Abu Tufail says: I said to Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): Your people think that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ramal (walking briskly) while circumambulating the House of Allah, therefore this act is Sunnah. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Their statement is partly correct and partly incorrect. I asked: What do you mean by it being both correct and incorrect? He said: It is correct that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ramal while circumambulating the House of Allah, but it is not correct to call this act Sunnah; this act is not Sunnah. The detail is that the Quraysh (in contempt) said during the days of Hudaybiyyah: Leave Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions alone until they die their own deaths. When the Quraysh made a treaty with him that the Muslims could come and stay in Makkah for three days the following year, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came. The polytheists of Makkah were on the side of the mountain of Qaiqan. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the companions: Perform ramal in three circuits while circumambulating the House of Allah. Therefore, this act is not Sunnah.

Abu Tufail says: I said: Your people think that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed sa’i between Safa and Marwah on a camel, and this act is Sunnah. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This statement is also partly correct and partly incorrect. It is correct that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed sa’i between Safa and Marwah on a camel, but it is incorrect to say that this act is Sunnah. The real reason is that people would not move away from in front of or behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), (and they themselves would not separate or distance themselves from him), so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed sa’i on a camel so that people’s hands would not reach him and so that they could easily hear his words.

Abu Tufail says: I said: Your people think that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ran between Safa and Marwah and that this act is Sunnah. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This statement is correct. When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was commanded to perform the rites of Hajj, at the time of sa’i, Satan appeared before him and went ahead, but then Ibrahim (peace be upon him) ran and overtook him. After that, Jibril (peace be upon him) took Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to Jamrah al-Aqabah, where Satan appeared before him, so he pelted him with seven pebbles, and he went away. Then, when he appeared before him near Jamrah al-Wusta, he again pelted him with seven pebbles. At that time, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) laid Isma’il (peace be upon him) on his side; he was wearing a white shirt. He said: Father! Other than this shirt, I have no other garment in which you can shroud me, so take off this shirt so that you may shroud me in it. When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) began to take off Isma’il’s (peace be upon him) shirt, a voice came from behind: Ibrahim! You have fulfilled the dream. When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) turned around, there was a beautiful, white, wide-eyed ram with horns. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We try to obtain the same kind of ram for sacrifice. After that, Jibril took Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to Jamrah al-Quswa, where Satan appeared before him once again. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) pelted him with seven pebbles, so he ran away. Then Jibril (peace be upon him) took Ibrahim (peace be upon him) towards Mina and told him: This is Mina. In another narration: He told him: This is the place where people stay. After that, Jibril took Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to Muzdalifah and told him: This is al-Mash’ar al-Haram. Then he took him to Arafah.

Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Do you know the reason for the naming of Arafah? I said: No. He said: When Jibril brought Ibrahim (peace be upon him) here, he asked him: Have you understood all these matters? He said: Yes. For this reason, this valley was named Arafah.

After that, Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Do you know how the beginning of the Talbiyah was? I said: How was it? He said: When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was commanded to proclaim Hajj among the people, the mountains lowered their heads at his voice and all the settlements were raised up, then he proclaimed Hajj among the people.