I note that Aḥmad also transmitted it (1/198): Dāwūd ibn Mihrān al-Dabbāgh narrated to us: Dāwūd—that is, al-ʿAṭṭār—narrated to us through this chain. It was also transmitted by Abū Dāwūd and others, and appears in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd, no. 1569. Al-Bukhārī (3/478) and Muslim (4/35) also transmitted it in abbreviated form through another chain from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr.
They likewise transmitted it on the authority of ʿĀʾishah herself. In one narration recorded by them both, she said: “I performed ʿumrah, and he said: ‘This is in place of your ʿumrah.’” In another, with similar wording, he said: “In place of my ʿumrah, which the Hajj overtook and from which I gained nothing.” In another: “In place of my ʿumrah which I had discontinued.” And in yet another: “As compensation for the ʿumrah performed by the people.” Muslim narrated these versions.
This indicates why the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed her to perform this ʿumrah after Hajj. The explanation is that, during her pilgrimage with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, she had entered the state of iḥrām for ʿumrah—either from the outset, or by changing her Hajj into ʿumrah, according to the well-known difference of opinion (1). When she arrived at Sarif, a place near Mecca, she menstruated and was therefore unable to complete her ʿumrah and leave the state of iḥrām by circumambulating the House. This was because, when she said to him, “I had entered the state of iḥrām for ʿumrah; what should I do about my Hajj?” he said: