Missing Hajj occurs when the dawn of the Day of Sacrifice rises before one has stood at Arafah. His Hajj is then missed, and he must offer a compensatory sacrifice for having missed it, provided that he had not stipulated a condition. Likewise, if a person who is required to offer a compensatory sacrifice for omitting an obligatory rite cannot find one, he must fast ten days: three during Hajj and seven upon his return.
For example, if he omits the stoning of the pillars, he must offer a compensatory sacrifice; if he cannot find one, he fasts three days during Hajj and seven upon his return. The rationale is an analogy with the sacrifice of tamattuʿ. But this is open to question, for there is a difference between the sacrifice of tamattuʿ and omitting an obligatory rite.
The sacrifice required for omitting an obligatory rite compensates for a deficiency, whereas the sacrifice required for tamattuʿ and qirān is an expression of gratitude for completion. So how can one be analogized to the other?
Perhaps we should not dispute the obligation of a compensatory sacrifice upon one who omits an obligatory rite—that is, perhaps we may require him to offer it—because there is no evidence establishing such a sacrifice for one who omits an obligatory rite except the report of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “Whoever forgets something from his rites, or omits it, let him shed sacrificial blood” (1). There is no report from the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, stating that whoever omits an obligatory rite must offer a compensatory sacrifice.
Yet the scholars accepted this report, saying: Whoever omits something from his rites must offer a compensatory sacrifice. However, they do not apply it without qualification. If we were to apply it generally, we would say that whoever omits wearing the upper garment under the right arm must offer a compensatory sacrifice; whoever omits praying two rakʿahs behind the Station must offer a compensatory sacrifice; and whoever omits remaining at al-Mashʿar al-Haram until daylight has fully spread must offer a compensatory sacrifice. Thus, they interpret it as referring to one who omits or forgets something obligatory from his rites.
They said that this report of Ibn Abbas has the ruling of a report traced back to the Prophet. But it may be said that it does not have that ruling, for what is accorded the status of a report traced back to the Prophet is a statement made by a Companion in a matter where personal reasoning has no scope. Here, however, personal reasoning may have a role. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, may have held that, since violating the rites by doing something prohibited entails a compensatory sacrifice, violating the rites by omitting something commanded is likewise. Thus, personal reasoning may have a role in it.
Therefore, it is not sound to cite it as proof that a compensatory sacrifice is obligatory for omitting an obligatory rite, or that one who cannot find it must fast ten days.