Allah The Almighty has made matters easy for His slaves as He has legislated Hajj to be carried out in three possible ways. These three ways are known to scholars as "Types of Rites". If the pilgrim reaches the Meeqaat [designated points for beginning Ihraam (ritual consecration)] during the months of Hajj, which are Shawwaal, Thul-Qi‘dah and (the first nine days of) Thul-Hijjah, while intending to perform Hajj, he would have the choice of three types of rites. These types are:

At-Tamattu’

This entails assuming the state of Ihraam for ‘Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) only from the Meeqaat in the months of Hajj while saying at the time of intending to assume the state of Ihraam, “Labbayka ‘Umrah.” After that, the pilgrim should perform the rites of ‘Umrah such as Tawaaf (circumambulation), Sa‘y (walking between Mounts As-Safa and Al-Marwah), shaving or shortening the hair and then getting out of the state of Ihraam. He should stay at Makkah up to the eighth day of Thul-Hijjah, which is the day of Tarwiyah. On the eighth day, he should assume the state of Ihraam for Hajj and then perform all the rituals of Hajj.

Al-Qiraan

This entails concurrently assuming the state of Ihraam for both Hajj and ‘Umrah by saying, “Labbayka ‘Umrah wa Hajj”, or assuming the state of Ihraam with the intention of performing ‘Umrah then adding the intention of performing Hajj before the starting Tawaaf. When reaching Makkah, the pilgrim should perform Tawaaf Al-Qudoom. If he wants to perform the Sa‘y of Hajj first, then he should perform Sa‘y between Mounts As-Safa and Al-Marwah, otherwise, he should delay it until performing Tawaaf Al-Ifaadhah. He should not shave or shorten his hair, or get out of the state of Ihraam except on the Day of Nahr (the 10th of Thul-Hijjah). Pilgrims who perform the Tamattu‘ or Qiraan Hajj and are not among the inhabitants of the area of Al-Masjid Al-Haraam (the Sacred Precincts) should slaughter a sacrifice to thank Allah for making it easy for them to perform two rites in one journey.

Al-Ifraad

This entails assuming the state of Ihraam for Hajj only by saying, “Labbayka Hajj”. When the pilgrim reaches Makkah, he should perform Tawaaf Al-Qudoom and Sa‘y for Hajj if he wishes. He may delay Sa‘y until after Tawaaf Al-Ifaadhah just like the pilgrims who perform the Qiraan Hajj. He should remain in the state of Ihraam up to the day of ‘Eed. This shows that the acts performed in the Qiraan and Ifraad Hajj are the same, however, the one who performs the Qiraan Hajj must slaughter a sacrifice as he performed Hajj and ‘Umrah together, while the one who performs the Ifraad Hajj does not have to slaughter a sacrifice as he performed only Hajj.

Ibn Qudaamah reported a consensus among scholars about the permissibility of assuming the state of Ihraam for any of the three types of rites as ‘Aa’ishah said, “We went out with the Prophet and some of us assumed the state of Ihraam with the intention of performing ‘Umrah while others intended to perform Hajj and ‘Umrah, and a third group of us had the intention of performing Hajj [alone].”

Scholars have held different opinions regarding the best type of the three, but it is better to discuss this matter in detail as this differs according to the state of the pilgrim himself: Ibn Taymiyyah said,

If the person would travel once for Hajj and another time for ‘Umrah, or would travel to Makkah before the months of Hajj and stay there until he would perform Hajj, then Ifraad would be better for him according to the opinion of the four Imams. However, if he did what most of the people do, which is performing both Hajj and ‘Umrah in one journey and going to Makkah during the months of Hajj, Qiraan would be better for him if he took the sacrifice with him. If he did not take the sacrifice with him, then Tamattu‘ would be better for him.

Ibn ‘Abbaas said, “The Muhajirooon, the Ansaar and the wives of the Prophet assumed the state of Ihraam during the Farewell Hajj. When we reached Makkah, the Prophet said: ‘Start your Hajj by performing ‘Umrah except for those who have brought the sacrificial animals with them.’ So, we performed Tawaaf and [then] performed Sa‘y between As-Safa and Al-Marwah; after that we went to our women and wore [normal] clothes.” [Al-Bukhari]

If the pilgrim is afraid that anything might prevent him from completing his rites, then he may stipulate a condition at the time of assuming the state of Ihraam by saying, “If I am prevented by anything, I will end my state of Ihraam whenever or wherever I am prevented.”

‘Aa‘ishah said, “The Prophet visited Dhubaa‘ah bint Az-Zubayr and said to her: ‘Do you want to perform Hajj?’ She said, ‘By Allah! I am sick.’ He said to her: ‘Perform Hajj and stipulate a condition. Say, ‘O Allah! I will end my state of Ihraam whenever or wherever I am prevented.’” [Al-Bukhari]