towns would pray and then slaughter their sacrifices. When the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—departed from Minā, he stopped at al-Muhassab. His Companions differed over whether stopping there was a sunnah because they differed over his intention: had he deliberately chosen to stop there, or had he stopped there because it made his departure easier? This shows that they took intentions into account when following his example.

When he performed the compensatory ‘umrah, Mecca was still under the polytheists’ control and had not yet been conquered. The polytheists had said, “People weakened by the fever of Yathrib are coming to you.” They sat behind Qu‘ayqi‘ān, the hill of al-Marwah, watching them. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—therefore instructed his Companions to jog for three circuits of the circumambulation so that the polytheists would see their stamina and strength. It is also reported that he prayed for those who did so. They did not jog between the two corners, because the polytheists could not see them on that side. Thus, the purpose of jogging at that time was akin to the purpose of jihad.

Some of the earlier scholars therefore thought that it was not a pilgrimage rite, since it had been done for a particular purpose that no longer applied. Yet the following is established:

“It is reported in the Sahīh that when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and his Companions performed Hajj, they jogged from the Black Stone back to the Black Stone, thus extending their jogging to the stretch between the two corners.”

This went beyond what they had done during the compensatory ‘umrah. They did this during the Farewell Pilgrimage, when there was general security, for only believers performed Hajj with him. This demonstrated that jogging had become part of the sunnah of Hajj. It was initially done for a purpose connected with jihad, then prescribed as a pilgrimage rite, as is related concerning Hagar’s running, the stoning of the pillars, and the slaughter of the ram: