For—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—as we have already stated, he circumambulated the House after the dawn prayer; so what could have delayed him until sunset?! (1) This is truly puzzling—unless Ibn Ḥazm’s assertion proves correct, namely, that the Prophet ﷺ returned to al-Muḥaṣṣab in Mecca after completing the Farewell Ṭawāf. Ibn Ḥazm offers no evidence for this save ʿĀʾishah’s report that, when she came back from the ʿumrah she had performed at Tanʿīm, she met him while she was ascending and he was descending toward the Meccans—or, according to another wording, she was descending while he was ascending. (2)
Ibn Ḥazm adds: There is no doubt that she was ascending from Mecca and he was descending, for she had gone ahead to perform the ʿumrah, and he waited for her until she returned. After that, the Prophet ﷺ proceeded to the Farewell Ṭawāf and encountered her on her way back to al-Muḥaṣṣab in Mecca.
Al-Bukhārī (3) entitled a chapter: “Whoever lodges at Dhu Tuwa when returning from Mecca.” Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā narrated: Ḥammād ibn Zayd, from Ayyūb, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, that whenever Ibn ʿUmar approached Mecca he would spend the night at Dhu Tuwa; when morning came, he would enter the city. And when he departed, he would again pass by Dhu Tuwa and lodge there until dawn, and he used to say that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did the same. (4) Al-Bukhārī cited this conclusively yet without a continuous chain; both he and Muslim later related it with an unbroken chain through Ḥammād ibn Zayd, though that version does not mention spending the night at Dhu Tuwa on the return journey. (5) Allah knows best.
A precious benefit: from it we learn that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took some Zamzam water with him.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī (6) said: Abū Kurayb narrated to us; Khallād ibn Yazīd al-Juʿfī narrated to us; Zuhayr ibn Muʿāwiyah, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, who said that she used to carry Zamzam water and would relate that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also carried it. He then remarked, “This ḥadīth is ḥasan gharīb; (7) we know it only through this chain.”
Al-Bukhārī (8) likewise recorded: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil narrated to us; ʿAbdullāh—meaning Ibn al-Mubārak—reported to us; Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, from Sālim and Nāfiʿ, from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned from a military expedition, ḥajj, or ʿumrah, he would begin by raising the takbīr three times and then proclaim:
“There is no deity but Allah alone, without partner. To Him belongs sovereignty and to Him belongs praise, and He is over all things powerful. Returning, repentant, worshipping, prostrating, praising our Lord. Allah fulfilled His promise, gave victory to His servant, and defeated the confederates single-handedly.”
Many aḥādīth attest to this practice. All praise and bounty belong to Allah.