The requirement of wudu for tawaf is one of the most discussed issues in Hajj fiqh, with significant practical implications, especially during the intense crowding of Hajj season when maintaining ablution can be extremely difficult. The three schools — Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali (in the well-known position) — hold that ritual purity (taharah) is a condition (shart) for the validity of tawaf, meaning tawaf performed without wudu would need to be repeated. Their primary evidence is the hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas that 'Tawaf around the House is like prayer, except that you may speak during it,' and the Prophet's own consistent practice of performing wudu before tawaf.
The Hanafi school takes a notable middle position: wudu for tawaf is wajib (obligatory) but not a condition of validity (shart). This means that if someone performs tawaf without wudu, the tawaf itself is valid, but the person must pay a penalty (dam — sacrificing a sheep) for omitting the wajib act. If wudu was lost during tawaf, the pilgrim may perform wudu and resume from where they left off. This position provides practical relief for pilgrims who struggle to maintain ablution in the extreme crowds.
A third scholarly position, advocated by the great Hanbali jurist Ibn Taymiyyah and supported by some contemporary scholars, holds that wudu for tawaf is strongly recommended (mustahabb) but not obligatory. Ibn Taymiyyah argued that the hadith comparing tawaf to prayer is not authentically traceable to the Prophet as a statement (marfu') but is rather a statement of Ibn Abbas himself (mawquf), and that the Quran does not stipulate purity for tawaf. This position, while a minority view, is significant and has been adopted by some fatwa bodies for cases of genuine hardship.