Abu al-Tufail says that I said to Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), "Your people think that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ramal during the circumambulation of the Ka'bah and that it is a Sunnah." He replied, "There is half truth and half falsehood in this." I asked, "How is that?" He said, "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did perform ramal, but it is not a Sunnah. The reason for performing ramal was that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came with his companions (may Allah be pleased with them), the polytheists were watching them from the mountain called Qaiqan. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) learned that these people were talking among themselves about the Muslims being weak. Upon this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered them to perform ramal so that they could show their strength to the polytheists."