Missed farewell Tawaaf due to menses
Fatwa No: 89179

Question

How does a female pilgrim who skips Tawaaf Al-Ifaadhah due to menstruation make up for the Tawaaf if she already left Makkah for her home country with the Hajj group with which she came before her menses stopped?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Whoever assumes Ihraam to perform the rituals of Hajj (pilgrimage) or 'Umrah (small pilgrimage) has to complete its rituals and it is not permissible for him/her to come out of the state of Ihraam except after having completed the said ritual unless he/she is prevented from completing it? Allaah says (which means): {And complete the Hajj and 'Umrah for Allaah. But if you are prevented, then [offer] what can be obtained with ease of sacrificial animals.}[Quran 2:196]

Therefore, it was an obligation on this sister to wait in Makkah until she became pure and then perform Tawaaf Al-Ifaadhah (circle the Ka'bah by the pilgrims after they come from Mina on the 10th of Thul-Hijjah), because being pure is a condition for the validity of Tawaaf according to the majority of scholars .

Tawaaf Al-Ifaadhah is one of the pillars of Hajj without which Hajj is invalid. The one who does not perform it cannot make it up by simply offering a sacrifice, rather he must perform it whether he forgot it or did not know the ruling about it. If he had left Makkah, he must return to Makkah for this purpose and he is considered to still be in the state of Ihraam until he performs the said ritual.

Therefore, this sister has to return to Makkah and perform this ritual (which is a pillar of Hajj) and if she had stoned her pebbles and shortened her hair, then she is still considered to be in the state Ihraam. However, the restrictions of Ihraam of the first stage are lifted (i.e. she is permitted to do everything except having sexual relation with one’s spouse).

The sister did not mention whether or not she had performed Sa’y. If she had not performed it, she has to perform Sa’y after Tawaaf and she will not come out from the second stage of the state of Ihraam except by the two said matters (i.e. performing Tawaaf and Sa’y).  

As regards the prohibitions that she had violated during this period (i.e. restrictions of Ihraam), if any, if this had taken place after the end of the first stage of the state of Ihraam, then there is no harm, but if the prohibitions had taken place before the end of the first stage of the state of Ihraam, and she had for instance perfumed herself, then there is no harm if she did not know the ruling. However, if she had cut her hair or nails, then she has to expiate for every prohibition she had violated:

            1.      Fast (for 3 days).

            2.      Give a charity (feed six poor people).

            3.      Sacrifice (slaughter a sheep).

If sexual intercourse had taken place, she is forgiven because of her ignorance regarding the ruling, according to the Shaafi'ii school and one of the narrations reported by Imaam Ahmad . Ibn Taymiyyah considered this opinion as the most preponderant one. Imaam An-Nawawi said: 'If the pilgrim has sexual intercourse out of ignorance, due to forgetfulness or because of being insane or forced, then this does not invalidate ones Hajj and one does not have to offer a sacrifice.' 

Allaah Knows best.

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