“Nothing prevented him from instructing them to trot through all the circuits except his desire to spare them.” As recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: “The polytheists were sitting opposite the Ḥijr,” that is, on Jabal Quʿayqʿān, from which those who are between the two Yemeni corners cannot be seen.
As for the Farewell Pilgrimage, Jābir’s report in Muslim (1218) states: “He ﷺ trotted three circuits and walked four,” which is explicit in the two ḥadīths before us. His final practice, therefore, was to perform ramal in the first three circuits, and thus the sunnah is established in this manner.
5 - The wisdom behind displaying stamina and strength in front of the idolaters—who, when the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions arrived in Mecca, said, “A people weakened by Yathrib are coming upon you”—is that the Prophet ﷺ ordered his Companions to trot the first three circuits. It thereby became a sunnah for all Muslims. For that reason the Prophet ﷺ continued to do it even after Allah had cleansed Mecca of idolaters and idolatry at the Farewell Pilgrimage. When ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) considered abandoning it, he said, “Why should we keep this trotting? We only did it to show the polytheists our strength, and Allah has destroyed them.” He then reconsidered and said, “It is something the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did, and we do not wish to abandon it.”
Ibn Jarīr said: It is established that the Lawgiver performed ramal when no idolater was left in Mecca, from which it is understood that it is one of the rites of Hajj.
6 - This indicates that it is recommended to show strength and endurance before the enemies of the faith, for that brings honor to Islam and weakens its foes.
7 - Demonstrating vigor in worship and energy in carrying it out for a noble purpose does not conflict with sincerity to Allah Most High.
8 - Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar states in Fatḥ al-Bārī: Making up the missed ramal is not legislated; if a person omits it in the first three circuits, he does not perform it in the remaining four, because those circuits are characterized by tranquility, which should not be altered.