Thus it is said that he performed a tamattuʿ that was in reality a form of qirān: he carried out the rites of ḥajj only once, thereby combining the two acts of worship.

The tamattuʿ mentioned in the Qur’anic verse has, accordingly, been interpreted as covering both possibilities—qirān as well as the tamattuʿ defined by the jurists with its specific condition.

The scholars then differed over which of the three rites is superior. The well-known position in the Ḥanbalī school is that tamattuʿ is the best of the three. It is related from Imām Aḥmad that he said, “There is no doubt that the Prophet ﷺ was a qārin, yet tamattuʿ is dearer to me. It was the Prophet’s last instruction, for he said: ‘If I had known beforehand what I know now, I would not have driven the sacrificial animals; I would have come out of iḥrām along with you.’” He was therefore expressing regret at having missed that option and pressed his Companions to convert their ḥajj into an ʿumrah.

Those who preferred tamattuʿ include Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn al-Zubayr, ʿĀʾishah, al-Ḥasan, ʿAṭāʾ, Ṭāwūs, and Mujāhid, and it is one of the two opinions related from al-Shāfiʿī.

Sufyān al-Thawrī and the scholars of opinion (the Ḥanafīs) opted for qirān, citing the report found in both Ṣaḥīḥs from Anas: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ enter iḥrām for both, saying, ‘Here I am, O Allah, for ʿumrah and ḥajj.’” They argue that this was the Prophet’s own rite, and Allah would choose for His Prophet only the most excellent form of worship.

A middle course, however, reconciles all the evidence: tamattuʿ is preferable for the pilgrim who has not brought sacrificial animals, like those whom the Prophet ﷺ strongly instructed to convert their pilgrimage into an ʿumrah, whereas qirān is preferable for the one who has driven the animals, as the Prophet himself did. This view is also reported from Imām Aḥmad. Ibn al-Qayyim said, “This was the method of our teacher, Ibn Taymiyyah, and it is the view that best accords with the principles of Aḥmad.”

As for Mālik and what appears to be the dominant position of al-Shāfiʿī, they give precedence to ifrād. Their proof is the agreed-upon hadith, “The Prophet ﷺ performed an ifrād pilgrimage.” Yet, as noted earlier, the ‘ifrād’ mentioned in that and similar reports means that the Prophet combined the rites—so that the actions of ʿumrah were subsumed under those of ḥajj—and for that reason it was described as ifrād; in truth, however, he was a qārin, as the sound hadiths establish.