General Question

Praise be to Allaah.

This action is not part of the Sunnah, rather it is a reprehensible innovation. This is what some people do, claiming to venerate the Ka’bah thereby. If this was really a sign of respect for the Ka’bah, you would find that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the Sahaabah did that, but there are no reports to suggest that.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz said:

When (the pilgrim) has finished bidding farewell to the House and wants to leave the mosque, he should walk normally, facing forwards, until he exits. He should not walk backwards, because there is no report that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or his companions did this, rather it is an innovation (bid’ah). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Whoever does any action that is not part of this matter of ours (i.e., Islam) will have it rejected.” Narrated by Muslim, 1718. And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Beware of newly-invented matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a going astray.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4607; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. We ask Allaah to make us steadfast in adhering to His religion, and to keep us safe from anything that goes against it, for He is the Most Generous, Most Kind.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said, when listing the mistakes that some people make during the farewell tawaaf:

Some of them exit the mosque, after the farewell tawaaf, walking backwards, claiming that they are venerating the Ka’bah thereby. This goes against the Sunnah, rather it is the kind of innovation (bid’ah) against which the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) warned us when he said: “Every innovation is a going astray.” Innovation (bid’ah) means everything that has been invented in ‘aqeedah (belief) or ‘ibaadah (worship) that goes against the way of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his Rightly-Guided Caliphs. Does this person who walks backwards and claims to be venerating the Ka’bah think that he is venerating it more than the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did? Or does he think that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs did not know that this was an act of veneration towards the Ka’bah?!

Manaasik al-Hajj wa’l-‘Umrah, p. 135.

Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz, 16/98.