the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was performing qirān.” He preferred tamattu‘ only because it was the later of the two courses indicated by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): it was the course he instructed his Companions to adopt by converting their Hajj into ‘umrah, and he regretted having missed it himself.

However, al-Marwadhī (1) reported from him that qirān is preferable when one brings the sacrificial animals. Some of Ahmad’s followers regarded this as a second position transmitted from him, while others held that he had only one position on the matter: if one brings the sacrificial animals, qirān is preferable; otherwise, tamattu‘ is preferable. This is the approach of our shaykh (2), and it accords with Ahmad’s principles. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not wish that he had (3) made his pilgrimage an ‘umrah while bringing the sacrificial animals. Rather, he wished that he had made it an ‘umrah without bringing them.

The question remains: which course is preferable—to bring the sacrificial animals and perform qirān, or to refrain from bringing them and perform tamattu‘, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wished he had done?

The answer is that two considerations conflict in this matter:

First, he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed qirān and brought the sacrificial animals. Allah would choose only the best course (4) for him, especially since revelation concerning it had come to him from his Lord, Most High; and the best guidance is his guidance (peace and blessings be upon him).

Second, his statement: “If I were to begin again what I have already done, I would not have brought the sacrificial animals, and I would have made it an ‘umrah.” This implies that, had the time at which he spoke been the time of