the visitation circumambulation (ṭawāf al-ziyārah) [5] till nightfall. The report that al-Bukhārī cites in suspended form [6] has actually come down to us with a complete chain through Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī, and Nūḥ ibn Maymūn [7]—all from Sufyān al-Thawrī, from Abū al-Zubayr, from ʿĀʾishah and Ibn ʿAbbās—that the Prophet ﷺ deferred the tawāf on the Day of Sacrifice until the night. The four compilers of the Sunan have also recorded it through Sufyān’s chain, [8] and al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan. [9]

Imām Aḥmad [10] narrated: “Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us; Sufyān told us, from Abū al-Zubayr, from ʿĀʾishah and Ibn ʿUmar, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the visitation at night.” If this is taken to mean that he merely postponed it until after the sun had passed the meridian—as though the narrator intended “late afternoon”—the report is sound. But if it is understood as after sunset, that is highly unlikely and clashes with the well-known authentic traditions stating that the Prophet ﷺ performed the tawāf on the Day of Sacrifice during daylight and drank from the Zamzam dispenser.

The tawāf for which he went to the House at night was the Farewell Tawāf. Some transmitters call it the “visitation tawāf,” as we shall mention, or describe it as a distinct visitation tawāf carried out before the Farewell Tawāf and after the tawāf of departure (ṭawāf al-ṣadr), which is the obligatory circumambulation.

A ḥadīth that we shall cite in its proper place claims that the Messenger of Allah used to visit the House every night he stayed in Minā; this too is unlikely—Allah knows best.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī [11] relates, through the isnād of ʿUmar ibn Qays [12], from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from al-Qāsim, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave his Companions permission, so they performed the visitation tawāf at noon on the Day of Sacrifice, whereas the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed it later that night with his wives. This report is extremely odd as well. Ṭāwūs and ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr likewise held that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ deferred the tawāf on the Day of Sacrifice to the night. The soundest narrations, however—and this is the majority view—state that he ﷺ performed the tawāf on the Day of Sacrifice during the day; most likely it was before midday, though it could have been afterward. Allah knows best.

In short, when he ﷺ entered Mecca he circumambulated the House seven times while mounted, then went to Zamzam, where the sons of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib were drawing water and giving it to the people. He took a bucket from them, drank from it, and poured the remainder over himself.

Muslim [13] recorded: “Muḥammad ibn Minhal al-Ḍarīr narrated to us; Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ narrated to us; Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl narrated to us, from Bakr ibn …”