Whoever recommends it does so in order to follow the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), for he used to descend there. Nafi' said: Ibn Umar used to pray Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha there, and he would sleep briefly, and he narrates that from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It is agreed upon (9). Ibn Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Abu Bakr, Umar (10), and Uthman used to descend at al-Abtah. Al-Tirmidhi said (11): This is a hasan gharib (good and rare) hadith. There is no disagreement that it is not obligatory and there is nothing [due] upon the one who abandons it.
660 - Issue; He said: (And if he arrives in Makkah, he shall not leave until he bids farewell to the House; he shall perform the circumambulation (Tawaf) around it seven times, and pray two rak'ahs when he has finished all his affairs, so that his final act is with the House).
The gist of this is that whoever comes to Makkah is in one of two states: either he intends to stay there, or he intends to leave. If he stays there, there is no farewell required of him, because the farewell is for one who is departing, not for one who is settling, regardless of whether he intended to stay before the departure or after it. This is the opinion of al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifa said: If he intended to stay after it became permissible for him to depart, the circumambulation is not waived from him. This is incorrect; because he is not departing, so a farewell is not required of him, just as in the case of one who intended to stay before the departure became permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) only said: "Let no one depart until his final act is with the House" (1). And this person is not departing. As for
= Chapter on the recommendation of descending at al-Muhassab..., from the Book of Hajj. Sahih Muslim 2/952. They were also extracted by al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on what is narrated regarding descending at al-Abtah, and Chapter on whoever descended at al-Abtah, from the chapters of Hajj. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 4/153, 154. The second [hadith] was extracted by Ibn Majah, in: Chapter on descending at al-Muhassab, from the Book of Manasik. Sunan Ibn Majah 2/1019. (9) Extracted by al-Bukhari, in: Chapter on descending at Dhi Tuwa..., from the Book of Hajj. Sahih al-Bukhari 2/222. And Muslim, in: Chapter on the recommendation of descending at al-Muhassab..., from the Book of Hajj. Sahih Muslim 2/951. It was also extracted by Abu Dawood, in: Chapter on al-Tahsib, from the Book of Manasik. Sunan Abi Dawood 1/464. (10) Omitted from: [A], [B], and [M]. (11) In: Chapter on what is narrated regarding descending at al-Abtah, from the chapters of Hajj. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 4/152. It was also extracted by Ibn Majah, in: Chapter on descending at al-Muhassab, from the Book of Manasik. Sunan Ibn Majah 2/1020. (1) Extracted by Muslim, in: Chapter on the obligation of the farewell circumambulation and its waiver for the menstruating woman, from the Book of Hajj. Sahih Muslim =
