does he seek but to forbid something that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did?’ ‘Uthmān replied, ‘Leave us alone.’ ‘Alī said, ‘I cannot leave you be.’ When ‘Alī saw this, he proclaimed his intention to perform both together.” This is Muslim’s wording. Al-Bukhārī omits the exchange from “Leave us alone” through “leave you be.”

Al-Bukhārī alone also related it through Marwān ibn al-Hakam, who said:

“I witnessed ‘Uthmān forbidding tamattu and combining Hajj with umrah. When ‘Alī saw this, he proclaimed his intention to perform both: ‘Here I am, answering Your call for an umrah and a Hajj.’ He said, ‘I would not abandon the Sunnah of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for anyone’s opinion.’”

This makes clear that, in their usage, someone who combined the two was performing tamattu, and that this was what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had done. It was the Prophet’s Sunnah that ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib followed. ‘Uthmān agreed with him that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had done this. Their disagreement, however, concerned whether it is preferable for us, and whether changing from Hajj to tamattu is prescribed for us—questions over which the jurists likewise disagreed.

In the Sahīh, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Shaqīq reported:

“‘Uthmān used to forbid tamattu, while ‘Alī would enjoin it. ‘Uthmān made a remark to ‘Alī, who replied, ‘You certainly know that we performed tamattu with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’ He answered, ‘Yes, but we were afraid.’”

Thus, ‘Uthmān and ‘Alī agreed that they had performed tamattu with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. As for ‘Uthmān’s statement, “We were afraid,” they were indeed afraid during the compensatory umrah