that Allah chose for him and concerning which revelation came to him from his Lord?

If it is said: Although tamattu‘ includes an interval out of ihrām, it involves entering ihrām more than once. Entering ihrām is an act of worship beloved to the Lord, whereas qirān does not involve entering ihrām repeatedly.

The answer is: Honouring Allah’s sacred rites by bringing sacrificial animals and drawing near to Him through this has a merit that merely repeating (1) one’s entry into ihrām does not possess. Moreover, remaining continuously in ihrām takes the place of entering it repeatedly, whereas bringing sacrificial animals has no equivalent that can take its place.

If it is said: Which, then, is better: ifrād followed by ‘umrah, or tamattu‘ in which one leaves ihrām and then enters it again for Hajj?

The answer is: Allah forbid that we should ever think any form of pilgrimage better than the one Allah (2) chose for the best of creation and the foremost members of this ummah! Allah forbid that we should say of a form of pilgrimage which neither the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nor any of his Companions who performed Hajj with him, nor indeed any other Companions performed, that it is better than what they performed with him at his command. How could any Hajj on earth be better than the Hajj he performed—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—or the one that the best of creation commanded them to perform and chose for them, instructing them to convert any other form of pilgrimage to it, and wishing that he had performed it himself? No Hajj could ever be more complete than this. Furthermore, if his instruction that those bringing sacrificial animals should perform qirān, and those not bringing them should perform tamattu‘, is authentically established, then the permissibility of doing otherwise is open to question. Do not be disconcerted by how few hold this to be obligatory, for among them (3) are that inexhaustible ocean, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās, and a number of Zāhirī scholars,