preferable; yet hadith scholars have no doubt that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, combined Hajj and ‘umrah in a single state of consecration, as explained in detail elsewhere.”

The reply is:

These questions have been much disputed, and people have been confused by the reports transmitted concerning them. Every group has adopted a less sound position on some aspect of these questions. The conclusion established by authentic hadiths is as follows:

“When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed Hajj with his Companions, he instructed them to leave their state of consecration and make their pilgrimage an ‘umrah, except those who had brought sacrificial animals. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had brought sacrificial animals, so when he did not leave his state of consecration, they hesitated. He therefore said: ‘Had I known at the outset what I know now, I would not have brought the sacrificial animals, and I would have made it an ‘umrah.’”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had combined ‘umrah and Hajj. The Sunnah thus indicates that, for someone who has not brought sacrificial animals, performing ‘umrah followed by Hajj, with release from consecration between them, is preferable. For someone who has brought sacrificial animals, combining them in a single state of consecration is preferable. This applies when both are performed on one journey. If, however, someone makes one journey for Hajj and another for ‘umrah, performing Hajj alone is preferable for him. The four imams agree on this: performing Hajj alone is preferable when a separate journey is made for each.

When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, combined Hajj and ‘umrah, he performed only one tawāf and one sa‘y. He did not combine them with two tawāfs and two sa‘ys, as some followers of Abū Hanīfah suppose. Nor did he perform Hajj alone, as some followers of al-Shāfi‘ī and Mālik suppose. Neither he nor any of his Companions performed ‘umrah after Hajj, except ‘Ā’ishah, on account of the ‘umrah during which she had menstruated, although it has already