Prayer of Tawaf

The third obligation of 'umra is prayer of tawaf. It is obligatory for a pilgrim to offer a two-rak'a prayer after completing tawaf; this prayer may be offered loudly or quietly. Likewise, he should make intention as prayer of tawaf (while specifying its type like prayer for 'umra/tamattu' tawaf) and perform it with sincerity and for the sake of nearness to Allah Almighty.

There must be no gap between the tawaf and its prayer and the criterion of recognizing the gap is common view. Prayer of tawaf is just like the morning prayer. One can recite any sura of the holy Quran after the recitation of sura al-Fatiha (Quran 1), except the four suras which have obligatory sajda. It is mustahabb to recite sura al-Ikhlas (Quran 112) in the first rak'a after sura al-Fatiha, and sura al-Kafirun (Quran 109) in the second rak'a of prayer after sura al-Fatiha.

It is obligatory that the prayer of tawaf should be performed behind Maqam Ibrahim (i.e. where Maqam Ibrahim and Ka'ba are in front of the person). It is better that the prayer be performed near Maqam Ibrahim if it does not create trouble for others. If this opportunity is not available, one can say this prayer at a distance to Maqam Ibrahim.

If a person deliberately neglects the prayer of tawaf, his/her hajj would be void. But if he/she neglects it unintentionally and happens to recall it before leaving the holy city of Mecca, one should return to al-Masjid al-Haram and offer the prayer if it is possible without trouble. If he/she recalls it after leaving the holy city of Mecca, he/she should perform the prayer at the very place where he/she recalls it. If a person recalls during sa'y between Safa and Marwa that he/she forgot prayer of tawaf, he/she should discontinue sa'y, offer the prayer in its place and return to complete the sa'y from the point of discontinuation.

Normally in other prayers if a man offers his prayer parallel to a woman, or a woman prays ahead of a man, the prayer is invalid, but in prayer of tawaf it is not important.

It is unknown whether offering prayer of tawaf in congregation is allowed or not, so it should be avoided out of caution.

It is obligatory particularly for a person who wants to perform hajj to learn the correct form of prayer so that he may perform his religious duty with accuracy.

References

• The Rites of Hajj, In Accord with Fatwās of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Hajj and Ziarah Research Center