A word from the Shaykh regarding tawaf in heavy crowds and the errors that occur therein.

The Shaykh : And whoever is led astray has no guide for him, and I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. As for what follows: Before we speak about what Allah Mighty and Majestic wills for us to speak about from what we heard of the recitation of the Book of Allah Mighty and Majestic, we speak about what we witnessed today of the multitude of people performing 'Umrah. It is as if the people are in a state of Hajj. These people performing 'Umrah are undoubtedly rewarded and granted reward for their intention, hoping to attain the reward of Hajj, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: But we witnessed scenes far removed from the intended purpose of the ritual, from the intended purpose of 'Umrah, and from the intended purpose of worship. We found people with their families, dragging their children, some dragging their small child as one drags sheep to be slaughtered, not caring about the hardship and fatigue they endure. We saw people with young women and old women amidst great hardship. We saw people performing tawaf around the House on the second floor, near the side of the Sa'y area, performing tawaf on cars and other vehicles. Sometimes they keep the House on their left, sometimes they keep the House behind them, and sometimes they keep the House in front of them, because they are preoccupied with the severe, intense crowd. They do not know what to do or what to say. Do they remember Allah, or do they defend themselves? Are they performing a valid tawaf, or are they walking on their faces? They do not know. People like these who perform such a tawaf, where they do not keep the House on their left in all of their tawaf, their tawaf is invalid, their 'Umrah is invalid, and their Sa'y is invalid, because it is based on an invalid tawaf. Then, what compelled us to go, or to come from our countries, when a person in his country is at peace, fasting in tranquility, standing in night prayer in tranquility, hoping for the mercy of his Lord in tranquility, and hoping for the Night of Decree in tranquility, until he comes to these great hardships? If Allah had made this obligatory upon people, they would have tried to find an exit from this obligation, because of the great hardship involved. And my advice to my Muslim brothers, which I say as sincere advice for the sake of Allah and for my brothers, is that this great hardship they endure with this 'Umrah may bring them more burden than reward. It is a great hardship. We, who are foreigners among their children and adolescent girls, feel compassion for them and our hearts are squeezed by what we find and witness of these great scenes. How can they be content with this great fatigue, for which they may be burdened more than rewarded? And as I told you, the tawaf in which the one performing it keeps the House other than on his left is invalid, because the scholars say that a condition of tawaf is that the House be on his left in all the circuits. These people, by Allah, do not know whether they are pushing people away or remembering Allah in their tawaf. The tawaf around the House and between al-Safa and al-Marwah was established for the remembrance of Allah, and these people do not know. Each one tries to save himself. Then I saw with my own eyes that sometimes they turn their backs to the House because they are seeking a wide space to pass through from the narrowness. And perhaps sometimes they face it when people confront them, they turn around and face the House, and they walk in their tawaf facing the Ka'bah. All of this invalidates the tawaf and makes the tawaf invalid. And if the tawaf is not valid, the Sa'y is not valid. And if the Sa'y is not valid, the 'Umrah is not valid, because 'Umrah is ihram, tawaf, Sa'y, and shaving or shortening the hair. Therefore, I repeat my advice to my brothers: if an 'Umrah cannot be accomplished except with such conditions, then staying in one's country is better, because of the tranquility found there, fasting with ease, and standing in prayer with ease. And a person finds in that a heart inclined toward Allah and turning to Him, which he finds in such actions.