they had displayed the outward signs of disbelief and hostility towards Allah and His Messenger. It was his practice—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to establish the outward signs of monotheism in places where disbelief and polytheism had been displayed, as when he ordered (1) that the mosque of al-Tā’if be built where al-Lāt had stood (2).

They argued: In Sahīh Muslim (3), Ibn ʿUmar reports that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—Abū Bakr and ʿUmar used to camp there. Another report from him in Muslim (4) states that he regarded camping at al-Muhassab as a Sunnah practice.

Al-Bukhārī (5) reports that Ibn ʿUmar used to pray Zuhr, ʿAsr, Maghrib and ʿIshā’ there, then sleep, and would mention that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had done so.

Others—including Ibn ʿAbbās and ʿĀ’ishah—held that it was not a Sunnah practice, but merely a place where he happened to camp. In the two Sahīh collections (6), Ibn ʿAbbās said: “Al-Muhassab has no special significance; it is merely a place where the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—camped.”

Both collections (7) also report that ʿĀ’ishah said: “It was merely a place where the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—camped (8) to make his departure easier.”