As for the “ʿumrah of al-Jiʿrānah,” when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, fought the tribe of Hawāzin in the valley of Ḥunayn—concerning which Allah said: “Allah has already given you victory on many battlefields—and on the Day of Ḥunayn, when your great numbers made you proud, but they availed you nothing; the earth, vast as it is, closed in upon you, and you turned back in retreat. Then Allah sent down His tranquillity upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and He sent down forces you did not see and punished those who disbelieved; such is the reward of the unbelievers. Thereafter Allah turns in mercy to whom He wills, and Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Quran 9:25-27).

He then laid siege to al-Ṭāʾif and had a catapult set up against it, yet it was not conquered. The spoils of Ḥunayn were distributed at al-Jiʿrānah; once he had divided them, he entered Mecca and later went out from it—not while in Mecca itself, but leaving it for the area outside the Sanctuary (al-ḥill)—in order to perform an ʿumrah, just as some of the people of Mecca do today.

However, the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and the leading Successors did not consider this recommended for someone who is already in Mecca. They held that his circumambulation of the House is better than leaving the city merely to perform an ʿumrah; indeed, they deemed such leaving disliked. We have discussed this issue in detail elsewhere.¹