weak. Moreover, the report does not state that it occurred during the Farewell Pilgrimage, nor that it was during the first Ṭawāf of that pilgrimage; Ibn ʿAbbās, in the sound ḥadīth related by Muslim, likewise makes no mention—nor does Jābir—that the Prophet ﷺ rode in his circumambulation for the sake of the weak (1). They only mention the large crowds (2) and how the people pressed in on him, whereas he (3) disliked having anyone struck away in front of him, as will be clarified shortly, God willing.
That second kissing of the Stone which Ibn Isḥāq reports—after the ṭawāf and the two rakʿahs—is likewise confirmed in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (4) from the ḥadīth of Jābir. After describing the two rakʿahs that follow ṭawāf, he says: “Then he returned to the Corner and touched it.”
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj also records in his Ṣaḥīḥ (5): “Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah and Ibn Numayr both narrated to us from Abū Khālid.” Abū Bakr said: “Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar narrated to us, from ʿUbayd Allāh, from Nāfiʿ, who said: I saw Ibn ʿUmar touch the Stone with his hand and then kiss his hand. He said, ‘I have never abandoned this practice since I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do it.’”
This may indicate that he saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do so during some of the circuits (6) or upon a final touching of the Stone, as we have mentioned; or it may be that Ibn ʿUmar could not reach the Stone because of some physical weakness, or that he avoided crowding others lest they be harmed.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ likewise told his father, as Aḥmad relates in the Musnad (7): “Wakīʿ narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us from Abū Yaʿfūr al-ʿAbdī, who said: I heard an elder in Mecca, during the governorship of al-Ḥajjāj, narrating from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, ‘O ʿUmar, you are a strong man; do not push your way to the Stone and thereby harm the weak. If you find an opening, then touch it; if not, face it and proclaim the tahlīl (8) and the takbīr.’”
This chain is sound, although the transmitter (9) from ʿUmar is unnamed; evidently he was a trustworthy and eminent narrator. Al-Shāfiʿī also transmitted the ḥadīth (10) from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, from Abū Yaʿfūr al-ʿAbdī—whose name is Waqdān—who said: “I heard a man from Khuzaʿah, after Ibn al-Zubayr had been killed and while he was governor of Mecca, say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to ʿUmar, ‘O Abū Ḥafṣ, you are a strong man; do not crowd at the Corner, for you will injure the weak. If you find an opening, touch it; otherwise, say ‘Allāhu akbar’ and proceed.’”
Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah added: “That man was ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith; al-Ḥajjāj appointed him over Mecca on his return from it after killing Ibn al-Zubayr.”