depart (1) from ‘Arafah until the sun had set.
This difference in practice is either an essential pillar, as Mālik held; an obligation whose omission must be compensated by a sacrifice, as Ahmad, Abū Hanīfah, and al-Shāfi‘ī held—the latter in one of his two opinions; or a recommended practice, according to al-Shāfi‘ī’s other opinion. Departing from Muzdalifah before sunrise is a recommended practice by the consensus of the Muslims.
Likewise, Quraysh did not stand at ‘Arafah, but instead departed from Jam‘ (Muzdalifah). The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, acted contrary to them: he stood at ‘Arafah and departed from there. Concerning this, Allah Most High revealed:
“Then depart from where the people depart.” [al-Baqarah: 199]
This difference in practice is one of the essential pillars of Hajj by the consensus of the Muslims.
Thus, the practices in which he differed (2) from the polytheists are either obligatory or recommended. None is disliked, so how could any be forbidden? How, then, can it be said that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed his Companions to perform a rite contrary to the polytheists’ rites, yet what he forbade them to do was better than what (3) he instructed them to do? Or how can it be said that someone who performs Hajj as the polytheists did, without combining ‘umrah with Hajj, performs a better Hajj than that performed by the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and the Helpers at the instruction of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?
Fifth: It is authentically reported from him in al-Sahīh (4) that he said: “‘Umrah has become part of