Part 10

shameful, they say: 'We found our fathers doing so": and "Allah commanded us thus;" say: "Nay, Allah never commands what is shameful: do you say of Allah what you know not?"

The shameful act mentioned in the verse is circumambulation around the Sacred House while they are naked.

Hence, major ritual impurity is obligatory for circumambulation according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars and the divine texts. As for considering it as a condition for circumambulation just like prayer, there is dispute among scholars in this regard. Scholars who adopt that it is not a condition believe that there are obligatory acts in the Hajj ransomed by slaughtering an animal. Such acts are not conditions for a sound Hajj and if a pilgrim did not perform them on purpose or forgetfully, he should slaughter an animal. This is not the case with prayer.

Are there obligatory acts in prayer which, if not done, it is still valid? Is it not valid if he did not perform them forgetfully? There is a famous dispute on this point. Abu Hanifah believes that there are obligatory acts such as reciting surah Al-Fatihah and tranquility. If such acts were not done, prayer is still valid. This is one of the opinions in Ahmed’s juristic school. According to Ahmed, congregational prayer is obligatory but it is not a condition for the validity of prayer. When a person does not perform some acts forgetfully, and he prostrated twice after the end of prayer, such act is obligatory in prayer. Yet there are

other acts such as avoiding impurities which, if ignored, a person must perform the prayer again within the legal time. If such time is over, he should not perform it again.

As for the second question:

When a woman menstruates and becomes pure before the Slaughter Day, she is not entitled to perform the arrival circumambulation. She is to perform the Ifadah circumambulation on the Slaughter Day or after it. If she perform the Ifadah circumambulation while she is ritually pure, but later she menstruates and has not become pure before leaving Mecca, she is not entitled to perform the Farewell circumambulation according to the tradition of Prophet (peace be upon him). He allowed for the woman who circumambulated during her purity, but later menstruated not. to perform _ the Farewell Circumambulation. When his wife, Mother of the Believers Safiah menstruated on the Slaughter Day, he said: “Will she prevent us from leaving Mecca?” They replied: “She has already performed the Ifadah circumambulation.” He said: “She is not entitled to perform the Farewell circumambulation.”

If she menstruated before Ifadah, she must stay in Mecca until she is ritually pure and then she can circumambulate. People with her should stay as well if they can. In old times, roads were secure and people used to visit Mecca throughout the whole year. A woman, her family and those responsible for the Hajj journey were able to stay in Mecca until she is ritually pure and performs circumambulation. Scholars used to order people to do so.

They may even ordered those in charge of the Hajj journey to stay until menstruating women are pure as did the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A person may act asa prince while he is not. It is a woman who menstruated before. Ifadah and the people her would stay until she is ritually pure and_ performs circumambulation.

Nowadays, most women could not stay after the Hajj party leaves Mecca. They usually leave Mecca a day, two or three after the Tashriq. A woman may have menstruated on the Slaughter Day and she will be pure after seven days or more. She could not stay in Mecca until she is ritually pure, either because she does not have enough money or there are no people to stay with them and return home in their company.

She may be afraid that a harm may afflict her, her money may be spent during such stay, or she may return home after her company. Besides, the party in her company may not be able to stay with her either because they can not return alone, or because they fear that they may be exposed to any danger that affects their lives and money. Sometimes, they may be able to stay, but they do not do it. Thus her excuse remains the same.

This is a very common matter. Once-this woman circumambulated while she is menstruating and later ransomed this act by slaughtering a camel or a sheep, her Hajj is sound according to Abu Hanifah and Ahmed who

believe that major ritual impurity is not a condition for circumambulation. Besides, she has an excuse. Yet, is it permissible for her to circumambulate while she has an excuse? This is a controversial point among scholars. In addition, if circumambulation is considered as a condition of Hajj, can one perform Hajj without taking this condition into consideration? Is circumambulation valid in this case? This the point most people need to know. It is more convenient to say that a person is entitled to perform the obligatory acts he could do.

As for acts which he can not do, they are not obligatory. In this case, a woman will circumambulate, wash even if she had been menstruating as when she enters into the state of Ihram, puts pieces of cloth or the like around her private parts. This is the most reasonable legal opinion for the following reasons:

First: this woman can do nothing except for any of the following five acts.

1.She should stay until she is ritually pure and then circumambulates. What will be the case if she has no money to support her or a place to take as shelter? If she did not return home and_ stayed in Mecca, some may oblige her to adultery or even rob her money if she has any.

2.She should return home without performing circumambulation and she stays there in her state of Thram until she is able to return to Mecca once again. If she can not, she should be in her state of Ihram until

3.She should get out of the state of Ihram just like those prevented from completing Hajj, but she is still entitled to complete it once she enters Mecca according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars. This same case applies to those prevented from completing the Hajj. Yet, if they enter into the state of Ihram with the intention of performing Hajj or ~ Umrah, and later they were - prevented from completing it, are they entitled to perform it again? In this regard, there are two famous opinions adopted by Ahmed. The first of them, also adopted by Malik and Shafi*I, is that they should not perform it again. The second, also adopted by Abu Hanifah, is that they should.

Both parties mentioned the Case “Umrah. Some say that the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed it again while others say that he did not. His companions were more than one thousand and four hundreds, and those who performed

Umrah with him next year were much less in number. It was called the Case ~ Umrah because there was some sort of a case between the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the polytheists, not because he performed it again. It was an independent ~ Umrah.

4. Whenever a woman expects to menstruate and hence she can not circumambulate while she is pure, she is not to be enjoined to perform Hajj. About fifty percent of women menstruate either on the tenth day of the month or days before it. Their menstruation lasts one,

two or three days after the Tashriq. Therefore, they, almost always, can not perform the Ifadah Circumambulation when they are ritually pure. Even if a woman performed Hajj, she must have recourse to any of the above-mentioned three options, unless she would circumambulate while she is menstruating.

It is well known that a woman. is not to be enjoined to perform the first option, because it leads to doing away with her religion and worldly affairs. It is also well known that Allah prohibits such matters, how comes that He enjoins it?

The second option is not also permissible for the following three reasons:

First: Allah never orders anybody to stay in the state of Ihram until he dies. When a person is prevented from completing rituals by an enemy, he has the full right to end the state of Ihram according to the unanimous agreement of Muslim scholars. If he had been prevented because of an illness or poverty, this is a famous point of dispute among scholars. There is no objection to those who allowed him to end the state of Ihram.

Those who prevented him from ending the state of Ihram say that the harm caused by illness or poverty does not come to an end once he put an end to the state of Ihram. In case of prevention by an enemy, putting an end to the state of Thram will allow him to return to his country and do whatever acts prohibited during Ihram. If he lost Hajj, he can put an end to the state of [hram by performing a

As for the sick, once he restores his health, he can resume his Hajj or ~Umrah. The poor person’s need to complete the Hajj journey is just like his need to return, and therefore both the sick and the poor should not put an end to the state of Ihram. They will not make use of ending it. If this argument is valid, preventing him from putting an end to the state of Ihram is the most proper opinion. Otherwise, the first opinion that he should put an end to the state of Ihram is more proper. If the second opinion is adopted, this means that there must be agreement among scholars that once the state of Ihram may cause any harm, it is permissible for one to put an end to it.

It is well known that if the woman keeps her state of Ihram, it is prohibited to have sexual intercourse with her. In another juristic school, even the introductory acts of intercourse are prohibited. It is also prohibited for her to marry, apply perfumes and shooting according to the opinion of some scholars. Yet, our religion never enjoins such.

If some claim that a person prevented from completing Hajj or “Umrah because of severe illness or abject poverty which does not allow him to travel, and hence he keeps his state of Ihram, such saying is refuted according to the fundamentals of religion. No jurist has ever said that very sick person should keep his state of Ihram until he dies. Instead, another one is to perform Hajj on behal! 0