What is the ruling on performing tawaf voluntarily every day, and dedicating it sometimes to living or deceased relatives?

The questioner : May Allah reward you. He says:The questioner : What is the ruling on performing tawaf voluntarily every day, and dedicating it sometimes to living or deceased relatives?

The Shaykh : Yes, tawaf is undoubtedly an act of worship. Allah the Exalted said: And doing it frequently is a recommended practice (sunnah). The scholars have differed on whether tawaf is better or prayer is better. Some said prayer is better, some said tawaf is better, and some distinguished between them, saying that tawaf is better for those who are not residents of Makkah, because they do not have the opportunity to do it whenever they wish, while prayer is better for the residents of Makkah, because they can perform tawaf around the House whenever they wish. The correct view is to say: Look at what is more reverent for your heart and more beneficial. It may be that tawaf is sometimes more reverent for a person and more beneficial for him, in which case tawaf is better. And it may be that prayer is sometimes more reverent for the heart and more beneficial for the servant, in which case prayer is better. In our current time, as you can see, the area for tawaf is crowded, and women crowd you in it, and a person may be one who cannot control himself, so he falls into fitnah (trial). If he withdraws to a corner of al-Masjid al-Haram, away from the noise and away from people passing in front of him, and stands to pray with khushu' (reverence) and humility, then this prayer is better than tawaf. But if there is no fitnah in the tawaf, no crowding by women, and he is far away, like in our times, and he is more reverent in tawaf than in prayer, then tawaf is better.

The questioner : May Allah preserve you, and benefit us with your knowledge.