and these scholars maintain that converting one’s ihram for Hajj into ‘umrah was permissible only for those who were with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. This matter has been discussed at length elsewhere. It is clear that the early generations and the scholars disagreed over this conversion.

Ibn ‘Abbās, his followers, and many of the Zāhirīs and Shī‘ah hold that this conversion is obligatory and that no one may perform Hajj except by performing tamattu‘. Many scholars of the early and later generations, however, hold that although tamattu‘ is permissible, someone who has entered ihram for Hajj alone, or for Hajj and ‘umrah combined, may not make this conversion. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah, Mālik, and al-Shāfi‘ī.

Many jurists of the hadith tradition and others, such as Ahmad ibn Hanbal, hold that this conversion is preferable, but that performing Hajj alone, or combining Hajj and ‘umrah without making the conversion, is permissible. As for someone who has brought sacrificial animals with him, he must not make this conversion; there is no disagreement on this point. The conversion is permissible so long as he has not stood at ‘Arafah, regardless of whether he intended his circumambulation as the arrival circumambulation or otherwise, and regardless of whether, upon entering ihram, he intended to combine Hajj and ‘umrah, to perform Hajj alone, or entered ihram without specifying a particular rite.

According to these scholars, it is preferable for everyone who has not brought sacrificial animals to leave ihram by completing an ‘umrah as part of tamattu‘, just as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed his Companions to do during the Farewell Pilgrimage. He may not leave ihram by performing an ‘umrah if his intention is to perform Hajj that same year, thereby performing tamattu‘. As for converting one’s ihram into ‘umrah alone, no scholar permits it, nor may someone who