Al-Bukhārī (1) reported: “ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us; ʿAmr related, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: ‘Al-Taḥṣīb has no particular ruling; it is simply a place where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ happened to camp.’” Muslim (2) also transmitted it from Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah and others, from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, with the same wording.
Abū Dāwūd (3) said: “Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah, and Musaddad narrated to us—conveying the same meaning. They said: Sufyān narrated to us; Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān narrated to us, from Sulaymān ibn Yasār, who said: Abū Rāfiʿ stated, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not command me to stop there; rather, I pitched his tent (4) and he lodged in it.’” Musaddad added, “He was in charge of the Prophet’s ﷺ baggage (5),” and ʿUthmān remarked, “—that was in al-Abṭaḥ.” Muslim (6) likewise reported the narration from Qutaybah, Abū Bakr, and Zuhayr ibn Ḥarb, from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah.
In sum, all these reports agree that the Prophet ﷺ camped at al-Muḥaṣṣab on leaving Minā, yet they differ as to why. Some maintain that he did not intend to single it out but stopped there incidentally because it eased the departure. Others imply deliberate choice on his ﷺ part, and this is the closer view. He ﷺ had ordered the people that their last act in Mecca be a circumambulation of the House, whereas before that they would depart by any route. As Ibn ʿAbbās said, “The people were commanded that their last contact with the House be”—meaning the Farewell Ṭawāf.
The Prophet ﷺ wished to perform this Farewell Circumambulation along with the Muslims. Having left Minā shortly before noon, it was impossible for him to reach the Kaʿbah during the remainder of the day, complete the Ṭawāf, and then move on to the outskirts of Mecca on the road to Madinah; such an undertaking would have been difficult for that great multitude. He therefore needed to spend the night before entering Mecca, and no place was more suitable than al-Muḥaṣṣab—the very spot where Quraysh and Banū Kinānah had once pledged hostility against Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib. Allah never allowed Quraysh’s scheme to succeed; rather, He thwarted them and sent them back disappointed, manifested His religion, supported His Prophet, and raised His word high, perfecting for him the straight and upright faith and illuminating through him the clear path.
Thus the Prophet ﷺ led the people in Hajj, clarified Allah’s rites, and, after completing the rituals, encamped at the place where Quraysh had conspired in injustice, aggression, and boycott. There he prayed Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib, and ʿIshāʾ, then slept for a while. He had already dispatched ʿĀʾishah—the Mother of the Believers—with her brother ʿAbd al-Raḥmān so that she might enter into ihrām for ʿumrah from al-Tanʿīm. When she finished, she returned to him; after she had completed her ʿumrah and rejoined him, he announced to the Muslims that they should prepare to proceed to the Ancient House.
As Abū Dāwūd (7) related: “Wahb ibn Baqiyyah narrated to us; Khālid narrated to us, from Aflah, from al-Qāsim, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: ‘I assumed ihrām for ʿumrah from al-Tanʿīm, entered Mecca and completed it, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ waited for me at al-Abṭaḥ until…’”