Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah

And the explanation that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) performed Hajj even before the migration to Madinah. Contrary to the opinion of that scholar who criticized the authenticity of this hadith and claimed that only Zaid bin Hubab narrates this hadith (and he is weak in narrating from Imam Thawri).

Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut’im (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) before revelation came to him, that he was standing on his camel with the people in the plain of Arafat. He returned from the plain of Arafat along with them. And this action of his was purely by the guidance of Allah Almighty (because the Quraysh, considering themselves the standard-bearers of the religion, would not go outside the boundaries of the Haram). Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that their statement “before revelation came to him” — it is possible that by this is meant before the revelation of this verse « ثُمَّ أَفِيضُوا مِنْ حَيْثُ أَفَاضَ النَّاسُ » [ سورة البقرة : 199 ] “Then depart from where the people depart,” or it is also possible that by this is meant that before the complete Qur’an was revealed (and before you were appointed as a Prophet), I saw you in the plain of Arafat. And the evidence for the correctness of this interpretation is the following hadith.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Quraish and those who followed their religion used to stay at Muzdalifah, and they were called "Hums" (people considered very strict and firm in religion), while all the other Arabs used to stay at Arafat. Then, when the era of Islam came, Allah Almighty commanded His Prophet to go to the plain of Arafat and stay there, so he stayed at the plain of Arafat, then departed from there towards Muzdalifah, and this was due to the command of Allah Almighty « ثُمَّ أَفِيضُوا مِنْ حَيْثُ أَفَاضَ النَّاسُ » [ سورة البقرة : 199 ] "Then depart from where the people depart." Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that this hadith is evidence that Allah Almighty commanded His Prophet to stay at Arafat so that he would oppose the Quraish staying at Muzdalifah and not going outside the boundaries of the Haram, because they used to call themselves Hums (the standard-bearers of religion). Through this verse, the command was given « ثُمَّ أَفِيضُوا مِنْ حَيْثُ أَفَاضَ النَّاسُ » [ سورة البقرة : 199 ] "Then depart from where the people depart." And these words are also of the type about which we say that the term "people" (al-naas) can also apply to some people, because it is certain that not all people used to stay at the plain of Arafat, but only some people (other than the Quraish) used to stay there. The statement of Sayyiduna Jubair (may Allah be pleased with him) and this action of his was done by the guidance of Allah. In this is evidence that until that time, Allah Almighty had not revealed to him by revelation the command to stay at Arafat. Because if, according to Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him), your staying at Arafat was by the command of Allah Almighty, then he would have said these words: "I know well that Allah Almighty has commanded you to stay at Arafat." And I have said this; it is possible that Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) meant that before the entire Qur'an was revealed, I saw you standing at Arafat. Because the entire Qur'an was not revealed to you in Makkah Mukarramah before the migration to Madinah, but some of the Qur'an was revealed before the migration in Makkah Mukarramah and some was revealed in Madinah Munawwarah. And from his statement, I have taken this meaning that this incident is from before the entire Qur'an was revealed; his intention is not that this incident is from before the first revelation of the Qur'an to you. The evidence for this is the following hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of Arafah, one of my camels was lost, so I was searching for it in the plain of Arafat. Suddenly, I saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) staying with the people in the plain of Arafat on his camel in the evening of Arafah, and this incident occurred after the revelation had descended upon him. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says, if Abdul Aziz bin Jurayj met Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him), then this narration indicates that the correct interpretation of Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut'im's narration is that this incident took place before the entire Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I went to Arafat to search for one of my camels, and I saw the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) standing with the people in the plain of Arafat. I said to myself, "By Allah, indeed you are from the Hums (Quraysh), so why are you standing in Arafat?" And the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that year was also standing in Arafat at the same place where he used to stand before.

Sayyiduna Jubair bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) says that you (despite being a Qurayshi) have gone outside the boundaries of the Haram. Whereas the Quraysh did not go outside the boundaries of the Haram, they used to say that we are the people of Allah, we will not go beyond the boundaries of the Haram. But these words were not stated that you stayed at the same place in Arafat where you used to stay before. The narration of Janab Rabi'ah bin Abbad is also related to this chapter.

Rabi’ah bin ‘Abad narrates from his father, from a Qurayshi man, that he said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) during the time of ignorance standing with the polytheists in the plain of ‘Arafat. Then I saw him standing in the same place during the Islamic period as well. So I realized that Allah, the Exalted, had granted him success in this matter.