on the Day of Sacrifice. He then proceeded to Mecca and circumambulated the House; thereafter, all that had been forbidden to him became lawful. Those among the people who had dedicated and driven sacrificial animals did as the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had done.

It is related from ‘Urwah that ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, informed him about the Prophet’s tamattu‘—performing ‘Umrah before Hajj. The people therefore performed tamattu‘ with him in the same manner as Salim informed me from Ibn ‘Umar, from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. (1)

Our shaykh, the imam, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The reports concerning the Prophet’s ihram differ, as we have mentioned. In his book The Divergence of Hadith Reports, al-Shafi‘i briefly stated that among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, were those who performed Hajj alone, those who combined Hajj and ‘Umrah, and those who performed tamattu‘. Each received from him the instructions for his rites and acted in accordance with his teaching. Thus, all these forms were attributed to him, in the sense that he commanded and authorized them.

In Arabic usage, an act may be attributed to the one who commanded it, just as it may be attributed to the one who performed it. Thus, one may say, “So-and-so built a house,” meaning that he ordered it to be built. Likewise, it is related that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stoned Ma‘iz, whereas he merely ordered that he be stoned. Al-Shafi‘i preferred Hajj performed alone on the basis of the reports of Jabir, ‘A’ishah, and Ibn ‘Umar. He gave these precedence over the reports of others because of Jabir’s earlier companionship with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, because Jabir’s account covered the Farewell Pilgrimage from its beginning to its end, because of ‘A’ishah’s exceptional retention, may Allah be pleased with her, and because of Ibn ‘Umar’s closeness to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Yet, in The Divergence of Hadith Reports, al-Shafi‘i inclined toward tamattu‘. He said: “No point of disagreement is easier than this, although error concerning it is blameworthy, since it is permitted. For the Quran, then the sunnah, and then the absence of any disagreement known to me, establish that tamattu‘—performing ‘Umrah before Hajj—performing Hajj alone, and combining the two are all permissible.” He also said: “Whoever says that he performed Hajj alone appears to have said so because he did not know, among the scholars he encountered apart from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, anyone who continued with the Hajj except one who had begun his ihram for Hajj.” (3)

The imam-shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Among the indications that he performed tamattu‘ is that the reports from Ibn ‘Umar and ‘A’ishah are conflicting. It has been related to us from Ibn Shihab, from Salim, from Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, that he said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, performed tamattu‘ in the Farewell Pilgrimage, performing ‘Umrah before Hajj.” (4) Ibn Shihab also related from ‘Urwah that ‘A’ishah informed him concerning the Prophet’s tamattu‘—performing ‘Umrah before Hajj—and the people performed tamattu‘ with him in the same manner as Salim informed me from Ibn ‘Umar. (5) Ibn ‘Abbas said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “This is an ‘Umrah through which we performed tamattu‘.”

Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas said regarding tamattu‘: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, performed it, and we performed it with him.”

The imam-shaykh said: What is related from Jabir—that he said, “We set out intending nothing but Hajj”—does not conflict with tamattu‘, because