In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-

Compassionate

"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"

Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from
the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be
led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that
there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam

'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-
Barakatuhu

Mistakes made when doing Tawaaf

 These are mistakes that occur during tawaaf, and are of
various types:
1 : Uttering the intention out loud when wanting to do
tawaaf, so you see the pilgrim standing facing the Black
Stone when he wants to do tawaaf, saying, O Allaah, I
intend to do seven circuits of tawaaf for Umrah" or “O
Allaah, I intend to do seven circuits of tawaaf for Hajj, or
O Allaah, I intend to do seven circuits of tawaaf in order
to draw closer to You.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
did tawaaf before you and he did not speak the intention
out loud when he did tawaaf. The Sahaabah (may Allaah
be pleased with them) did tawaaf before you and did not
speak the intention out loud when they did tawaaf, or
when doing any other act of worship, so this is a mistake.
2 : Some of those who do tawaaf push and shove too
much when they touch the Black Stone and the Yemeni
Corner, and they are disturbed by the overcrowding and
disturb others. They may be pushing and shoving a
woman, and the Shaytaan may tempt him and fill his
heart with desire when he is crowding this woman in this
narrow place. People are only human and may be
overwhelmed by their souls that prompt them to do evil,
so an evil action may take place in the shadow of the
House of Allaah. This is a matter that becomes even
worse in light of where it takes place, although it is a
fitnah in any place it happens.
It is not prescribed to push and shove when touching the
Black Stone or the Yemeni Corner, rather if it is easy for
you to do so in a calm and dignified manner, then you
must do it, and if it is not easy for you to do it, then you
should just point to the Black Stone.
With regard to the Yemeni Corner, there is no report from
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
that he pointed to it, and we cannot compare it to the
Black Stone, because the Black Stone is greater than it,
and it was proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) pointed to the Black Stone.
Just as crowding is not prescribed in this situation and
there is the fear that it may cause fitnah when one is
crowded together with women, so too it may also cause
annoyance, because in crowded situations a person will
inevitably hear words that he dislikes and he will feel
annoyed and angry when he leaves this place.
What the person who is doing tawaaf should do is always
remain calm and dignified, so that he will have the proper
presence of mind for worshipping Allaah.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: Tawaaf around the House and (Saai) between al-
Safa and al-Marwah and the stoning of the Jamaar have
only been prescribed so that remembrance of Allaah
(dhikr) will be established.
3 : Some people think that tawaaf is not valid unless one
kisses the Black Stone, and that kissing the Black Stone is
one of the conditions of tawaaf being valid, and of Hajj
and Umrah being valid too. This is a mistaken notion.
Kissing the Black Stone is Sunnah, and it is not an
independent Sunnah either, rather it is Sunnah for the
one who is doing tawaaf. I do not know that kissing the
Black Stone is Sunnah except in tawaaf. Based on this,
since kissing the Black Stone is Sunnah and is not
obligatory and is not a condition of Tawaaf, then if a
person does not kiss it, we do not say that his tawaaf is
invalid or that his tawaaf is lacking and he is sinning.
Rather his tawaaf is valid and if there is a lot of crowding
then pointing is better than touching, because this is
what the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) did when the place was crowded, and because
by doing this a person avoids harm that he may do to
others or that others may do to him.
If someone were to ask us: If the Mataaf (place of tawaaf)
is very crowded, what do you think is it better to push in
and touch and kiss the Black Stone, or to point to it?
We say that it is better to point to it, because that is the
Sunnah. That was narrated from the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the best
guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him).
4 : Kissing the Yemeni Corner. There is no proof
concerning this from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), and if an act of worship
is not proven from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) then it is bidah and is
not an act of worship that brings one closer to Allaah.
Based on this, it is not prescribed to kiss the Yemeni
Corner, because that was not proven from the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
Rather that was narrated in a daeef (weak) hadeeth that
cannot be taken as evidence.
5 : Some people, when they touch the Black Stone or
Yemeni Corner, touch it with their left hands in a careless
manner. This is a mistake, because the right hand is
better than the left hand, and the left hand is only used
for unclean things such as cleaning oneself after relieving
oneself, or rinsing ones nose, and so on. When it comes
to matters of kissing and respect, the right hand should
be used.
6 : They think that touching the Black Stone and the
Yemeni corner is done for barakah or blessing, not as part
of the ritual of tawaaf, so they touch them seeking
barakah from them. This is undoubtedly contrary to the
purpose, for the purpose of touching the Black Stone or
wiping it or kissing it is to glorify Allaah.
Hence when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) touched the Black Stone he said: Allaahu
akbar, as an indication that the purpose of this action is
to glorify Allaah, not to seek barakah by touching this
stone.
Hence when the caliph Umar (may Allaah be pleased with
him) touched the Black Stone he said: By Allaah, I know
that you are just a stone and can neither cause harm nor
bring benefit. Were it not that I had seen the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) kiss
you, I would not have kissed you.
This mistaken notion held by some people that the
purpose behind touching the Yemeni Corner and the
Black Stone is to seek barakah has led some of them to
bring their young children and touch the Corner or the
Stone with their hands, then wipe their children with their
hands. This is a corrupt belief that should be denounced.
We should explain to people that these stones can
neither harm nor benefit, and that the purpose of
touching them is to glorify Allaah and establish His
remembrance (dhikr), and to follow the example of His
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
All of these matters and others are not prescribed in
shareeah. Rather they are innovations (bidah) and do not
benefit those who do them in any way. But if the one who
does that is ignorant and does not realize that this is
bidah, then there is the hope that he may be forgiven.
But if he knows that this is bidah or is negligent and does
not ask about his religion, then he is sinning.
7 : Some people recite a specific duaa in each circuit.
This is a kind of bidah that was not narrated from the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) or his companions. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not recite a specific
duaa in each circuit, and neither did his companions. The
most that can be said concerning that is that between the
Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say: Our
Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the
Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the
torment of the Fire! [al-Baqarah 2:201 interpretation of
the meaning].
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
Tawaaf around the House and (Saai) between al-Safa and
al-Marwah and the stoning of the Jamaar have only been
prescribed so that remembrance of Allaah (dhikr) will be
established.
This bidah is even more wrong when the person carries a
small booklet in which there is a duaa for each circuit,
and he reads this booklet, not knowing what he is saying,
either because he does not know Arabic and does not
understand the meanings, or because although he is an
Arab and speaks Arabic he does not know what he is
saying. We even hear some of them say duaas that
clearly deviate from Islamic teaching; for example, we
have heard someone saying, O Allaah, make me
independent of means by Your Majesty (jalaalika) so I
have no need of that which You have forbidden when he
should have said, “by that which You have permitted
(halaalika).
We also see some people reading this booklet, and when
they finish the duaa for the circuit they are doing, they
stop and do not recite any other duaa for the rest of that
circuit. If there are not many people in the Mataaf, they
finish the circuit before they finish the duaa, so they cut
the duaa short.
The remedy for that is to explain to the pilgrims that
during tawaaf a person can say whatever duaa he wants,
and he can remember Allaah (dhikr) however he wants.
 Mistakes that are made
when stoning the Jamaraat
It was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) that he stoned Jamarat al-Aqabah
which is al-Jamarah al-Quswa which is closer to Makkah,
with seven pebbles, during the morning of the Day of
Sacrifice, saying Allaahu akbar with every pebble which
was a little bigger than a chicken-pea.

Ibn Maajah (3029) narrated that Ibn Abbaas (may Allah

be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to me
on the morning of al-Aqabah when he was standing atop
his camel: Come and pick up for me. So I picked up for
him pebbles which were a little bigger than a chickpea.
He put them in his hand and said, “With pebbles like
this stone (the Jamaraat)… and beware of going to
extremes, for those who came before you were destroyed
because of going to extremes in religion.
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah,
2455.
Ahmad and Abu Dawood narrated from Aaishah (may
Allaah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: Tawaaf around the
House, [See] between al-Safa and al-Marwah and stoning
the Jamaraat have been prescribed to establish the
remembrance of Allaah.

This is the reason why the stoning of the Jamaraat has

been prescribed.
There are many mistakes committed by some
pilgrims when stoning the Jamaraat.

1 : Some people think that the stoning of the Jamaraat is

not valid unless it is done with pebbles from Muzdalifah.
Hence you will find them going to a lot of trouble to
gather the pebbles from Muzdalifah before they go to
Mina. This is a mistaken idea, because the pebbles may
be taken from anywhere, from Muzdalifah, from Mina, or
from any place. The point is that they should be pebbles.

There is no report that the Prophet (peace and blessings

of Allaah be upon him) picked up the pebbles from
Muzdalifah, so that we could say that this is Sunnah. It is
not Sunnah, and it is not obligatory to pick up the pebbles
from Muzdalifah, because the Sunnah is either the words
or actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), or what he approved of – none of which
apply in the case of picking up pebbles from Muzdalifah.
2 : Some people, when they pick up the pebbles, wash
them, either for fear that someone may have urinated on
them, or to clean them, because they think that if they
are clean, this is better. Whatever the case, washing the
pebbles is an innovation (bidah), because the Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do
that, and worshipping Allaah by doing something that the
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
did not do is a kind of bidah. If a person does that without
the intention of it being an act of worship then it is
foolishness and is a waste of time.

3 : Some people think that these Jamaraat are devils,

and that they are actually stoning devils, so you may see
them becoming very emotional and very angry, as if the
Shaytaan himself is in front of him, and this leads to the
following grave errors:
1- This is a mistaken notion. We stone these Jamaraat
as an act of remembering Allaah, following the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as
an act of worship. If a person does an act of worship and
does not know its benefits, but he does it only as an act
of worship for Allaah, this will be more indicative of his
humility and submission to Allaah.
2- A person may become very angry and emotional, so
you see him disturbing people greatly, as if the people in
front of him are vermin and he doesnt care about them or
the weak among them, he just goes forward like a crazy
camel.

3- A person may not remember that he is worshipping

Allaah by stoning these Jamaraat. Hence he neglects to
say the dhikr prescribed in shareeah and says words that
are not prescribed in shareeah, such as saying, O Allaah,
we are angry with the Shaytaan and are pleased with al-
Rahmaan (the Most Merciful), even though this is not
prescribed when stoning the Jamaraat; rather what is
prescribed is to say Allaahu akbar, as the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to do.
4- Based on this false belief you will see some people
picking up large rocks and throwing them, because they
think that the bigger the rock, the greater the effect and
revenge on the Shaytaan. You also see them throwing
shoes, pieces of wood and the like, which are not
prescribed for throwing.

So if we say that this belief is false, what do we then

believe about stoning the Jamaraat? We believe that we
stone the Jamaraat as an act of veneration and worship of
Allaah, and following the Sunnah of the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

4 : Some people are careless and do not care whether

the pebbles land in the pit around the Jamaraat or not.

If the pebbles do not land in the pit around the Jamaraat,

then the stoning is not valid. It is sufficient for the person
to think it most likely that the pebbles have landed in the
pit around the Jamaraat, and it is not essential to be
certain, because certainty in this case may not be
possible; if one cannot be certain that he should act on
what he thinks is most likely. The Lawgiver allows a
person to proceed on the basis of what he thinks is most
likely, if he is uncertain as to how many rakahs he has
prayed, three or four, and the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Let him decide
what is most likely the case, then complete it on that
basis. Narrated by Abu Dawood, 1020.

This proves that in matters of ibaadah it is sufficient to

base ones actions on what he thinks is most likely the
case. This is because Allaah wants to make things easy
because it may not be possible to be certain.

If the pebbles land in the pit around the Jamaraat, then

the duty has been discharged, whether they stay in the
pit or roll out of it.

5 : Some people think that the pebbles must hit the pillar
in the pit. This is a mistaken notion, because it is not
essential for the stoning to be valid that the pebbles
should hit this pillar. This pillar is only there as a marker
for the pit in which the pebbles land. If the pebbles land
in the pit that is sufficient, whether they hit the pillars or
not.

6: One of the most serious mistakes that are made is

when some people take the matter of stoning the
Jamaraat lightly, and delegate someone else to do it on
their behalf even though they are able to do it. This is a
serious mistake, because stoning the Jamaraat is one of
the rituals of Hajj. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
And perform properly (i.e. all the ceremonies according to
the ways of Prophet Muhammad), the Hajj and Umrah
(i.e. the pilgrimage to Makkah) for Allaah
[al-Baqarah 2:196]

This means completing Hajj with all its rituals in full. So

each person must do them himself, and not delegate
someone else to do it on his behalf.

Some people say, The place is too crowded and it is too

difficult for me. We say to them, If the crowding is too
bad when the people first come to Mina from Muzdalifah
it will not be so bad at the end of the day, or at night. If
you do not manage to stone the Jamaraat during the day,
then you can do it at night, because night is also the time
for stoning, although the day is preferable. But it is better
for a person to come and do the stoning at night in a
calm, dignified and humble manner than to come during
the day fearing that he may die because of the
overcrowding, and he may throw his pebbles and they
may not land in the pit. The point is if someone uses the
overcrowding as an excuse, we say to him: Allaah has
given plenty of room for manoeuvre, so you can stone the
Jamaraat at night.

Similarly if a woman is afraid of something if she stones

the Jamaraat with the people, she can delay it until the
night. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) did not allow the weak ones among his
family such as Sawdah bint Zamah and those like her
– to forego stoning the Jamaraat and to delegate
someone else to do it on their behalf; rather he gave
them permission to leave Muzdalifah at the end of the
night, to stone the Jamaraat before the place became
crowded. This is the greatest evidence that a woman
should not delegate this task just because she is a
woman.

Yes, if a person is disabled and unable to stone the

Jamaraat by himself, either during the day or at night,
then in this case it is permissible for him to delegate it to
someone else, because he is incapable of doing it. It was
narrated from the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with
them) that they used to stone the Jamaraat on behalf of
their children, because the children were unable to do it.
Whatever the case, being careless with regard to this
matter i.e., delegating the stoning of the Jamaraat,
except for those who have excuses which mean that they
are unable to do it is a serious mistake, because it is
carelessness with regard to an act of worship, and
negligence with regard to a duty.

As-Salaam Walekum
Adil ibn Manzoor Khan