9 – The Shaykh said: It is recommended to perform ramal from the Stone to the Stone during the first three circuits; it is a sunnah by unanimous agreement of the imams. Muslim relates, from the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed ramal from the Stone to the Stone for three circuits and walked four, in both Hajj and ʿUmrah.” Muslim also reports from Jābir: “He trotted three circuits and walked four.” Al-Tirmidhī remarked, “The scholars are agreed on acting upon this.” Ibn ʿAbbās said: “He trotted in all of his ʿUmrahs and in his Hajj, and so did Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān. The original purpose of this ramal was to provoke the polytheists, but it has become a sunnah even after its reason has vanished, like the saʿy and the stoning.”

10 – The Shaykh said: If crowding makes ramal impossible, it is better to move to the outer edge of the area of circumambulation and perform ramal than to stay close to the House without it, because preserving a virtue intrinsic to the act of worship is more important than a virtue tied merely to its location.