the Sunnah (1) regard mut‘ah as recommended and give it preference, or even deem it obligatory. The term mut‘ah encompasses anyone who performs ‘umrah during the months of Hajj and combines it with Hajj in a single journey: whether he leaves ihram upon completing ‘umrah and then enters ihram for Hajj; enters ihram for Hajj before circumambulating the House and thereby enters qirān; or does so after circumambulating the House and traversing the distance between al-Safā and al-Marwa, but before leaving ihram—whether because he had brought a sacrificial animal or without that qualification. By mut‘ah (2) one may also mean simply performing ‘umrah during the months of Hajj.
Most scholars—such as Ahmad and other hadith jurists; Abū Hanīfa and other Iraqi jurists; and al-Shāfi‘ī, according to one of his two positions, as well as other Meccan jurists—regard mut‘ah as recommended. Some of them, such as Abū Hanīfa, give preference to qirān, while others give preference to tamattu‘ in its specific sense, as is one of the two positions in the schools of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad. The sound position—which is explicitly stated by Ahmad—is that if a pilgrim has brought a sacrificial animal, qirān is preferable; but if he has not, then leaving (3) ihram upon completing ‘umrah is preferable. The former (4) is what the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did during the Farewell Pilgrimage, while the latter is what he instructed those of his Companions (5) who had not brought sacrificial animals to do.
(1) N and M read: “Most Muslim scholars.”
(2) *Mut‘ah*: thus in A and B. All other manuscripts read *tamattu‘*.
(3) A and B read: “Otherwise, leaving ihram…”
(4) N alone reads: “For the preferable course…”
(5) The report from ‘Ā’isha—may Allah be pleased with her—is in al-Bukhārī, 2/159–160 (Book: A Menstruating Woman Performs All the Rites Except Circumambulation…). She said: “I arrived in Mecca while menstruating…” The hadith continues and states that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “Had I known at the outset what I came to know later, I would not have brought a sacrificial offering. Were it not for the sacrificial animal I have with me, I would have left ihram.” Muslim, 2/879 (Book of Hajj, Chapter: An Explanation of the Forms of Entering Ihram…), contains another hadith from ‘Ā’isha in which the Messenger of Allah said: “…Had I known at the outset what I came to know later, I would not have brought the sacrificial animal with me but would have waited to purchase it; then I would have left ihram as they did.” The hadith is also in *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 2/210–211 (Book of Pilgrimage Rites, Chapter on Performing Hajj Alone). In *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 2/1023 (Book of Pilgrimage Rites, Chapter on the Pilgrimage of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace), the Messenger of Allah said: “Had I known at the outset what I came to know later, I would not have brought the sacrificial animal and would have made it an ‘umrah. Whoever among you has no sacrificial animal with him should therefore leave ihram and make it an ‘umrah.”