the divine address, it would not have been permissible for him to defer hajj until another year, even knowing that he would live to perform it, unless Allah Most High had granted him an exemption not shared by others. His actions in carrying out Allah’s command must be understood as clarifying the unspecified details of Allah’s Book, unless it is established that a particular ruling applied to him alone. Ismā‘īl al-Qādī held that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had a special exemption allowing him to defer hajj. He said that Allah did not command him to perform hajj until those treaties with the polytheists that were intended to be terminated had been brought to an end, and hajj had come round to the month Allah had appointed for it, in which his forefather Abraham had performed it. This view, however, has no supporting evidence. The apparent meaning is that he, peace and blessings be upon him, was included in the general scope of the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:

“Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to Allah by people who are able to make their way there.” [Āl ‘Imrān: 97]

Some claim that Abū Bakr’s hajj was voluntary because he performed it in Dhū al-Qa‘da, before the time of hajj, in accordance with the postponement practised by the people of pre-Islamic times. They maintain that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, deferred hajj until the tenth year only so that he could perform it at its proper time, to which the cycle of time had returned: Dhū al-Hijja, the month in which the prophets before him—Abraham and others, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—had performed it. His hajj would thus be the obligatory one, and hajj would remain fixed at that time until the Day of Resurrection, as he stated in his sermon. I do not consider this correct.

Rather, Abū Bakr performed hajj in Dhū al-Qa‘da, which was its legally and religiously prescribed time then, before the practice of postponement was abrogated. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then performed hajj in Dhū al-Hijja of the following year, and Allah Most High revealed:

“Postponement only increases disbelief.” [Al-Tawba: 37]

The verse continues. This abrogated the postponement practised by the people of pre-Islamic times. He also revealed:

“Hajj is in well-known months.” [Al-Baqara: 197]

This means that it is not to be shifted outside them. Hajj thus became fixed in Dhū al-Hijja until the Day of Resurrection. Had hajj been prescribed for Dhū al-Hijja, and postponement abrogated when hajj was made obligatory, before Abū Bakr’s pilgrimage, Abū Bakr—may Allah Most High be pleased with him—would have performed hajj that year only in Dhū al-Hijja. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, could also have performed hajj that year had he wished to do so.

The correct view, therefore, is that he deferred hajj that year only because of the polytheists who used to circumambulate the House naked, until he had issued them instructions on the matter, as related in the hadith. It was not so that he could perform it in Dhū al-Hijja, since he could have performed it in Dhū al-Hijja that very year had he been obliged to perform hajj immediately in that month. His action, peace and blessings be upon him, therefore provides sound evidence that hajj may be deferred. And Allah, glorified and exalted be He, knows best.