and slaughtered sixty-three camels with his own hands. He then handed the task over to ‘Alī, who slaughtered the remainder, and gave him a share in his sacrificial animals. He ordered that a piece of meat from each camel be placed in a pot and cooked. The two of them ate some of the meat and drank some of the broth.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then rode to the House, performed the pilgrimage circumambulation, and offered the noon prayer in Mecca. He came to the people of Banū ‘Abd al-Muttalib, who were drawing water from Zamzam for others to drink, and said, ‘Draw water, Banū ‘Abd al-Muttalib! Were it not that people might crowd you out of your service of providing water, I would draw water with you.’ They handed him a bucket, and he drank from it.”
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This Hajj of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, took place in the tenth year after the Hijrah. It was the Farewell Pilgrimage. He performed no other Hajj from Medina after the obligation of Hajj had been revealed to him. Before Hajj became obligatory, he had performed it twice while in Mecca, according to what has been reported.
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When Hajj became obligatory and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, returned from the expedition to Tabūk in the ninth year, he intended to perform Hajj. He then said, ‘Tomorrow, polytheists will be present at the House, circumambulating it. I do not wish to perform Hajj until that no longer happens.’ He therefore sent Abū Bakr, who led the people in Hajj that year—the ninth year.
Then, when the opening verses of Sūrat Barā’ah were revealed, he sent ‘Alī after him to recite them to the people during the pilgrimage season and proclaim to them that ‘No polytheist shall perform Hajj after this year, and no one shall circumambulate the House naked,’ along with the other announcements he had instructed him to make at every pilgrimage site.
‘Alī set out on the Messenger of Allah’s she-camel al-‘Adbā’, and caught up with Abū Bakr on the road. Abū Bakr asked him, ‘Have you come as a commander or under orders?’ He replied, ‘Under orders.’
They then continued on their way, and Abū Bakr led the people in Hajj that year according to the calendar arrangements they had followed in the days of ignorance, based on the postponement of months that Allah mentions in His Book:
“Postponing the sacred months is only an increase in disbelief, by which those who disbelieve are led astray.” [Al-Tawbah: 37]—and the rest of the verse.
His Hajj thus fell in Dhū al-Qa‘dah, in accordance with their practice of postponement in the days of ignorance. They used to hold Hajj in each month for two years, and Abū Bakr’s Hajj coincided with the second of the two years in Dhū al-Qa‘dah. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed Hajj in