Question:
Assalamualaikum. I have one question. While I perform tawaf for umrah, I was near the ka’aba. Am I allowed to touch its wall during tawaf?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam w.b.t,
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Tawaf is one of the requisites for hajj and umrah. There are several types of tawaf like ifadhah tawaf, umrah tawaf, wida’ tawaf, and etc.
According to syarak, tawaf is circumambulation around al-bait al-haram. Tawaf is done by going in circle around Ka’aba for seven rounds by following the rukn (requisites) and wajib (obligations) of it. This is based on the saying of Allah SWT:
وَلْيَطَّوَّفُوا بِالْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ
“…and perform Tawaf around the ancient House,”
Surah al-Hajj (29)
The Requisites of Tawaf
It is summarised from the statement of Syeikh Zain bin Ibrahim Sumait and Dr Muhammad al-Zuhaili in their books pertaining the requisites of tawaf which are:
- Covering awrah. It is the requisite for tawaf the same as the requisite for prayer.
- Pure from hadas and najis on one’s clothes and the place of tawaf.
- The position of Ka’aba must be on the left of the person performing tawaf.
- The starting point of tawaf is the hajar al-aswad. Which includes all parts of his body when starting tawaf at hajar al-aswad. If otherwise, then the tawaf is invalid.
- It must complete the seven rounds. And if one is confused of the numbers, then he should take the less amount like when one forgets his rak’ah in prayer.
- The tawaf is performed inside the mosque. And if one performed it outside of the mosque, then his tawaf is invalid. It is still valid if he performs it on the second floor or the sutuh (rooftop) of the mosque. This is the consensus of the scholars (ijma’).
- It has to be at the outside of the Ka’aba, Syazarwan and Hijr Ismail. It is on the condition that the tawaf is performed with the person’s whole body outside of the Ka’aba.
(See: al-mu’tamad fi al-Fiqh al-Syafi’e, 2/346 and al-Taqrirat al-Sadidah, 480)
Performing Tawaf Outside of the Ka’bah
Among the requisites is performance of tawaf is that it must be performed outside of the Ka’aba. In al-Mausu’ah al-Fiqhiyyah, it is stated that Ka’aba is a cube-shaped building. It is known as al-bait al-haram and is revered. (See: al-Mausu’ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah, 34/261)
Dr Muhammad al-Zuhaili in his book states that “It is a must to perform tawaf outside of the Ka’aba including Syazarwan which is the additional construction at the lower side of the Ka’aba and Hijr Ismail which is located at the north side of the Ka’aba and is a curve-shaped wall.” (See: al-Mu’tamad fi al-Fiqh al-Syafi’e, 2/345)
This is in accordance with a hadith narrated by Aisha RAnha, where the Prophet PBUH said:
صَلِّي فِي الْحِجْرِ إِذَا أَرَدْتِ دُخُولَ الْبَيْتِ فَإِنَّمَا هُوَ قِطْعَةٌ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ فَإِنَّ قَوْمَكِ اقْتَصَرُوا حِينَ بَنَوُا الْكَعْبَةَ فَأَخْرَجُوهُ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ
Pray in al-Hijr when you intend to enter the House (the Ka'bah), for it is a part of the House (the Ka'bah). Your people shortened it when they built the Ka'bah, and they took it out of the House
Sunan Abi Dawud (2028)
When performing tawaf, one should make sure that all parts of his body is outside of the Ka’abaa including Syazarwan and Hijr Ismail. This is because, both are parts of Ka’aba. This is as stated in al-Fiqh al-Manhaji: “It is a requisite to not include any parts of the body in Ka’aba territory. One should perform tawaf outside of Hijr Ismail, because it is part of Ka’ba. Hence, it is impermissible to perform tawaf inside it.”
(See: al-Fiqh al-Manhaji, 2/141)
Conclusion
Based on the question asked as well as the arguments presented, it can be concluded that touching Ka’ba while performing tawaf will invalidate the tawaf. This is because, by holding on to the Ka’aba, some parts of the body will be inside the Ka’aba territory.
This is as stated in the book Soal Jawab Ibadah Haji, Umrah dan Ziarah that tawaf is invalid if one touches or steps on the Syazarwan either directly or covered with cloth because it is a part of the Ka’aba. (See: Soal Jawab Ibadah Haji, Umrah dan Ziarah TH, 88)
May Allah SWT bless us with the correct understanding in His religion as well as taufiq and hidayah to practice the Shari’a our best.