What is the wisdom behind doing 7 tawaf?

Imam Ghazali who was a great theologian and usuli has written brilliantly about usul al fiqh, says 99% of rulings come with ‘ila’ – the explanation of the wisdom behind them, but there is 1% where we do not have the explanation. One of these is why we perform 7 tawaf. Allah Almighty did not tell us.
We can surmise the possible reasons, but we do not have a way to confirm this. Similarly when we pray, it is prescriptive (tawkifi) so we do not know why Allah selected 2 rakahs for fajr, 4 rakahs for dhur, and 3 for maghrib. Why not 1 rakahs or 6 or 7? Without evidence we cannot validate our idea and our intellect is limited, so we cannot guess the reasons.
The answer is simply that we do not know, we have to hear and obey.
Shaykh Haytham Tamim – Tafseer Class 4th July 2022
- Connection and self-discovery
- Alone yet united
- Sincerity and obedience
- Transformation and tests
- Choosing between your will and Allah’s
- Waiting, being and having nothing
- Focus and forgiveness
- Emerging from humiliation
- Goodness from pain
- Have deep trust
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