and sat near the Hijr—that is, on the northern side of the Kaaba—so that they could observe the weakness they alleged of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, therefore instructed his Companions to perform ramal in the first three circuits.

Ramal is not the shaking of one’s shoulders, as ignorant people do. Rather, ramal means walking with strength and vigor, moving quickly but without lengthening one’s stride. Ordinarily, when a person hastens, he lengthens his steps in order to cover more ground; but in circumambulation, we say: hasten without lengthening your stride; rather, keep your steps short.

When Quraysh saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions performing this ramal, they said, “They run and walk more vigorously than gazelles.” This enraged and saddened them, for they had initially expected them to be weak, only to find that they were strong. (1)

However, during the Compensatory Umrah, ramal was performed from the Black Stone to the Yemeni Corner, (2) and they walked between the two corners. This was because, once they turned away from the Yemeni Corner, they passed out of Quraysh’s sight. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, wished to preserve their strength, and so they walked between the two corners. Thus, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, showed them consideration in two ways:

First: he restricted ramal to the first three circuits only.

Second: he instructed them to walk between the two corners: the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone.