Tawaf

The substantial tafa “environment” in the language of religious cults means “running” or “going around” a sacred object, stone, altar, etc. Circuit rites around a sacred object played a very important role in the religious rite of the ancient Arabs. Similar rites were among the Persians , Hindus , Buddhists , Romans and other peoples. During the Second Temple during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles ( Sukkot ), the Israelites walked around the temple’s altar once during the first six days and seven times on the seventh ^[1] .

In pre-Islamic times, the Arabs who worshiped the Kaaba, circled around it. Perhaps this is an ancient tradition, “introduced by Ibrahim ”, like other hajj rites. The Prophet Muhammad did not abolish the custom of going around the Kaaba, which became an indispensable element of pilgrimage. ATIn 630 , he made his victorious entry into his hometown and made a tawaf riding a camel. This kind of tawaf was an exception and did not enter the Muslim tradition. According to Ibn Hisham , this was shortly before his death at the time of the “ farewell pilgrimage ” when he laid down authoritative rules for going around. Of the old pagan customs, at least one was strictly forbidden by the Prophet - this is the commission of tawaf without any clothes ^[1] .

Tawaf is a strictly obligatory rite of the Hajj, and therefore has become an important factor in Islam . During the reign of anti-caliph Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, making a pilgrimage to Mecca became problematic, and then the Umayyad caliph Abdul al-Malik reportedly proclaimed that the tawaf around the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem would have the same meaning as around the Kaaba . If such an innovation really existed, then it should soon disappear along with its cause, since in orthodox Islam any tawaf other than the tawaf around the Kaaba became meaningless ^[1] .

According to Hassan inb Ali al-Ujaymi al-Makki (d. 1702 ), the Bedouins tried to perform tawaf not only around the graves of their ancestors, but also around the grave of the Companion of the Prophet Ibn Abbas in Taif ^[1] .

The peculiarity of the Muslim tawaf is that the detour takes place seven times in a row, the first three of which are faster. The tawaf begins and ends on the corner of the Black Stone , and the Kaaba is to the left of the tawaf. During the tawaf, believers seek to kiss the Black Stone or, at least, touch it ( takbil, istily ). Near the wall of al-Khatim, believers flee from the outside of the wall, since the area between the wall and the Kaaba is considered its internal territory ^[1] .

There are two types of tawaf:

• tawaf al-tahiyya or al-kudum - “bypassing the greeting” or “arrival”;
• tawaf al-vada - “departure bypass”, which is not mandatory ^[1] .

At the end of the sevenfold tour, the pilgrims approach the place of entrance to the Kaaba, press against it with their whole body, raise their right hand towards the entrance and say a prayer, asking for mercy and forgiveness for transgressions . In conclusion, a prayer is performed with the reading of two Surahs of the Quran - the 109th (“Unfaithful”) and the 112th (“Purification”) . After completing the Kaaba tour, the pilgrims go to the plate of “the standing of Ibrahim” ( makam Ibrahim ) and perform a prayer there.

According to the hadiths , angels perform tawaf around Beit al-Mamur .