Abū Ḥāḍir al-Ḥimyarī replied, “You have come to someone who knows the matter well. I performed the Pilgrimage in the year Ibn al-Zubayr was first besieged. I sent forward a sacrificial animal, but they barred us from the House, so I slaughtered it inside the Sanctuary and returned to Yemen, saying to myself, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is my precedent.’ The following year I went again for ḥajj and met Ibn ʿAbbās. I asked him about the animal I had slaughtered: ‘Must I replace it or not?’ He said, ‘Yes—replace it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions replaced the animals they had slaughtered in the year the idol-worshippers prevented them; they offered the replacements during the ʿUmrah of Recompense. When camels became scarce for them, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ allowed them to substitute cattle.’

Al-Wāqidī said (1): Ghanim ibn Abī Ghanim narrated to me, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ put Nājiya ibn Jundub al-Aslamī in charge of his sacrificial animals. Nājiya would lead them ahead of him, seeking pasture among the trees, accompanied by four youths from the tribe of Aslam. During that ʿumrah of fulfilment the Messenger of Allah ﷺ drove sixty sacrificial camels.”

He also told me (2) Muḥammad ibn Nuʿaym al-Mujmir, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: “I was with the keeper of the sacrificial camels, driving them.”

Al-Wāqidī continued (3): “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out reciting the talbiyah, and the Muslims with him were all reciting it as well. Muḥammad ibn Maslamah rode on with the cavalry to Marr az-Zahrān where he met a group from Quraysh. They asked him what was happening, and he said, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ will arrive at this campsite tomorrow morning, God willing.’ They had also seen a large quantity of arms with Bashīr ibn Saʿd, so they hurried back to Quraysh and reported what they had observed of the weapons and the horses. Quraysh panicked, saying, ‘By Allah, we have committed no breach! We remain bound by our treaty and truce. Why, then, would Muḥammad be coming against us with his companions?’

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ camped at Marr az-Zahrān and sent the weapons ahead to Batn Yaʾjaj, still within sight of the boundary stones of the Sacred Precinct. Quraysh dispatched Mikraz ibn Ḥafṣ ibn al-Aḥnaf with a party to meet him at Batn Yaʾjaj, and by that time the Prophet ﷺ, his Companions, the sacrificial animals, and the arms had all converged. They said, ‘O Muḥammad, from youth to old age you have never been accused of treachery. Will you bring weapons into the Sanctuary against your own people when you stipulated that you would enter with nothing more than a traveller’s arms—sheathed swords?’

“The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘I will not bring weapons in against them.’ Mikraz ibn Ḥafṣ answered, ‘This is what you are known for—righteousness and fidelity.’ He then hastened back to Mecca with his companions, saying, ‘Muḥammad will not enter with weapons; he is still abiding by the terms he set for you.’

“When Mikraz returned with the Prophet’s message, Quraysh left Mecca for the surrounding hilltops, vacating the city and saying, ‘We will not look at him or at his companions.’

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered the sacrificial animals to be led on until they were halted at Dhū Ṭuwā. Then he and his Companions advanced while he rode his she-camel al-Qaṣwāʾ, the Muslims surrounding him, all chanting the talbiyah with their swords slung across their shoulders. When he reached Dhū Ṭuwā he halted on his camel…"