʿar, [n.d].

* Saduq.

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