And complete the Hajj or 'umra in the service of Allah. But if ye are prevented (From completing it), send an offering for sacrifice, such as ye may find, and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches the place of sacrifice. And if any of you is ill, or has an ailment in his scalp, (Necessitating shaving), (He should) in compensation either fast, or feed the poor, or offer sacrifice; and when ye are in peaceful conditions (again), if any one wishes to continue the 'umra on to the hajj, He must make an offering, such as he can afford, but if he cannot afford it, He should fast three days during the hajj and seven days on his return, Making ten days in all. This is for those whose household is not in (the precincts of) the Sacred Mosque. And fear Allah, and know that Allah Is strict in punishment. (Al-Qur'an, 2:196 (Al-Baqara [The Cow]) Ablution For Tawaf http://ourdialogue.com/answers/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=1135 Question You have stated that ablution is obligatory for doing the tawaf around the Kaabah. I have recently come across a ruling issued by the Deoband School in India, stating that ablution is highly recommended for tawaf, but not obligatory. Please clarify. Answer The overwhelming majority of scholars consider ablution, an essential condition for tawaf, not merely obligatory. When we speak of a condition we mean that the action itself will not be valid if the condition is not met. There are several Hadiths supporting this. In one of them, Ibn Abbas quotes the Prophet, peace be upon him, as saying: Tawaf is a prayer. However, God has allowed speaking during tawaf. Whoever speaks while doing it should only say something good. [Related by Al-Tirmithi, Al-Hakim, Ibn Khuzaimah, Al-Daraqutni and others]. Another highly authentic Hadith quotes Ayesha as saying: The first thing the Prophet, peace be upon him, did on arriving in Makkah was to do the ablution and perform tawaf. [Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. If a person doing the tawaf experiences doubt as to whether he has performed the ablution before he started, his tawaf is not valid. He must leave and perform the ablution and come back for his tawaf. If he has done the tawaf of the Umrah and then realized, after completing it, that he had not done the ablution first, he remains in Ihram until he has done a new tawaf after doing the ablution. However, the Hanafi school of Thought does not consider the ablution a condition for the validity of tawaf, but makes it a duty. This means that if a person doing the Umrah or the pilgrimage performs the tawaf without having done the ablution, his tawaf is valid but he must compensate for omitting the duty of purification by slaughtering a sheep and giving the sacrifice to the poor in the Haram area. If a pilgrim does the tawaf when he is in the state of ceremonial impurity, i.e. Janabah, or when a woman is in her period, the tawaf is valid but the compensation is a sacrifice of a cow or a camel, and they must repeat the tawaf while they are in Makkah. As you see, the matter is serious indeed. I cannot find a basis for the ruling by the Deoband School, which I certainly respect. AB [EMAIL PROTECTED] "For to us will be their return; then it will be for us to call them to account." (Holy Quran 88:25-26)
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