Tawaf (طواف) is the ritual circling of the Kaaba — seven full circuits going anticlockwise, with the Kaaba on your left shoulder. It is performed during Umrah, at the beginning and end of Hajj, and at any other time as a voluntary act of worship.

Conditions before you begin

  • State of ritual purity (wudu). Tawaf is a kind of prayer — Hadath breaks it.
  • Covering the awrah; for Umrah and Hajj, the ihram for men leaves the right shoulder uncovered during this tawaf only (idtibaʼ).
  • Intention to perform tawaf — type (Umrah, qudum, ifadhah, wadaʼ, or voluntary).

The seven circuits

  1. Begin at the Black Stone. Face it. If you can touch and kiss it without harming others, do so. If not, point to it with your right hand and say "Bismillah, Allahu akbar." Each new circuit begins here.
  2. Walk anticlockwise. The Kaaba stays on your left.
  3. Raml in the first three circuits (for men, in tawaf al-qudum and Umrah): a short, brisk walk.
  4. Touch the Yemeni Corner if you can. Do not kiss it or point to it.
  5. Between the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone: say "Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanah wa fil-akhirati hasanah wa qina ʻadhab an-nar" (Quran 2:201).
  6. Between circuits there is no specific prescribed duʼa. Make duʼa freely in any language for what matters to you.
  7. End at the Black Stone the seventh time, then pray two short rakʼahs behind Maqam Ibrahim if you can, and drink Zamzam.

What breaks tawaf

  • Losing wudu (you must restore wudu and resume from the circuit you were on, per the position of the majority).
  • Walking outside the Mataf area without a valid reason on a wheelchair lane that breaks the count.
  • Skipping a circuit or losing count: restart only the missing portion if you can be certain; otherwise begin again.

Counting tips for crowded days

Modern pilgrims often use a tasbih counter or a finger count. The Mataf has changed levels (ground, mezzanine, roof) — you can perform tawaf on any level; the rules are identical, but distances are longer the higher you go.

Sources

Procedure summarized from IslamQA — How to perform tawaf, and the official Ministry of Hajj and Umrah guidance for pilgrims (retrieved 2026-05-12).