And if he is prevented by illness or the loss of his provisions, he remains in ihram if he had not stipulated a condition.
His statement, “And if he is prevented by illness or the loss of his provisions, he remains in ihram if he had not stipulated a condition,” means that if illness prevents him—for example, he entered ihram while healthy and able to complete the rites, but then fell ill and became unable to complete them—we say: Remain in ihram until you recover from the illness, then complete the rites. However, if the standing at Arafah passes you by, then exit ihram through an umrah. The same applies if he is prevented by the loss of his provisions.
For example, if a man’s provisions are stolen and he is unable to complete the rites, he remains in ihram until he finds provisions and completes the rites, provided that it is still possible to complete them. If it was Hajj and the standing at Arafah has passed him by, then he has missed the Hajj.
Likewise, if he loses his way—that is, he becomes lost and cannot find his way to Arafah—then he is as the author said: “If the standing passes him by, he has missed the Hajj.” He exits ihram through an umrah. If he had stipulated a condition, he exits ihram and owes nothing.
The correct view in this issue is that if a person is prevented by something other than an enemy, his case is the same as that of one prevented by an enemy. This is due to the generality of Allah’s words: “And complete the Hajj and umrah for Allah. But if you are prevented...” [al-Baqarah 2:196] That is, prevented from completing them. Allah, the Exalted, did not restrict such prevention to an enemy.
As for His words, “...or a sacrificial offering. Then, when you are safe...” [al-Baqarah 2:196], this merely mentions the ruling of some instances included within a general ruling, and this does not entail specification. We have previously encountered this principle: when a general ruling is mentioned, and then a ruling particular to some of its instances is joined to it, this does not entail restricting the general ruling. Have you not seen the words of Allah, the Exalted: “Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three menstrual periods, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have the greater right”