times: for the ‘umrah of al-Qadiyyah, then the campaign of the Conquest, and then the Farewell Hajj—and this is undisputed among scholars of hadith, the Prophet’s biography, and the circumstances of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—and he travelled to Mecca in Ramadan only for the campaign of the Conquest, then each of these two facts is conclusive evidence that this hadith, which states that she performed ‘umrah with him in Ramadan and said, “I performed the prayers in full and fasted,” to which he replied, “You have done well,” is entirely erroneous.

(It is therefore known with certainty to be false. Anyone aware of its status may not narrate it from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, because he said: “Whoever narrates a hadith from me, believing it to be a lie, is one of the liars.” However, those scholars who narrated it and do not regard such conduct as permissible did not know that it was a lie [and incurred no sin]) (*).

If it is said, “Then the words ‘in Ramadan’ are erroneous, while the rest of the hadith could be true,” the response is: Rather, all its chains of transmission indicate that this occurred in Ramadan, for she said: “I said, ‘You broke your fast while I fasted, and you shortened your prayers while I performed them in full.’ He replied, ‘You have done well, O ‘Ā’ishah.’” Such a statement would only be made concerning obligatory fasting. As for travel outside Ramadan, nothing like this would be mentioned, since it is well known that not fasting then is permissible.

Furthermore, al-Bayhaqī and others narrated through an established chain of transmission from al-Sha‘bī, from ‘Ā’ishah, who said:

“The prayers were prescribed as two rak‘ahs each, except Maghrib, which was prescribed as three. Whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, travelled, he would perform the prayer