that very night. This is why many of the Companions were unaware of it, and there is no difficulty in that. As for the compensatory Umrah, it may be said that the original obligation of the Farewell Circumambulation came later, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not mention it until the Farewell Pilgrimage. Yes, had we supposed that he had said this before the compensatory Umrah, and then performed Umrah without making the Farewell Circumambulation, we would have said that Umrah has no Farewell Circumambulation. But the original obligation was only established later.

However, if someone arrives in Makkah, circumambulates the House, performs sa‘i, shortens his hair, and then departs and leaves, this suffices in place of the Farewell Circumambulation. Al-Bukhari mentioned this in his Sahih (1): if the person performing Umrah circumambulates and performs sa‘i, it suffices for him in place of the Farewell Circumambulation. He cited as evidence the hadith of Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, when she performed Umrah from al-Tan‘im.

It should not be said: “This did not make his last contact with the House.” We reply: sa‘i is subsidiary to circumambulation. For this reason, the jurists stated that if someone delayed the Circumambulation of Ifadah, performed it when departing, and then performed sa‘i, it would suffice; they did not regard sa‘i as an interruption, because what is permitted in something subsidiary is not necessarily permitted in something independent. Also, during the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed the Farewell Circumambulation, then prayed Fajr and departed afterward (2). Moreover, the interval was slight, even though this prayer, apparently, was not connected to the circumambulation in the sense that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, did not intend it to take the place of the two rak‘ahs following circumambulation.

In any case, if a person performs it, he is rewarded according to both views. But if he omits it, does he sin or not? This depends on whether one holds it to be obligatory. If we say that it is obligatory, then he has sinned; otherwise, he has not sinned.