209. If any obstruction prevents a person from proceeding with the Pilgrimage and he is forced to stay behind, he should make a sacrificial offering to God of whatever is available - for example, either a camel, a cow, a goat or a sheep
210. The statement: 'until the offering reaches its appointed place' has been variously interpreted by the jurists. The Hanafi jurists consider this to signify the area which lies within the boundaries of the Haram. In their view this injunction means that if a man has been prevented from Pilgrimage he ought to send to the Haram either the animal itself or the money to purchase it, and have a sacrificial offering made on his behalf. According to Malik and al-Shafi'i this verse enjoins one to perform a sacrifice at the very spot where one is prevented from going any further. (See also Qurtubi's commentary on the verse - Ed.) The injunction regarding 'shaving the head' means that one may not have one's hair cut until a sacrificial offering has been made.
211. According to the Hadith, in such a situation the Prophet (peace be on him) ordered three days of fasting, or the feeding of six poor people, or the slaughter of one sheep or goat. (See Bukhari, 'Maghazi', 35; Muslim, 'Hajj', 83 - Ed.)
212. This refers to the change in the situation when the obstacle to proceeding with the Pilgrimage has been removed. Since, in those days, the circumstances which most commonly prevented people from proceeding with their Pilgrimage was the danger of armed attack from tribes hostile to Islam, the removal of that circumstance is described by the words: 'when you are secure'. 'To become secure' refers not only to the removal of the danger of armed attack but to the removal of all such dangers.
213. In pre-Islamic Arabia it was considered a serious sin to perform Hajj
and 'Umrah in one and the same journey. According to the self-made law of the
pre-Islamic Arabs, each of these Pilgrimages required a separate journey. God
declared this law void for those coming from abroad and who were granted the
privilege of performing both types of pilgrimage in the same journey. This privilege,
however, was not extended to those living in the environs of Makka, within the
miqat, since it is not difficult for them to proceed separately for the major
and minor Pilgrimages.
'Then you who take advantage of 'Umrah before the time of Hajj' means that a
person may perform 'Umrah (minor Pilgrimage) and then may interrupt the state
of consecration (ihram) and free himself of the prohibitions and limitations
incumbent upon him in that state. Later, when the time for the Hajj (major Pilgrimage)
arrives, he should once again assume the state of consecration (ihram).