A person who enters into an ambiguous state of Ihram faces one of four scenarios: First, that he knows what so-and-so entered into Ihram for, so his Ihram becomes binding in the same manner. Indeed, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to Ali: "What did you say when you imposed the Hajj?" He replied: I said, "O Allah, I declare intention for that which the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) declared intention for." He said: "For I have the sacrificial animal with me, so do not exit the state of Ihram." (16) Second, that he does not know what so-and-so entered into Ihram for, in which case his ruling is the same as the ruling of the one who forgot, as we shall explain. Third, that so-and-so had not entered into Ihram at all, so his Ihram is absolute, and its ruling is the ruling of the preceding section. Fourth, that he does not know whether so-and-so entered into Ihram or not, so his ruling is the same as that of one who did not enter into Ihram; because the basic principle is the absence of his Ihram, so his Ihram here is absolute, and he may assign it to whichever he wishes. If he assigns it before the Tawaf, it is valid, but if he performs Tawaf before assigning it, his Tawaf is not counted because he performed it while in neither a Hajj nor an Umrah.

Section: If one enters into Ihram for a rite and then forgets it before the Tawaf, he may assign it to whichever rites he wishes. If he assigns it to an Umrah, and the forgotten rite was indeed an Umrah, he has acted correctly. If it was a solitary Hajj (Ifrad) or a combined Hajj and Umrah (Qiran) (17), he may rescind both into an Umrah, as we shall mention. If he assigns it to Qiran, and the forgotten rite was Qiran, he has acted correctly. If it was an Umrah, then the intercalation of Hajj into Umrah is permissible before the Tawaf, so he becomes a Qarin (one performing Qiran). If it was Ifrad, his Ihram for the Umrah is nullified, his Hajj remains valid (18), and his obligation is fulfilled. If he assigns it to Ifrad, and it was Ifrad, he has acted correctly. If it was Tamattu', he has intercalated the Hajj into the Umrah and has become a Qarin in ruling—and between him and Allah the Exalted—even though he thinks he is a Mufrid (one performing Ifrad). If it was Qiran, the same applies. The stated position from Ahmad is that he should make it an Umrah. The Qadi said: This is by way of recommendation, because if this is recommended in a state of knowledge, it is even more appropriate in the state of ignorance. Abu