that during the Farewell Pilgrimage, after his Companions had circumambulated the House and gone between al-Safā and al-Marwah, he instructed them to leave their state of ihrām (ritual consecration) and make their pilgrimage an ʿumrah—except for those who had brought sacrificial animals, whom he instructed to remain in ihrām until the animals reached their appointed place of sacrifice.

Thus, when Salamah ibn Shabīb said to Ahmad, “Abū ʿAbd Allāh, you have emboldened the Rāfidah by advising the people of Khurāsān to perform tamattuʿ (ʿumrah followed by Hajj, with release from ihrām between them),” he replied:

“Salamah, I used to hear that you were a fool, and I would defend you. Now it has become clear to me that you are indeed a fool! I have eleven authentic hadiths from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Am I to abandon them on your say-so?”

Ahmad thus made clear that reports transmitted through numerous independent chains establish that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded all his Companions who had not brought sacrificial animals to perform tamattuʿ—even those who had intended Hajj alone or Hajj and ʿumrah together. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would not move them from a superior practice to an inferior one; rather, he would only command them to do what was better for them.

For this reason, Ahmad considered converting Hajj into tamattuʿ recommended. He did not regard scholarly disagreement over the permissibility of this conversion as grounds for cautiously refraining from it. Such caution is prescribed only when the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has not become clear. Once the Sunnah is clear, following it takes precedence, even if some scholars have said that this is not permissible—especially since other scholars, both early and later, have held this conversion to be obligatory. Taking precautions to avoid disagreeing with the former is therefore no more warranted than avoiding disagreement with the latter.