and his successors: whenever they entered the Sacred Mosque, they began with nothing other than tawāf, followed by prayer immediately after tawāf.

Second, because the greeting of the Sacred Mosque is tawāf, just as the greeting of every other mosque is prayer.

[PRAYER AFTER THE RITUAL WALK]

Even more objectionable is the recommendation made by some of al-Shāfiʿī’s followers that a person who has walked between al-Safā and al-Marwah should pray two units at al-Marwah afterward, by analogy with the prayer following tawāf. All other scholars—both among al-Shāfiʿī’s followers and among the other schools—rejected this and regarded it as a plainly reprehensible innovation. The established Sunnah is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his successors performed tawāf and prayed, just as Allah mentioned tawāf and prayer; they then walked between al-Safā and al-Marwah without praying afterward. Recommending prayer after the ritual walk is therefore like recommending it at the stoning pillars or at the standing place in Arafat, or like making the dawn prayer four units by analogy with the noon prayer.

Consistently refraining from an act is Sunnah, just as consistently performing one is Sunnah. This differs from an act that was left undone because there was then no occasion calling for it, a required condition was absent, or an impediment existed, but afterward a cause and the requisite conditions arose and the impediment disappeared, such that the Sharia indicated that the act should then be performed. Examples include compiling the Quran into a codex, gathering the people behind a single imam for the tarāwīh prayer, learning Arabic and the names of those who transmitted religious knowledge, and other matters needed in the religion, without which prescribed obligations or recommended acts cannot be properly fulfilled. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) omitted such things only because their required conditions were absent or an impediment existed.

As for any act belonging to the category of worship that he omitted—even though, had it been prescribed, he would have performed it or authorized it, and the caliphs and Companions after him would likewise have performed it—it must be held with certainty that doing it is an innovation and misguidance. Analogy of this kind is inadmissible, even though analogy is permissible in the first category. This is like drawing an analogy between the two Eid prayers, the prayer for rain, and the eclipse prayer, on the one hand, and the five daily prayers, on the other, so as to institute an adhān and iqāmah for them, as was done by some of