The jurists disagreed over the ruling of performing the brisk trot (ramal) in the first three circuits of ṭawāf for the pilgrim who has just arrived: is it a Sunnah or merely a virtuous act?

Ibn ʿAbbās said that it is a Sunnah, and this was likewise the position of al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Ḥanīfah, Isḥāq, Aḥmad, and Abū Thawr. As for Mālik and his companions, two different statements are reported from them.

The practical difference between the two views is that those who classify ramal as a Sunnah require an animal sacrifice (dam) when it is omitted, whereas those who do not treat it as a Sunnah impose no penalty at all.

Those who did not regard ramal as a Sunnah cite the ḥadīth of Ibn al-Ṭufayl from Ibn ʿAbbās, who related:

“I said to Ibn ʿAbbās, ‘Your people claim that when the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—circumambulated the House he performed ramal, and that this is a Sunnah.’ He replied, ‘They have spoken truly and they have spoken falsely.’

‘I asked, ‘In what sense have they spoken truly and in what sense have they spoken falsely?’

‘He said, ‘They spoke truly in saying that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—did trot when he circumambulated the House; but they erred in calling it a Sunnah.

‘At the time of al-Hudaybiyah Quraysh said, “Muhammad and his Companions have grown weak,” and they sat on the hillocks of Quʿayqiʿān watching the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and his Companions. When this reached the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—he said to his Companions, “Trot, and show them that you still possess strength!” Thus the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—used to trot from the Black Stone to the Yemeni Corner, and once he was out of their sight he would walk.’”

The majority counter with the ḥadīth of Jābir: “During the Farewell Pilgrimage the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—trotted in three circuits and walked in four,” a report that is soundly authenticated in the narration of Mālik and others.

They further note that the transmissions from Abū Ṭufayl on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās differ: one version says that “the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—trotted from the Black Stone until he returned to the Black Stone,” which contradicts the first narration.

On the principles of the Ẓāhirī school, ramal is obligatory, for the Prophet said, “Take your rites from me.” To the best of my knowledge, this remains their view—or the view of some of them—today.

The scholars unanimously agree that there is no ramal for anyone who enters iḥrām for Hajj from Mecca but is not a Meccan resident—that is, the pilgrims performing tamattuʿ—because they already performed ramal when they first entered the city during Ṭawāf al-Qudūm.

They disagreed, however, about the residents of Mecca themselves: must they perform ramal when they perform Hajj or not? Al-Shāfiʿī held that every ṭawāf performed before the standing at ʿArafah and followed by saʿy should include ramal, and Mālik considered it recommended. By contrast, Ibn ʿUmar, according to what Mālik reports from him, did not see ramal as incumbent upon the Meccans when they circumambulate the House.