Tawaaf ul nisa and its salat

Tenth and Eleventh Obligations:

This is the tenth obligation in Hajj and the eleventh is the prayers (salaat) which follow it. Although they are obligatory, they do not constitute the ceremonies of Hajj and the failure to perform them, even if deliberate, does not invalidate the Hajj.

Tawaaf ul-Nisa is obligatory on both males and females. If the male fails to perform it, any woman becomes unlawful for him and if the woman omits to perform it, any man becomes unlawful for her. An agent performing a Tawaaf ul-Nisa will do so on behalf of the principal and not himself.

The procedures and rules regarding the Tawaaf ul-Nisa and the prayers following it are the same as those for the 'Tawaaf for Hajj and the prayers after it. The only difference is in the niyyah.

If, by reason of illness or otherwise, a person is unable to perform the Tawaaf ul-Nisa, he should do so with the help of another person or even riding an animal or carried by another man.

If a man fails to perform the Tawaaf ul-Nisa, whether knowingly and deliberately or out of ignorance of the rule or through oversight, any woman is forbidden to him until it is performed. If there is difficulty about him performing it personally, it is permissible for him to appoint an agent to do so on his behalf and when the agent has performed it on his behalf, his lawful women become permissible to him. If he dies before performing it, then, if his eldest person performs it on his behalf, the obligation is satisfied, otherwise, as a matter of caution, its qadha must be performed and paid for out of the shares of the adult heirs with their approval.

It is not permissible to perform Tawaaf ul-Nisa before Saee. If one does so knowingly and deliberately, it is obligatory to repeat it after Saee and if one does so out of ignorance of the rule or through oversight, it is apparently sufficient, though, as a matter of caution, one must repeat it.

It is permissible to perform Tawaaf ul-Nisa before the two stays at Arafaat and Mina for some people, but their wives do not become lawful to them until after the performance of the ceremonies at Mina, the throwing of pebbles, sacrifice and shaving of head or Taqseer.

If menstruation of a lady commences and her companions will not await her becoming clean, it is permissible for her to omit the performance of the Tawaaf ul-Nisa and depart with her companions and in such a case, as a matter of caution, she should appoint an agent to perform the Tawaaf and recite the prayers on her behalf. If the menstruation commences after she had performed the fourth round, it is permissible for her to omit the performance of the remainder of the Tawaaf and depart with her companions. As a matter of caution, she must appoint an agent to perform the remainder of the Tawaaf and recite the prayers on her behalf.

The rules applicable to forgetting to recite the prayers (salaat) after the Tawaaf ul-Nisa are the same as those for forgetting to say them after the Tawaaf for Umrah.

Man and woman become lawful to each other after both have performed Tawaaf- ul-Nisa and recited the prayers. The prohibition on hunting remains, as a matter of caution, till the noon of the thirteenth. Cutting of trees and grass and hunting in the Haram is forbidden anyway.