Does the meaning of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Time has come full circle as it was on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth," mentioned in Fatwa no. 83154, imply that the positions of the months were not in their correct places before the Farewell Pilgrimage, thereby affecting the validity of Abu Bakr's Hajj and the fasting of Ramadan before that?

A group of imams and scholars has chosen the opinion that Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq’s Hajj, may Allah be pleased with him, in the ninth year, occurred in Dhul-Qa'dah, not Dhul-Hijjah, due to the practice of Nasi' (postponement of sacred months) followed by the people of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era). The first to mention this opinion was Imam Abu Ubaid al-Qasim ibn Sallam, and most commentators followed him.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr states that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed Hajj in the tenth year in Dhul-Hijjah, and he announced that "Time has completed its cycle and returned to its original state as it was on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth." This abolished the Nasi' of the Jahiliyyah. Al-Qurtubi confirms that Abu Bakr's Hajj coincided with Dhul-Qa'dah due to the rotation of Hajj through every month, and then the Prophet's Hajj the following year coincided with Dhul-Hijjah at its original time.

Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah believes that Abu Bakr's Hajj in Dhul-Qa'dah was one of the reasons for the Prophet's delay in performing Hajj, and that the Arabs in their Jahiliyyah had altered the religion of Ibrahim through Nasi'.

As for the problem of Abu Bakr's Hajj occurring in Dhul-Qa'dah and the resulting apprehension of the invalidity of the worship, the answer is that this was legitimate in that year, as Ibn Rushd holds. This is supported by the Prophet's saying, peace and blessings be upon him: "Your fast is the day you fast, your breaking of fast is the day you break fast, and your sacrifice is the day you sacrifice." And that if people stood at Arafat on the tenth day by mistake, their standing would be valid.