The man said, “O Messenger of Allah, ʿAlī has already judged between us.”(1) They then recounted the entire incident to him, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ratified ʿAlī’s verdict.

Imām Aḥmad(2) also transmitted the report through Wakīʿ, from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, from Simāk ibn Ḥarb, from Ḥanash, from ʿAlī … and he mentioned the same story.

Book of the Farewell Pilgrimage in the Tenth Year

It is also called the Pilgrimage of Proclamation, the Pilgrimage of Islam, and the Farewell Pilgrimage. It is dubbed the Farewell Pilgrimage because the Prophet ﷺ bade the people farewell during it and never performed ḥajj after that. It is called the Pilgrimage of Islam because it was the only pilgrimage he made after emigrating from Madinah—though he had performed ḥajj several times before the Hijrah, both prior to prophethood and after it. Some hold that the obligation of ḥajj was revealed that very year; others say in year nine; others say in year six; and a few even say before the Hijrah, though that opinion is exceedingly weak.

It is termed the Pilgrimage of Proclamation because the Prophet ﷺ conveyed to the people Allah’s rulings concerning ḥajj, both verbally and through his actions, leaving no pillar or principle of Islam unexplained. Once he had clarified, expounded, and detailed the rites of ḥajj, Allah, Exalted be He, revealed to him as he stood at ʿArafah:

“Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and approved Islam as your religion.” (Qur’an 5:3)

A fuller discussion of all this will follow.

Our purpose here is to describe how his pilgrimage was conducted, for the transmitters have differed greatly in their accounts according to the knowledge that reached each of them, and the discrepancies are considerable—especially after the generation of the Companions رضي الله عنهم. With Allah’s help, guidance, and gracious facilitation, we shall set out what the imams have recorded in their books, harmonizing the various narrations in a manner that will satisfy anyone who studies them carefully and combines the disciplines of ḥadīth analysis with an understanding of their meanings, if Allah wills. In Him we place our trust and upon Him we rely.

The scholars, both early and late, have devoted great attention to the Prophet’s Farewell Pilgrimage. The eminent scholar Abū Muḥammad Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī even authored a volume on it, excelling in much of it, though he made some slips which I have corrected in their proper places. Allah is the One whose help is sought.

Chapter: Clarifying that the Prophet ﷺ performed only one ḥajj after arriving in Madinah, and that he had performed three ʿumrahs before it

As al-Bukhārī and Muslim(3) narrated—through Hudbah, from Hammām, from Qatādah, from Anas, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed …”