entered ihram for Hajj.1

In the narration of Ibn ʿUmar and others—may Allah be pleased with them—he is reported to have performed the pilgrimage as a mutamattiʿ (one who performs ʿUmrah, releases from ihram, and then performs Hajj)2, while some reports state that he performed it as a qarin (one who combines Hajj and ʿUmrah under a single ihram)3.

At first glance, this divergence might lead us to call the hadith mudtarib; and if we judged it so, the Prophet’s pilgrimage would remain ambiguous: did he perform it as a mufrid, a mutamattiʿ, or a qarin?

On closer inspection, however, the accounts can be reconciled, and the charge of idtirab is lifted.

Scholars have offered two ways to harmonise these narrations:

1. The first approach holds that those who reported he entered ihram only for Hajj meant that his actions corresponded to those of a solitary pilgrim, i.e., he added nothing beyond what a mufrid would normally do.
   • The practice of a mufrid is as follows: upon arriving in Mecca he performs the arrival tawaf (ṭawāf al-qudūm), then the saʿy for Hajj; on the Day of Sacrifice he performs only the tawaf of ifādah without an additional saʿy; and when he wishes to depart he performs the farewell tawaf and leaves.
   • Those who narrated that he was a mutamattiʿ meant that he combined ʿUmrah and Hajj in a single journey, thereby benefiting from the concession of avoiding a second trip.
   • Those who stated that he was a qarin—that is what actually took place.

Imam Ahmad said, “I have no doubt that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—was a qarin, yet tamattuʿ is more preferable.”