The Sunnah of Tawaf: Its Ruling and Where It Is Prayed

Question : We return to our question, Shaykh Muhammad, which is: What is the ruling on the Sunnah of Tawaf, and where is it prayed?

Answer : When a person finishes the seven circuits of Tawaf, he moves forward to the Station of Ibrahim, which is well known, and recites . He then prays two rak'ahs behind the Station, reciting "Say, O disbelievers" after al-Fatihah in the first rak'ah, and "Say, He is Allah, One" after al-Fatihah in the second rak'ah. He should keep these two rak'ahs brief and not sit after them, because people need this space to pray the two rak'ahs of Tawaf. If the Tawaf is continuous and the circumambulators reach the Station, he should not pray behind it but should move away from the Tawaf area, because the circumambulators have more right to that space than he does. For this reason, we say that it is permissible for the circumambulators to pass in front of the one praying behind the Station of Ibrahim, or in any part of the Tawaf area, because the Tawaf area is not a place for prayer. It is not permissible for a person to pray in the space of the circumambulators, because he would annoy and harm them. Furthermore, people would disturb his prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He said this so that a person would not pray while being disturbed. How much more so if a person prays in a space that belongs to his Muslim brothers, where he annoys them, prevents them from their right, and is never at peace in his prayer? Therefore, we advise our Muslim brothers not to pray in the space of the circumambulators. The space of the circumambulators is for them, and the space for those praying is vast, praise be to Allah, in every part of the mosque.