until I had finished, and he ordered the people to move on.

She said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then went to the House, circumambulated it, and departed. Al-Bukhārī and Muslim (1) both recorded the report through Aflah ibn Ḥumayd.

Abū Dāwūd (2) further said: Muḥammad ibn Bashār narrated to us; Abū Bakr—meaning al-Ḥanafī—narrated to us; Aflah narrated to us, from al-Qāsim, from her—that is, ʿĀʾishah (3)—who said: “I left with him, meaning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, on the final day of dispersal (al-nafr al-ākhir), and he camped at al-Muḥaṣṣab.”

Abū Dāwūd added: Ibn Bashār then mentioned the incident of his sending her to al-Tanʿīm. She said: “I returned in the pre-dawn hours; he gave the Companions the call to depart, so they broke camp. As he left, he passed by the House before the dawn prayer, circumambulated it, and then set out toward Madinah.” Al-Bukhārī (6) also reported it from Muḥammad ibn Bashār by this chain (7).

I say: What appears most likely is that on that day he ﷺ led the dawn prayer with his Companions beside the Kaʿbah, and in that prayer he recited Sūrat al-Ṭūr in full: “By the Mount, by a Book inscribed on parchment unrolled, by the frequented House, by the lofty canopy, by the sea filled with fire…” (al-Ṭūr, 1–6).

This is supported by what al-Bukhārī (8) narrated: Ismāʿīl related to us; Mālik related to me, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nawfal, from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, from Zaynab bint Abī Salamah, from Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “I complained to the Messenger of Allah that I was ill. He said, ‘Circumambulate behind the people while riding.’ So I performed ṭawāf, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was praying beside the House and reciting, ‘By the Mount and a Book inscribed…’ (al-Ṭūr, 1-2).” The rest of the compilers—except al-Tirmidhī—also transmitted it through Mālik with a similar chain (10).

Al-Bukhārī (11) likewise transmitted—from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from Zaynab, from Umm Salamah—that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in Mecca and ready to depart, Umm Salamah had not yet performed her circumambulation but wanted to leave. He told her: “When the dawn prayer is established, ride your camel and perform ṭawāf while the people are praying.” … and he mentioned the remainder of the ḥadīth.