I say: The error arose only (1) from the way the circumambulation was designated. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, delayed the farewell circumambulation until night, as established in the two Sahīh collections (2), in the hadith of ‘Ā’ishah. She said: “We set out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace…” She related the hadith until she said:

“We stopped at al-Muhassab. He summoned ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Bakr and said: ‘Take your sister outside the Sacred Precinct, then finish your circumambulation, and then return to me (3) here at al-Muhassab.’ Allah enabled us to complete the ‘umrah, and we finished our circumambulation in the middle of the night. We came to him at al-Muhassab, and he asked: ‘Have you both finished?’ We said: ‘Yes.’ He then announced to the people that it was time to depart. He passed by the House and circumambulated it, then set out towards Medina.”

This, beyond doubt, was the circumambulation he delayed until night. Abū al-Zubayr, or the person who related it to him (4), therefore erred by calling it the circumambulation of visitation. Allah is the One who grants success.

He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not stride briskly during this circumambulation or the farewell circumambulation (5); he did so only during the arrival circumambulation.

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After completing his circumambulation, he came to Zamzam while they were drawing water and said: “Were it not that the people would crowd you out, I would go down and draw water with you” (6). They then handed him the bucket, and he drank while he was