Ibn Ishaq also mentions a term (istilāḥ) introduced by the Quraysh, known as Hums. Hums signifies uncompromising strictness and rigidity in religious matters. Indeed, they coined such a word because they showed extreme reverence and veneration for the Ḥaram (the Sacred Precinct). To such an extent that, for this reason, they considered themselves obliged not to leave the Ḥaram on the night of ʿArafa. They would say, "We are the children of the Ḥaram and the inhabitants of the House of Allah (Bayt Allah)." In order not to depart from the system of false innovations (bidʿa) they themselves had invented, they would not perform the standing (wuqūf) at ʿArafāt, even though they knew it was one of the principles of the ḥajj established by Prophet Ibrahim. While in iḥrām (state of consecration), they would not keep curds or butter in their homes, nor would they separate suet from the meat. They would not take shade under hair tents, but if it was a leather tent, they would shade themselves beneath it. Pilgrims coming to Mecca for ḥajj or ʿumra were forbidden, as long as they were in iḥrām, from eating any food other than that of the Quraysh, and from circumambulating the Kaʿba in any clothing other than that provided by the Quraysh. If a pilgrim or performer of ʿumra could not obtain a Hums garment, even if she was a woman, she would circumambulate the Kaʿba naked. The term Hums was used for the Quraysh, Kināna, and Khuzāʿa. If a woman from among them could not obtain clothing, she would circumambulate the Kaʿba naked, placing her hand over her private parts and reciting:
"Today, some or all of it will be seen,
I do not make lawful what is seen of it."
If someone, out of magnanimity, refused to wear a Hums garment despite being able to obtain one and circumambulated in their own clothes, after completing the circumambulation, they were required to leave that garment behind. Neither they nor anyone else could benefit from it; no one was allowed to touch it. The Arabs called these garments "Luqā." As a poet said:
"My attack on him is enough as grief. Among the circumambulators, he is like the garment of one in iḥrām."
Ibn Ishaq said: Until Allah, the Exalted, sent Muhammad as a prophet and revealed the Qur'an to him to reject their false customs, the Arabs continued these practices. The following verse repudiated their innovations (bidʿa):
"Then depart from where the people depart and ask forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (al-Baqara 2:199)
As previously mentioned, even before revelation came to him, the Prophet, by Allah's guidance, would go to ʿArafāt and perform the standing (wuqūf).
Allah, the Exalted, who declared void and rejected the Arabs' custom of requiring the wearing of Hums garments and eating Hums food, revealed the following verses to His Prophet:
"O children of Adam! Take your adornment at every masjid and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess.
Say, [O Muhammad], 'Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?'" (al-Aʿrāf 7:31-32)
Ziyād al-Bakkaʾī narrates that Ibn Ishaq said: "I do not know whether the Quraysh invented this Hums innovation before or after the incident of the Elephant."