If it is objected: It is established in Sahīh al-Bukhārī (1) that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to her: “Abandon your ‘umrah, undo your hair and comb it.” In another wording (2): “Undo your hair and comb it, enter ihrām for Hajj, and leave ‘umrah.” This explicitly indicates that she abandoned it, on two grounds: first, his words “Abandon it” and “Leave it”; and second, his instruction that she comb her hair.

The reply is: His words “Abandon it” mean: leave its rites, do not confine yourself to it, and perform Hajj alongside it. This must be the intended meaning, because, when she had completed the rites of Hajj, he said: “You have come out of ihrām for both,” and: “Your circumambulation suffices for both your Hajj and your ‘umrah.” This explicitly shows that her ihrām for ‘umrah had not been cancelled (3). Rather, she had set aside its separate rites and had not confined herself to it; upon completing her Hajj (4), she had completed both her Hajj and her ‘umrah. He then had her perform ‘umrah from al-Tan‘īm to put her heart at ease, so that she could perform a separate ‘umrah like her companions.

This is made abundantly clear by what Muslim narrated in his Sahīh (5), through al-Zuhrī, from ‘Urwah, from her. She said: “We set out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for the Farewell Pilgrimage. I began menstruating and remained in that state until the Day of ‘Arafah. I had entered ihrām only for ‘umrah, so the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed me to undo my hair and comb it, enter ihrām for Hajj, and leave ‘umrah.” She said: “I did so. When I had completed my Hajj, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Bakr with me and instructed me to perform ‘umrah from al-Tan‘īm in place of my ‘umrah during which