He further maintained that this concession applies only in cases of need, and that when a person in ihram needs to do something prohibited, he may do so and make a compensatory offering.

The majority, however, said that whoever wears the substitute owes no compensatory offering, since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, permitted this at Arafat without requiring either a compensatory offering or the unpicking of seams. They said: Everyone needs clothing to cover their private parts and something to wear on their feet. The need for this is universal, and what people generally need is not prohibited to them, nor does it entail a compensatory offering. This differs from a need occasioned by illness, cold, or another temporary circumstance. Thus, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, permitted women to wear clothing generally without any compensatory offering, while forbidding a woman in ihram to wear a face veil or gloves. Since a woman needs to cover her body, no compensatory offering is due from her for covering it.

The same applies to men’s need for trousers and leather socks when they cannot find a waist-wrapper and sandals. Since Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, had heard only the hadith requiring the leather socks to be cut down, he applied its general wording and used to instruct women to cut down their leather socks. Later, he was informed that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had permitted women to wear them. Similarly, when he heard the Prophet’s statement:

“No one should depart without making his last act a visit to the House,”

he applied its general wording to both men and women, and so used to instruct a menstruating woman not to depart until she had performed tawaf. Zayd ibn Thābit likewise held this view, until they were both informed that the Prophet