Book of Hajj: Entering Mecca and Tawaf al-Qudum

1. First destination on entering Mecca

فَإِذَا دَخَلَ مَكَّةَ ابْتَدَأَ بِالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ.
Translation: When he enters Mecca, he begins by proceeding to the Sacred Mosque.

Ibtadaʾa means to begin. For a pilgrim arriving in iḥrām, the sequence now turns toward the Sacred Mosque and the rites at the Kaaba.

This gives a recommended order of worship; it does not imply that pausing at accommodation for a genuine need invalidates the pilgrimage.

2. The sequence before tawaf begins

The sequence is: enter the Sacred Mosque, respond on seeing the Kaaba with remembrance, and begin the circuit at the Black Stone.

Entering the city is not the start of the first round. The circuit begins at its designated starting point, aligned with the Black Stone.

3. Remembrance upon seeing the Kaaba

فَإِذَا عَايَنَ الْبَيْتَ كَبَّرَ وَهَلَّلَ.
Translation: When he sees the House, he says takbīr and tahlīl.

ʿĀyana means to see directly. Takbīr declares Allah's greatness, while tahlīl affirms His oneness.

The quoted text does not prescribe one mandatory lengthy supplication at this moment. It names two forms of remembrance.

4. Do not confuse takbir with tahlil

اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ
Translation: Allah is greater than all.

لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ
Translation: There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.

The first emphasises divine greatness and the second divine oneness. They are distinct forms of remembrance.

5. Facing and greeting the Black Stone

ثُمَّ ابْتَدَأَ بِالْحَجَرِ الْأَسْوَدِ، فَاسْتَقْبَلَهُ، وَكَبَّرَ وَهَلَّلَ، وَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ مَعَ التَّكْبِيرِ، وَاسْتَلَمَهُ وَقَبَّلَهُ إِنِ اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَنْ يُؤْذِيَ مُسْلِمًا.
Translation: He begins at the Black Stone, faces it, says takbīr and tahlīl, raises his hands with takbīr, and touches and kisses it if possible without harming another Muslim.

The decisive qualification is “min ghayri an yuʾdhiya Musliman”: reaching the Stone must not involve harming another Muslim.

Istilām means touching the Stone; taqbīl is kissing it. The passage makes physical contact conditional on ability without causing harm.

6. No pushing to reach the Black Stone

If getting to the Stone requires pushing people, the physical kiss should not be attempted. Al-Quduri explicitly prohibits harming another Muslim in the process.

Pointing toward the Stone with takbīr when contact is not possible is discussed in fuller legal accounts. That alternative is explanatory context rather than a verbatim part of this specific quoted clause.

7. Facing, touching and kissing are distinct

Istiqbāl: facing the Stone.
Istilām: touching the Stone.
Taqbīl: kissing the Stone.

These are not synonyms. Crowding may prevent physical contact, but a circuit of tawaf does not become invalid just because the pilgrim could not kiss the Stone.

8. Direction, idtiba and seven circuits

ثُمَّ أَخَذَ عَنْ يَمِينِهِ مِمَّا يَلِي الْبَابَ، وَقَدِ اضْطَبَعَ رِدَاءَهُ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ، فَيَطُوفُ بِالْبَيْتِ سَبْعَةَ أَشْوَاطٍ.
Translation: He proceeds to his right toward the side of the door, having arranged his upper wrap in idtiba beforehand, and circles the Kaaba seven times.

Iḍṭibāʿ is the male pilgrim's arrangement of the upper wrap, leaving the right shoulder exposed during the relevant tawaf; it is not a rule to expose that shoulder throughout every moment of iḥrām.

Shawṭ is one complete round; ashwāṭ is its plural. Each round begins and ends at alignment with the Black Stone.

9. How idtiba is arranged

A male pilgrim passes the upper wrap beneath the right armpit and over the left shoulder. This leaves the right shoulder exposed.

Do not confuse it with ramal: idtiba concerns dress, while ramal is a walking style. This male arrangement is not prescribed for women.

10. Direction of movement around the Kaaba

The wording points toward the side of the Kaaba's door. Starting at the Black Stone, the pilgrim moves around the Kaaba while keeping it on the left, until reaching the same starting alignment again.

A round means completing this circuit, not stepping a short distance away and immediately returning.

11. Counting exactly seven complete rounds

Start at the Black Stone alignment, complete the circuit and return to it: that counts as 1 round. Repeat the full circuit until 7 rounds are completed.

Do not count steps, greetings or kisses instead of complete circuits. The prescribed number concerns whole ashwāṭ.

12. Walking outside the Hatim area

وَيَجْعَلُ طَوَافَهُ مِنْ وَرَاءِ الْحَطِيمِ.
Translation: He performs his tawaf around the outside of the Hatim.

Here the Hatim means the semicircular Hijr Ismail enclosure. The route of tawaf passes outside that enclosure to circle the full sacred structure.

Cutting through the enclosure does not produce the required full circuit. Correcting an actual interrupted round requires attention to its specifics.

13. Why the semicircular enclosure cannot be a shortcut

Crossing through the Hijr enclosure might shorten the walking distance, but the required tawaf route must circle the Kaaba outside the enclosure.

The Hijr has a relationship to the Kaaba's original foundations. Tawaf follows a prescribed path, not whichever shortcut is shortest.

14. Ramal in the first three circuits

وَيَرْمُلُ فِي الْأَشْوَاطِ الثَّلَاثَةِ الْأُوَلِ، وَيَمْشِي فِيمَا بَقِيَ عَلَى هَيْئَتِهِ.
Translation: He performs ramal in the first three rounds and walks in his ordinary manner in the remaining rounds.

Ramal is a particular brisk, short-stepped gait prescribed for men in the relevant tawaf. It applies to the first 3 circuits, followed by 4 circuits at a normal pace.

It is not permission to run into or push others. Crowding and physical limitations must be respected.

15. Ramal, ordinary pace and sa’y are not identical

Ramal is the characteristic brisk, short-stepped movement in relevant tawaf rounds; normal walking is used for the other four.

Saʿy between Safa and Marwa is a separate rite to be studied next. The male practice of ramal is not applied to women in the same way; women walk normally in tawaf.

16. Checking the three-plus-four division

Suppose the pilgrim is to perform 7 rounds. After ramal in the first 3, the remaining 4 rounds use an ordinary pace.

Continuing ramal into the fourth round conflicts with the described pattern. This is different from the separate question of whether the full number of circuits has been completed.

17. Greeting the Stone as one passes

وَيَسْتَلِمُ الْحَجَرَ كُلَّمَا مَرَّ بِهِ إِنِ اسْتَطَاعَ، وَيَخْتِمُ الطَّوَافَ بِالِاسْتِلَامِ.
Translation: Whenever he passes the Stone he touches it if able, and he concludes tawaf with istilam.

Kullamā indicates repetition, while in istaṭāʿa makes physical touching conditional on ability. The text includes istilam on passing and at the close of tawaf.

Contact on every pass is not an indispensable condition for a valid circuit. The earlier prohibition on causing harm remains relevant.

18. Ability and avoiding harm throughout tawaf

Physical contact may be safe on the first round and unsafe on a later round because of crowding. The pilgrim continues without pushing others.

Al-Quduri includes both avoiding harm at the start and ability during repeated contact. These qualifications must be read together.

19. Two prayer units after tawaf

ثُمَّ يَأْتِي مَقَامَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، فَيُصَلِّي عِنْدَهُ رَكْعَتَيْنِ، أَوْ حَيْثُ تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ.
Translation: He then goes to Maqam Ibrahim and prays two units there, or wherever is feasible within the mosque.

Two prayer units are offered after the tawaf. Maqam Ibrahim is mentioned as the preferred location, but the wording expressly permits another available place within the mosque.

There is therefore no need to force a path through worshippers to stand immediately next to Maqam Ibrahim.

20. Maqam Ibrahim is not the tawaf starting point

Black Stone: starting and ending alignment for the rounds.
Maqam Ibrahim: a place named in connection with the two prayer units after tawaf.

They serve distinct roles in the sequence and should not be confused.

21. What if prayer near the Maqam would obstruct others?

If there is crowding at Maqam Ibrahim, the text itself says “or wherever is feasible within the mosque”. The two units need not be performed at the most congested spot.

Blocking the tawaf route or quarrelling about location defeats the aim of orderly worship.

22. Legal classification of Tawaf al-Qudum

وَهَذَا الطَّوَافُ طَوَافُ الْقُدُومِ، وَهُوَ سُنَّةٌ وَلَيْسَ بِوَاجِبٍ.
Translation: This tawaf is the arrival tawaf; it is a Sunnah and not obligatory.

Qudūm means arrival, so this is the tawaf associated with the arriving pilgrim. Al-Quduri explicitly calls it Sunnah, not obligatory.

It must be distinguished from the later Tawaf al-Ziyarah, which has a different, obligatory status in the rites of Hajj.

23. Why this classification matters

The key wording is:
وَهُوَ سُنَّةٌ وَلَيْسَ بِوَاجِبٍ
Translation: It is Sunnah, not obligatory.

When asked about Tawaf al-Qudum, its classification here is Sunnah. The legal classification of the later Tawaf al-Ziyarah must not be transferred to this separate rite.

24. No arrival tawaf is due from Mecca residents

وَلَيْسَ عَلَى أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ طَوَافُ الْقُدُومِ.
Translation: Tawaf al-Qudum is not required of the people of Mecca.

Ahl Makkah refers to Mecca's residents. Tawaf al-Qudum concerns the arrival of pilgrims coming from outside, and the text therefore does not impose it on the people of Mecca.

This does not exempt them from every form of tawaf. Other pilgrimage rites remain subject to their own rulings.

25. Visiting pilgrim versus Meccan resident

A pilgrim arriving from beyond Mecca may perform arrival tawaf; juristic texts call such a pilgrim āfāqī in the relevant context.

Meccan residents have no separate arrival tawaf. The Umrah tawaf and the sequences of tamattuʿ or qirān have their own rules; not every tawaf is called Qudum.

26. Vocabulary of the arrival tawaf

ʿĀyana: saw directly.
Al-bayt: the Kaaba here.
Istalama: touched the Black Stone.
Iḍṭabaʿa: arranged the wrap for idtiba.
Shawṭ / ashwāṭ: circuit / circuits.
Ramal: special brisk gait.
Qudūm: arrival.

27. Morphology: verbs in the passage

Dakhala: Form I, entered.
Istaqbala: Form X, faced.
Istalama: a lexical verb meaning to touch the Stone, historically derived from s-l-m; do not infer its morphology merely from an English transliteration.
Iḍṭabaʿa: Form VIII with assimilation, arranged the wrap.
Yaṭūfu: imperfect, circles.
Yarmulu: imperfect, does ramal.
Yakhtimu: imperfect, concludes.

28. Syntax: conditional ability

وَاسْتَلَمَهُ وَقَبَّلَهُ إِنِ اسْتَطَاعَ
Translation: He touches and kisses it if he is able.

Istalama and qabbala are past-tense verbs with implicit subjects; -hu is the object pronoun referring to the Stone. In introduces the condition, istaṭāʿa is its verb, and its consequence is understood from the preceding actions.

29. Syntax: numbers and counted nouns

سَبْعَةَ أَشْوَاطٍ
Translation: Seven circuits.

Sabʿata is the numeral, while ashwāṭin is the genitive plural counted noun.

الْأَشْوَاطِ الثَّلَاثَةِ الْأُوَلِ
Translation: The first three circuits.

Al-thalāthati and al-uwali are dependent descriptive elements in the genitive phrase.

30. Syntax: an alternative place for prayer

أَوْ حَيْثُ تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ
Translation: Or wherever is feasible within the mosque.

Aw presents the alternative; ḥaythu is an adverb of place, tayassara means became feasible, and min al-masjid locates the possible place within the mosque.

31. Complete sequence at a glance

1. Enter Mecca and proceed to the Sacred Mosque.
2. Recite takbīr and tahlīl on seeing the Kaaba.
3. Begin at the Black Stone; avoid harm while attempting istilam.
4. Male idtiba for the relevant tawaf.
5. Perform 7 circuits outside the Hatim.
6. Apply ramal in 3 rounds; walk normally in the remaining 4.
7. Pray two units by Maqam Ibrahim or elsewhere feasible in the mosque.

Tawaf al-Qudum is Sunnah. Saʿy follows as a separate learning topic.

32. Next: the rite of Safa and Marwa

The arrival-tawaf passage is complete. The next text begins:
ثُمَّ يَخْرُجُ إِلَى الصَّفَا
Translation: Then he proceeds to Safa.

That leads to the separate rite of saʿy, which has its own seven traversals. The counts of tawaf and saʿy must not be conflated.