What is tawaf, how do you do it, and what’s the best way to go about it?
Tawaf, Islamically, means circling around the Ka’bah for Hajj in the way the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) did and told us to do. The requirements of tawaf are simple–be in a state of wudoo.
The mechanics of tawaf are:
- You walk around the ka’bah, seven times
- Start at the Black Stone corner (from outside, it has a green light); raise your hand towards the Black Stone and say “Allahu Akbar” (or, if you can reach it, touch the black stone and say Allahu Akbar)
- For men, if possible, you walk quickly (raml, in Arabic) the first three times
- Make du’a, recite Qur’an, or make dhikr as you walk.
- Whenever you reach the Yemeni corner, make the du’a: Rabbana aatiynaa fid-dunya hasanatan, wa fil-akhirati hasanatan, wa kinaa adhaaban-naar (O our Lord! Give us goodness in this life, goodness in the Akhira, and protect us from the Punishment of the Fire.)
- Don’t push, jab, bite, or hurt anybody.
- Once you’re done, drink some Zam-Zam, pour a little over your head, and pray two rakahs behind Maqama Ibrahim
Some tips to make your tawaf easier:
- If you have family with you–your parents, uncles, sons, daughters, your spouse, your brothers, your sisters–hang on to them! Most people back off from trying to pass when they see people holding on to each other.
- Aim for making tawaf on the second or third floor if there are too many people around.
- The best time to make tawaf (in Hajj) is around midnight or 1am; the crowd is very sparse around that time. (Don’t even think about doing it right before or after Fajr–it’s tooooo packed.)
- If someone pushes you from behind, turn and look at them (making sure to make eye contact). If they still persist, step to the side to avoid them. If you can’t, turn and say “Sabr, akhi/ukhti” (patience, o my brother/sister).
And remember, don’t injure anyone! Hajj is supposed to be about patience, and if the crowd isn’t moving, pushing won’t make it go faster!
We ask Allah to make tawaf easy on all our brothers and sisters (ameen ya rabb!)
One secret tip for crowd-control: If you yell “Tareeq, ya Haajj!” (Pathway, o Hajjie!) loudly, like the Mutawafs do, people will actually make way…
Asslaamu ‘alykum wa Rahmatullaah
I was wondering why there was a post related to Hajj when Hajj has passed not long ago! regardless I find all the posts on this blog to be of immense benefit mashaa Allaah.
jazaakum Allaahu khayran and keep up the great posts.
wa salaam
AsSalamAlykum,
here is another tip..if you are with a family member (female) and its really crowded look out for this “groups” ( the men form a big rectangle and their women are inside), try to get inside this group, makes it so easy…
usually you find these groups late at night, 10sh -12sh though..
Wa’alikum as-salaam,
We don’t mind posting things after-the-fact, because blog posts stay forever, and people can still draw tremendous benefit insha’allah from the archives. Especially something like Hajj or Ramadan, you can just click on the category and benefit insha’allah every year.
The second, more important reason, is that these posts are drawn from our personal experiences in Hajj this past year :) may Allah accept it (ameen)!
Alhamdulillah, I agree, tawaf around tahajjud time is the best. The haram is always peaceful, but I found that the time between midnight-3am to be very tranquil.