two factions—one inclined toward ‘Uthmān and his supporters, the other toward ‘Alī and his supporters—some Umayyad governors began forbidding tamattu‘, punishing those who performed it, and allowing no one to perform ‘umrah during the months of Hajj. This involved a measure of ignorance and injustice.

When the learned Companions, such as ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar, and others, saw this, they began denouncing it and instructing people to perform tamattu‘ in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. They told people that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had instructed his Companions to perform it during the Farewell Pilgrimage.

Some people then began disputing with them on the basis of what they mistakenly attributed to Abū Bakr and ‘Umar. They would say to ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar, “Your father used to forbid it.” He would reply, “My father did not mean that, nor did he have people beaten for it,” and make similar statements. He thus explained to them that ‘Umar intended to direct people toward the preferable practice, not to prohibit the less preferable one. ‘Umar had only instructed them to perform ‘umrah outside the months of Hajj.

If, however, the suggestion is that ‘Umar or any other Companion chose for people to perform Hajj on its own during its months and also perform an ‘umrah from Mecca during that time, then no Companion ever prescribed or preferred this at all. Certainly, no one did so during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. I consider it most likely that no Companion did so after the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, or instructed others to do so.

A group of scholars have interpreted ‘Umar’s prohibition as referring to tamattu‘ through converting one’s ihram for Hajj into ‘umrah.