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What is TAWAF and why?

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#1 [Permalink] Posted on 1st August 2012 13:15

Many People ask What is Tawaf, Why do we walk around the Ka'bah? Here is a very basic reply.

Allah Almighty says:

 21:33

"And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each in an orbit floating." (Al-Anbiya, 21: 33)


This glorious verse refers to a scientific fact concerning the system of the universe. Scientific discoveries have proved that we live in a huge universe that depends on revolution.

The earth revolves round the sun once a year, the moon revolves around the earth once per lunar month, and the other planets of the solar system also revolve round the sun, each in its own orbit. Besides, most of these planets have moons that revolve around them, each, also in its own orbit. Astronomers have discovered more than 60 of these moons so far.


The solar system, likewise, orbits a center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This galaxy consists of more than 130 billion stars. Galaxies, in turn, revolve round a center that only Almighty Allah knows.


The law of revolution applies also to atoms, the smallest units of elements that cannot be seen even by microscopes. An atom is composed of a nucleus whose diameter is less than a millionth of a millimeter. An atom is surrounded by electrons that move round the atom in an orbit.

 

Since all matter in the universe-whether solid, liquid, or gaseous consists of atoms, this means that the law of revolution applies to everything: stars, planets, moons, animals, plants, sand, seas, air, and so on.


This includes cells as well. The cytoplasm in the cell moves around the nucleus.
There is a common factor between the orbital movements of all the objects referred to above, this is, and their revolution is anti-clockwise.


Contemplating the above lines, we come to realize that revolution is a cosmic law.


With a believer's meditation upon such a scientific fact, another image of revolution is brought to one's mind:The pilgrim's circumambulation of the Kaaba, which is a basic ritual of Hajj in Islam.

 
Circumambulating the Kaaba is a symbolic act of worship, whose wisdom may be hidden from some. It indicates the believer's utter submission to Almighty Allah alone. The pilgrims go to Hajj in response to the divine order that Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) conveyed to people.


Allah Almighty says:

 

22:26
22:27

 

"And (remember) when We showed Ibrahim the site of the (Sacred) House (the Kaaba at Makkah), saying: Ascribe not anything (in worship) with Me, and sanctify My House for those who circumambulate it, and those who stand up (for prayer), and those who bow (submit themselves with humility and obedience to Allah), and make prostration (in prayer). And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (to perform Hajj)." (Al-Hajj, 22:26-27).


This signifies that the Kaaba is the spiritual center of the believers. It refers to the close bond that should be between a believer and his Lord. A believer turns toward the Kaaba five times a day during the prescribed ritual Prayers.
A pilgrim circumambulates the Kaaba as if he or she is a celestial body orbiting another greater body.

Circumambulation of the Kaaba is to be performed anti-clockwise. This indicates that there is a joint factor between a pilgrim's expressing his ultimate faith in Almighty Allah by circumambulating the Kaaba in that way and between the cosmic laws of revolution discussed above. This indicates that there is consistency between the obligations of worship in Islam and the natural laws that govern the universe, which indicates that they all belong to only one source, that is, Almighty Allah.
This proves the truthfulness of the call of Islam that there is no god but Almighty Allah. Thus, Islam is the true religion that provides humankind with a comprehensive view in conformity with the divine truth that is apparent in the natural laws of the universe.


Tawaf: Utmost degree of love
Circumambulation means to go round something. This act shows the utmost degree of love to the extent that a lover wishes to sacrifice himself for the beloved. A real pilgrim who has thirst for meeting his Beloved has been detached from everything. By going round the House of the Beloved, he wishes to prove that he desires nothing but God.


The planets circumambulate the sun, for they take everything from it. Inside an atom, the electrons circumambulate the protons. The whole universe ranging from the invisible particles to the planets and galaxies circumambulate. Man, being a part of the universe, should circumambulate, too, with the difference that the planets circumambulate in a compulsory way according to the laws of nature, but man, the rational being and possessor of free will, circumambulates with his logic and will a House God has appointed to honor human beings. Hence, it is natural for Muslims to offer their prayers, to sit, to stand, to recite the Holy Quran, to sleep, to lie down at the moment of death, to be put in a grave, and finally to be in that direction during their lifetimes and death.

 

6:162


"Say: Surely my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds." (Al-Anaam, 6:162)
 

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#2 [Permalink] Posted on 1st August 2012 13:47
Asalamualykum,
jazakallah brother for this brilliant explanation of what is TAWAF and why!
i hope this becomes useful for the others
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#3 [Permalink] Posted on 1st August 2012 16:11
Allah Almighty states the following in the Quran: "The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there not a thing but celebrates His praise; and yet ye understand not how they declare His glory...". (al-Isra, 44) The advancement in science as helped explain that verse. As a matter of fact, including the beings that had been thought to be lifeless, everything was found to consist of atoms. The electrons around the nuclei of the atoms rotate continuously and regularly around the nucleus; it was expressed as declaring the glory of Allah in the Quran. Therefore, to rotate around the Kaaba, which is the symbol of Islam, means to love Islam, to rotate around it like a moth and to attach oneself to Allah.

Worshipping; is fulfilling the duties like takbir, hamd, shukr by a slave for Allah in the way that He orders. Therefore, the fulfilling of the duties by each being can be said to be their worshipping and glorifying Allah

Understanding Tawaf: Lexically, tawaf means to turn, walk, etc around something. Everything in the universe, from the tiny atoms to huge galaxies, is in a state of tawaf. In the atom, electrons turn around the nucleus, which is like the heart, with a dizzying speed; in the galaxy, billions of stars rotate around the center of the galaxy with an incredible speed. They rotate as if they worship the Creator that created them. As it is stated in the Quran, each swims along in an orbit. (Yasin, 40)

The view formed by tens of thousands of Muslims walking around the Kaaba is like the view of a galaxy turning together with billions of stars. Therefore, it is necessary to let oneself be on the orbit in order to get full spiritual pleasure in tawaf. A Muslim who can enter this orbit lets himself be controlled by that spiritual flow and gets the pleasure of becoming a drop in the sea of the believers. The circumambulation around the Kaaba is regarded to be the symbol of the summary of the universe and creation, and surrendering to the divine pre-ordainment.
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#4 [Permalink] Posted on 2nd February 2013 17:52


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#5 [Permalink] Posted on 13th April 2013 03:55
sister-in-islam wrote:
The Wash Cycles for the Heart

by Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (rahmatullah alayh)

Once, on viewing the Mataaf from one of the upper levels of Masjidul Haraam, the scene of thousands of people engaged in Tawaaf, brought to my mind the following analogy:

The sight of those thousands of people moving around the Baitullah reminded me of the wash cycles of the washing machine.

And indeed, we find that parallels can be drawn between the Tawaaf and the work of the washing machine.

The purpose of the washing machine is to wash our clothes clean. ...We place dirty clothes into the drum of the machine and we add the detergent, bleach, softner. With a press of the Start button, the drum starts to spin, water pours in and the machine does its work of extracting the dirt, repeatedly, until the final rinse.

Once the drum stops, the clothes are taken out, hung up to dry, and when dry, they are ironed - with the end result being well pressed, crease-free, clean clothing.

Tawaaf has some resemblance to the purpose and work of the washing machine; except that we are not washing dirty clothes; rather we are washing our hearts - our spiritual hearts.

Like dirty clothes are placed into the washing machine, we place our dirty hearts into the Tawaaf - hearts which are stained with all kinds of sins, including the 'tough' stains of major sins. ...What is not found in this heart? So much has soiled and spoilt our hearts : Pride, Jealousy, Malice, Vanity, Hubbe Dunya, Hubbe Jah and the deep, dirty stains of lustful gazes, backbiting, and other such evils have blotted our hearts, have smeared and blackened them.

Before washing badly stained clothing, a stain remover is used. Accordingly, the stain remover of regret and remorse over our sins, and the sincere intention that what is past being really past, is applied to our hearts.

The Hajre Aswad can be likened to the 'START' button. The intention of Tawaaf and the raising of the hands with 'Bismillah Allahu Akbar wa-lillahil Hamd', signify the commencement of the Tawaaf. Simultaneously the washing of the heart commences. The detergents of Istighfaar, Durood Shareef, and Zikrullah, then contribute to the cleansing of the heart.

Just as water gushes into the drum, Allah Ta'ala's Tajalli, His Special Mercy and Noor, which is cascading onto the Baitullah, drench those who are in Tawaaf. These are the ones who are the first to benefit and they benefit more than all others. Their hearts too are being soaked with this Noor, similar to how the dirty clothes become soaked with water.

The detergent of sincere Istighfaar and Taubah wash the heart. ...The amount of detergent a person needs for washing his clothes, depends on the size of the load. So if our hearts are heavily loaded with sins, then naturally, the demand will be of plenty of Taubah and Istighfaar.

If we want our hearts to be white, the bleach of Zikrullah is added to the Tawaaf, just as bleach is used when a person wants his white clothes to be as white as possible.

If we want our hearts to be soft, then the softner of Durood Shareef is also released into the washing of our hearts.

Each round of Baitullah is similar to the wash and rinses that the dirty clothing go through for a good, clean wash. Round and round, each cycle is completed with Istighfaar and Taubah, Durood Shareef, Dua and Zikrullah. Together with that Tajalli, the dirt of the heart is being extracted, until the final rinse and spin - the 7th round. Now the heart is clean and purified.

...If we entered the Tawaaf with full concentration on Allah Ta'ala, and complete focus of the great privilege of Tawaaf of Baitullah - which is in reality Tawaaf of Rabbul-Bait, then we will experience that beautiful Noor and that Tajalli.

Naturally, for the full benefit of Tawaaf, the gaze has to be controlled. If a person has 'khauf-e-Khuda' and he has 'Azmat' of Baitullah, he will not raise his glance towards strange women; he will not cast an evil gaze - in the Tawaaf and out of Tawaaf. ...If during Tawaaf, the person is engaging in lustful gazes and other sins, there will be just an accumulation of darkness and dirt.

Once the heart is washed, it is taken out of the Tawaaf - clean and bright and white. After completion of the 2 Rakaats of Waajibut Tawaaf, the person proceeds to the Multazam, where he places his chest against the wall. That pressing of his chest, is akin to pressing and ironing the "creases" of his heart; similar to how clothes are ironed, making them 'crease-free'.

The tears shed at the Multazam are like droplets of sweet musk which now fragrance that heart. SubhanAllah, what a sparkling heart, emitting the sweetest of scents... Whilst we will sense it - Insha-Allah - we will have to thereafter look after this cleanliness and this sparkle.

We have to make sure that we fulfill the rights of that Taubah, by making amends on our shortcomings in Huqooqullah (the rights of Allah Ta'ala) and Huqooqul Ibaad (the rights of the servants of Allah Ta'ala). Whatever is outstanding of Salaah, Zakaah, fasts, will have to be made up for, and whatever is due to people will have to be returned to them, or forgiveness secured from them.

May Allah Ta'ala grant us all the Taufeeq of making such Tawaafs, which only increase our hearts in purity and whiteness, which increase that Qurb (proximity) to the Owner of the House.


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#6 [Permalink] Posted on 8th December 2013 16:02

Indeed, a marvel is the Kaaba
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#7 [Permalink] Posted on 8th December 2013 22:57
abu mohammed wrote:
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Mashallah brother. Execellent stuff. But tell me, if a non Muslim asked you about the hidden wisdom behind muslims making tawaf around al kabah and why ,would you explain it any differently then what you already have mention? Or would you explain it differently?

Jazakullah
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#8 [Permalink] Posted on 9th December 2013 00:50
Previously I didn't know how to explain it or give any significant reason, But once I saw the logic behind it, I see no reason why I can't use the same explanation.

I don't need any reason except knowing that our own prophet (saw) did it is enough for me.
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#9 [Permalink] Posted on 9th December 2013 01:10
abu mohammed wrote:
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That's good enough me too.
Jazakullah
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#10 [Permalink] Posted on 12th January 2014 10:16
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#11 [Permalink] Posted on 13th January 2014 18:49
Thanx 4 this article I have to explain this for school for home work!wish me luck.
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#12 [Permalink] Posted on 4th June 2014 13:04
Muslim pilgrims perform Tawaf during Hajj by circumambulating the 4-sided Kaaba 7 times and try to get in or near the inner circle for the last 4 times around. This is a BIG example of the GOD=7_4 algorithm/code (google that).
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#13 [Permalink] Posted on 4th June 2014 13:52
Anonymous wrote:
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Interesting conspiracy theory.

Anyways, during Tawaf, we need to maintain the same circular motion and not move inwards or outwards. Nor do we need to get closer or in it.

also the theory would only work in America because they write the dates as mm/dd/yyy where as here in the UK its dd/mm/yyy. These dates also didn't exist and neither does it coincide with the Islamic teachings.

4/7 or 7/4 has no significane in Islamic dates either.

Freemasons is the work of the devil, so of course its easy for them to try and ridicule the truth! Failure!!!
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#14 [Permalink] Posted on 25th September 2014 09:34
abu mohammed wrote:
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ABC
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#15 [Permalink] Posted on 25th September 2014 09:39
Yesterday some one asked me the question about this, at that i was enable to reply but now by reading this topic I am much clear and can reply to any body, any way JazakALLAH to whom who posted such a nice topic
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