of hadith—that when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed the Farewell Hajj with his Companions, he instructed them all to conclude their ihrām with an ʿumrah, except those who had brought sacrificial animals. He instructed those pilgrims to remain in ihrām until the sacrificial animals reached their appointed place of sacrifice on the Day of Sacrifice.

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and a group of his Companions had brought sacrificial animals. He combined ʿumrah and Hajj, saying: ‘Here I am, answering Your call for ʿumrah and Hajj.’”

None of those accompanying the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed ʿumrah after Hajj except ʿĀʾishah alone. She had begun menstruating and had therefore been unable to circumambulate the Kaʿbah, for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“A menstruating woman performs all the pilgrimage rites except circumambulation of the House.”

He therefore instructed her to enter ihrām for Hajj and refrain from performing the rites of ʿumrah, since she had intended tamattuʿ. She later asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to enable her to perform ʿumrah. He sent her with her brother ʿAbd al-Rahmān, and she entered ihrām for ʿumrah from al-Tanʿīm.

Al-Tanʿīm is the nearest point outside the Sacred Precinct to Mecca. Today it contains the mosques known as the “Mosques of ʿĀʾishah.” These did not exist during the Prophet’s lifetime, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; they were built later to mark the place where ʿĀʾishah entered ihrām. For someone passing them while in ihrām, neither entering these mosques nor praying in them is obligatory or a Sunnah practice. Rather, deliberately seeking to do so and believing it to be recommended is a reprehensible innovation. However, if someone leaves Mecca to perform ʿumrah and enters one of these mosques and prays there for the purpose of entering ihrām,