The Umra of Ji’rana in Dhoul-Qi’da

Imam Ahmad reports, through Hammad ibn Yahya, from Qatada, who said: I asked Anas ibn Malik: how many times did the Messenger of Allah make pilgrimage? He said: one pilgrimage, and he made the lesser pilgrimage four times: his umra at the time of Houdaybiya; his umra in Dhoul-Qi’da from Medina; his umra from al-Ji’rana in Dhoul-Qi’da, when he divided the spoils of Hunayn; and his umra with his pilgrimage. The Boukhari, Mouslim, Abou Dawoud and the Tirmidhi reported it through routes from Hammad ibn Yahya, and the Tirmidhi judged it good and authentic. Ibn Abbas relates the four umras likewise.

Amr ibn Chou’ayb reports, from his father, from his grandfather Abdallah ibn Amr, that the Messenger of Allah performed three umras, all in Dhoul-Qi’da, crying the talbiya until he grasped the Stone. That is strange by this route: these three umras, apart from that with his pilgrimage, did fall in Dhoul-Qi’da, that of his pilgrimage being in Dhoul-Hijja; and if he meant the state of ihram beginning in Dhoul-Qi’da, perhaps he did not intend the Umra of Houdaybiya, for he was barred from it. And Allah is most knowing.

Now Nafi’ and his master Ibn Omar denied outright that the Messenger of Allah performed the Umra of al-Ji’rana. The Boukhari reports, from Ayyoub, from Nafi’, from Ibn Omar, that Oumar ibn al-Khattab said: O Messenger of Allah, I had vowed in the Time of Ignorance a day of retreat. He ordered him to fulfil it. Oumar took two slave-girls of the captives of Hunayn and lodged them in one of the houses of Mecca.

The Messenger of Allah then granted grace to the captives of Hunayn, and they began running through the paths. Oumar said: O Abdallah, look what this is! He said: the Messenger of Allah has granted grace to the captives. He said: go then, send the two slave-girls!

Nafi’ said: and the Messenger of Allah did not perform the Umra of al-Ji’rana; had he performed it, it would not have been hidden from Abdallah. Mouslim reports it likewise, and reports also that the Umra of the Messenger of Allah from al-Ji’rana was mentioned before Ibn Omar and he said: he did not perform it from it. We say: this is very strange from Ibn Omar and his client Nafi’, their denial of the Umra of Ji’rana, when the host of narrators beyond them, of the compilers of the authentic collections, the Sounan and the Mousnads, and all the masters of campaigns and biographies, relate it. Likewise Aïcha reproached Ibn Omar his word that the Messenger of Allah performed an umra in Rajab, saying: may Allah forgive Abou Abd ar-Rahman!

The Messenger of Allah performed no umra but that I witnessed it, and he never performed one in Rajab.

Ahmad reports from Moujahid that Urwa ibn az-Zoubayr asked Ibn Omar in which month the Messenger of Allah performed the umra, and he said: in Rajab. Aïcha heard; Urwa informed her of Ibn Omar’s word, and she said: may Allah have mercy on Abou Abd ar-Rahman: he performed no umra but that he witnessed it, and he performed none but in Dhoul-Qi’da. The Boukhari and Mouslim reported it through Jarir, from Mansour, from Moujahid. Abou Dawoud and an-Nasa’i also report it, from Zouhayr, from Abou Ishaq, from Moujahid: Ibn Omar was asked how many umras the Messenger of Allah performed, and said: two.

Aïcha said: Ibn Omar knows the Messenger of Allah performed three besides the one he joined to the pilgrimage of farewell. Ahmad reports from Moujahid yet another scene: I entered the mosque with Urwa ibn az-Zoubayr, and behold, Ibn Omar leaning against the chamber of Aïcha, with people praying the dha. Urwa said: O Abou Abd ar-Rahman, what is this prayer? He said: an innovation.

Urwa said: O Abou Abd ar-Rahman, how many umras did the Messenger of Allah perform? He said: four, one of them in Rajab. We heard a moan from Aïcha in the chamber. Urwa said to her: Abou Abd ar-Rahman claims the Messenger of Allah performed four umras, one of them in Rajab.

She said: may Allah have mercy on Abou Abd ar-Rahman: the Prophet performed no umra but that I was with him, and he never performed one in Rajab! The Tirmidhi reports it so, judging it good, authentic and strange.

Ahmad reports, from Moukharrich al-Ka’bi, that the Messenger of Allah went out from al-Ji’rana by night, having entered the state of umra in the evening, and entered Mecca by night to complete his umra; then he went out before his morning and was at al-Ji’rana as one who had lodged there, until, when the sun declined, he went out from al-Ji’rana through the bed of the torrent, until the road joined the road of Medina at Sarif. Moukharrich said: thereby his umra remained hidden from many of the people. Ahmad reports it likewise through another chain. The purpose is that the Umra of Ji’rana is established by sound transmission that cannot be denied or repelled: whoever denies it has no argument against him who establishes it. And Allah is most knowing. Then they are near unanimous that it was in Dhoul-Qi’da, after the campaign of Ta’if and the division of the spoils of Hunayn.

At-Tabarani relates in his great dictionary, from Umayr, freedman of Abdallah ibn Abbas, from Ibn Abbas: when the Messenger of Allah came from Ta’if he alighted at al-Ji’rana and divided the spoils there, then performed the umra from it, that being with two nights of Shawwal remaining: that is very strange, and its chain calls for reserve. And Allah is most knowing. The Boukhari reports, from Ata’ ibn Safwan ibn Ya’la ibn Oumayya, that his father Ya’la used to say: would that I might see the Messenger of Allah when revelation descends upon him. The Messenger of Allah was at al-Ji’rana, under a garment shaded over him, with some of his companions, when a Bedouin came, in a cloak perfumed and thick with scent, and said: O Messenger of Allah, what do you say of a man who entered the state of umra in a cloak after perfuming himself? Oumar ibn al-Khattab motioned to Ya’la with his hand to come:

Ya’la came and put in his head, and behold, the Prophet with a reddened face, gesturing so for a moment; then it was shaded from him. He said: "Where is he who asked me of the umra just now?" The man was sought and brought. He said: "As for the perfume upon you, wash it three times; and as for the cloak, remove it; then do in your umra as you do in your pilgrimage." Mouslim reports it from Ibn Jourayj, and the two Sahihs from Ata’, both from Safwan ibn Ya’la, from his father. Aïcha reports that in the year of the conquest the Messenger of Allah entered Mecca from Kada’, from the upper part of Mecca, and entered upon the umra from Kouday. Sa’id ibn Joubayr reports from Ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah and his companions performed the umra from al-Ji’rana: they trotted about the House three times and walked four, placing their garments beneath their armpits, then casting them upon their left shoulders:

Abou Dawoud alone relates it. Mouawiya relates that he cut the hair of the Messenger of Allah at al-Marwa with a razor, or that he saw him shortened by it: the two Sahihs relate it through Ibn Jourayj, and Mouslim likewise through Soufyan ibn Ou’yayna. We say: this can only pertain to the Umra of Ji’rana: for in the Umra of Houdaybiya he did not enter Mecca, being barred from it; in the Umra of Fulfilment Abou Soufyan had not yet converted, and none of the people of Mecca remained there when the Messenger of Allah entered, for they had gone out and stayed away during those three days; and the umra joined to his pilgrimage was not, by consensus, followed by such shortening. This shortening that Mouawiya ibn Abi Soufyan performed upon the head of the Messenger of Allah at al-Marwa was therefore in the Umra of Ji’rana, as we have said. And Allah Most High is most knowing.

Mohamed ibn Ishaq reports: the Messenger of Allah then went out from al-Ji’rana in the state of umra, and ordered the remainder of the spoils detained, and it was held at Majanna, near Marr adh-Dhahran. We say: the apparent is that he withheld part of the spoils to win over whatever Arabs he might meet between Mecca and Medina. Ibn Ishaq reports that when the Messenger of Allah finished his umra he set out back to Medina, appointing Attab ibn Asid governor over Mecca and leaving with him Mou’adh ibn Jabal to instruct the people in religion and teach them the Quran. Urwa and Moussa ibn Oqba relate that the Messenger of Allah left Mou’adh with Attab in Mecca before going out to Hawazin, then left them there when he returned to Medina.

Ibn Hicham relates from Zayd ibn Aslam that when the Messenger of Allah appointed Attab ibn Asid over Mecca he granted him a dirham each day. He rose and addressed the people, saying: O people, Allah has starved the liver of whoever goes hungry for a dirham: the Messenger of Allah grants me a dirham each day, and I have need of no one. Ibn Ishaq relates that the umra of the Messenger of Allah was in Dhoul-Qi’da, and that he came to Medina at the end of Dhoul-Qi’da, or at the beginning of Dhoul-Hijja; Ibn Hicham says, from Abou Amr al-Madini, six nights remaining of Dhoul-Qi’da. He relates that the people performed the pilgrimage that year as the Arabs used to, and that Attab ibn Asid led the pilgrimage of the Muslims that year: it was the year eight. The people of Ta’if remained upon their unbelief and refusal in their city from Dhoul-Qi’da until Ramadhan of the year nine.