only; this short leg of the journey was not counted because of its brevity. In this way, all the hadiths are reconciled (1).
He said (2): Had he departed from Medina with five days remaining in Dhū al-Qa‘dah, his departure would undoubtedly have been on Friday. This is incorrect, because the Friday prayer is not performed as four rak‘ahs, whereas Anas reported (3) that they prayed four rak‘ahs of the noon prayer with him in Medina.
He said that further evidence made this clearer, then cited through al-Bukhārī (4) the hadith of Ka‘b ibn Mālik: “Rarely (5) did the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out on a journey on any day other than Thursday.” Another wording states: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, liked to set out on Thursday” (6). His departure on Friday is thus ruled out by what we have related from Anas. His departure on Saturday is also ruled out, since he would then have left Medina with four days remaining in Dhū al-Qa‘dah, and no one has said this.
He said: Moreover, it is established that he spent the night following his departure from Medina at Dhū al-Hulayfah. He would therefore have set out from Dhū al-Hulayfah on Sunday—meaning, had he departed on Saturday. It is also established that he spent the night before entering Mecca at Dhū Tuwā, and that he entered it on the morning (7) of the fourth (8) of Dhū al-Hijjah = on this reckoning, the duration of his journey from