Step 12 of 12
The Farewell Tawaf
When the pilgrim is ready to leave Makkah, the last act is a farewell tawaf (tawaf al-wada') around the Ka'bah. Ibn 'Abbas (رضي الله عنهما) said: "The people were commanded that their last act should be at the House, except that it was lightened for the menstruating woman."
A woman whose period has come after she made tawaf al-ifadah may leave without it. When Safiyyah (رضي الله عنها) began her period, the Prophet ﷺ asked whether she would hold them back; when he was told she had already made tawaf al-ifadah, he said she would not.
With this the hajj is complete. The Prophet ﷺ said that the reward of an accepted hajj is nothing less than Paradise. Allah says: ﴿فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُم مَّنَـٰسِكَكُمْ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ ءَابَآءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا﴾ (“When you have completed your rites, remember Allah as you remember your forefathers, or with even greater remembrance.”)
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
What is the ruling on the farewell tawaf?
3 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Maliki.
Show each school
- Obligatory (wajib)Hanafi · Shafi'i · Hanbali
- Recommended (mandub)Maliki
- Hanafi
- It is obligatory for pilgrims from beyond the miqat, not for the people of Makkah, and leaving it calls for a sacrifice.
- Maliki
- It is recommended, not obligatory, so one who leaves without it owes nothing.
- Shafi'i
- In the relied-upon view it is obligatory and leaving it calls for a sacrifice; another view in the school holds that it is a sunnah.
- Hanbali
- It is obligatory for anyone leaving Makkah after hajj, except the menstruating woman, and leaving it calls for a sacrifice.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1755 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 1328Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1757 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1773 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Qur'an 2:200
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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