And those Companions who reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed Hajj alone intended thereby to explain that he did not come out of consecration after his ‘umrah of tamattu‘, as he instructed most of his Companions to do—namely, those who had not brought sacrificial animals with them. All the established, mass-transmitted hadiths agree that, when his Companions arrived in Mecca and circumambulated the House and went between al-Safā and al-Marwah, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed them to come out of consecration and make their pilgrimage an ‘umrah. The exception was anyone who had brought sacrificial animals: he instructed such a person to remain in consecration until the Day of Sacrifice, when the sacrificial animals would reach their appointed place, acting in accordance with the meaning of Allah’s words:

“And do not shave your heads until the sacrificial offering reaches its place of slaughter.”

No scholar has disputed this account of how the Farewell Hajj took place.

Many Companions also reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed tamattu‘ by combining ‘umrah with Hajj. Some people consequently assumed that they meant he had come out of consecration after ‘umrah and then entered consecration for Hajj, as he had instructed those Companions who had not brought sacrificial animals to do. Some of these same Companions also reported that he performed Hajj alone, in order to dispel the assumption that he had come out of consecration. They explained that he had not come out of consecration; rather, he acted as one performing Hajj alone would act, remaining in consecration and performing the same rites. Thus, the Companions’ accounts agree on this.

Every Companion reported to have narrated that he performed Hajj alone also narrated that he performed tamattu‘. They explained tamattu‘ as qirān and explicitly related that he said:

“Here I am at Your service