a hardship for people. But if we say—according to the stronger view—that the intention for an act of worship extends to the entire act in all its parts, then there is no doubt that this is easier for people.

A comparable case occurs in prayer: if someone begins the noon prayer intending it as the obligatory prayer of that time, but does not consciously specify the noon prayer, then the stronger view is that it suffices and is valid. For if you were to ask this man, “What did you intend by this prayer?” his answer would be, “The noon prayer.” A person may be inattentive to such specification; for example, he may arrive while the imam is bowing, enter the prayer hastily, and not specify the intention.

His statement, “or his rite,” means: or if he does not intend his particular rite, it is not valid. This is one of the conditions for the validity of circumambulation connected to a pilgrimage rite. Hajj differs from other acts of worship in many respects, including the permissibility of changing one’s intention and the obligation to complete it even if it was begun as a voluntary act, among other matters.

Thus, a person may enter ihram with an unrestricted intention, saying, “Here I am, O Allah, here I am,” without specifying either ‘umrah or Hajj. However, he may not perform circumambulation until he specifies it, because unrestricted ihram may be for ‘umrah alone, for Hajj alone, or for both together. Therefore, he must specify one of these, so that the circumambulation may be determined accordingly.

A form of unrestricted ihram—though it contains some qualification—is for one to say, “I have entered ihram as so-and-so entered ihram,” or, “Here I am as so-and-so entered ihram.” This may occur when a man has some ignorance, but knows that a certain person of knowledge and understanding has performed Hajj, so he says, “Here I am as so-and-so entered ihram.” That person may have entered ihram for ‘umrah, for Hajj, or for Hajj and ‘umrah,