They answered the first proof cited by those who make iḥrām compulsory by stating that the ḥadith in question is unrelated to iḥrām; it speaks only of the prohibition of fighting in Mecca.
As for the report of Ibn ʿAbbās, they replied that al-Bayhaqī transmits it only as a mawqūf narration, and the other chains are not reliable; a mawqūf report does not constitute decisive proof.
Moreover, Allah has imposed the obligation of Hajj and ʿumrah only once in a lifetime, and the presumption is that a person’s liability is clear of further duty unless compelling evidence establishes a new obligation.
Benefit
The foregoing disagreement concerns people who do not commute regularly to the Sanctuary—such as those who bring firewood, fruit, and the like; someone who owns an orchard outside the sacred precinct and visits it; or a person whose post or employment is in Mecca while his family lives in Jeddah, or the reverse.
For such people and others in similar circumstances, iḥrām is not obligatory according to the great majority of scholars whose writings I have consulted, with the lone exception of Abū Ḥanīfah, who held that every entrant to Mecca without iḥrām is sinning. Practical consensus, however, is contrary to that view.
Chapter: What the Pilgrim in Iḥrām May Wear
The author, may Allah have mercy on him, includes four ḥadiths in this chapter:
- and 2. clarify what the pilgrim in iḥrām may and may not wear;
- explains the talbiyah—this I shall treat in a separate chapter;
- deals with the ruling on a woman travelling without a maḥram—this too will receive its own chapter, so that the multiple headings will highlight the legal rulings embedded in the ḥadiths.
The title of the chapter is taken directly from the question posed in the first ḥadith.
First ḥadith
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (d. 73 AH) reported that a man asked, “Messenger of Allah, what garments may a pilgrim in iḥrām wear?”
The Prophet ﷺ replied, “He must not wear a shirt, a turban, trousers, a burnus, or leather socks—unless someone cannot find sandals, in which case he may wear leather socks, but he should cut them so that they sit below the ankles—and he may not wear any cloth that has been touched by saffron or wars.”
Al-Bukhārī adds: “A woman in iḥrām is neither to wear a face veil nor gloves.”