The ruling on shortening the prayer for a resident of Makkah in Mina, and which is better: Hajj or 'Umrah?
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The questioner : Honorable Shaykh. How can a resident of al-'Aziziyah be considered a traveler if he is in Mina, sitting in his house during the day and only sleeping in Mina at night?
The Shaykh : What I see is that it is not befitting for a resident of al-'Aziziyah to go down to his house during the day; rather, the sunnah (recommended practice), without doubt, is to remain in the tent in Mina, because Hajj is a type of jihad (struggle in the path of Allah) in the path of Allah, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'A'ishah when she saidSunan al-Bayhaqi 4:143. So what is prescribed for the pilgrim is to remain in Mina night and day. However, regarding Mina in the present time, I hesitate to say that it is travel.
As for the people of Makkah, because the houses have connected to it and it has become like a district of Makkah. As for Muzdalifah and 'Arafah, they are outside Makkah without doubt, and even until now the houses have not reached them. So the safest course for the people of Makkah in Mina is for them to complete the prayer, especially since the well-known position of the madhhab (school of jurisprudence) of Imam Ahmad and a large group of scholars is that the people of Makkah are not travelers, even in 'Arafah. But the stronger position is that they are travelers because they entered ihram (the consecrated state of pilgrimage), and indeed because they used to pray with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Mina and in 'Arafah and shorten the prayer. However, regarding Mina in the present time, I hesitate to say that it is considered travel for the people of Makkah, because, as I said, it has become like a district of Makkah.
The questioner : Which is better?
The Shaykh : Hajj is better without doubt, because Hajj is among the greatest of righteous deeds. And the person traveling for Hajj is in the act of Hajj; he is in the act of Hajj from the moment he travels, and before he travels he is able to
The Shaykh : What I see is that it is not befitting for a resident of al-'Aziziyah to go down to his house during the day; rather, the sunnah (recommended practice), without doubt, is to remain in the tent in Mina, because Hajj is a type of jihad (struggle in the path of Allah) in the path of Allah, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to 'A'ishah when she said
"Is there jihad for women?" He said, "Yes, a jihad in which there is no fighting: Hajj and 'Umrah."
هل على النساء جهاد؟ قال نعم جهاد لا قتال فيه الحج والعمرةAs for the people of Makkah, because the houses have connected to it and it has become like a district of Makkah. As for Muzdalifah and 'Arafah, they are outside Makkah without doubt, and even until now the houses have not reached them. So the safest course for the people of Makkah in Mina is for them to complete the prayer, especially since the well-known position of the madhhab (school of jurisprudence) of Imam Ahmad and a large group of scholars is that the people of Makkah are not travelers, even in 'Arafah. But the stronger position is that they are travelers because they entered ihram (the consecrated state of pilgrimage), and indeed because they used to pray with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Mina and in 'Arafah and shorten the prayer. However, regarding Mina in the present time, I hesitate to say that it is considered travel for the people of Makkah, because, as I said, it has become like a district of Makkah.
The questioner : Which is better?
The Shaykh : Hajj is better without doubt, because Hajj is among the greatest of righteous deeds. And the person traveling for Hajj is in the act of Hajj; he is in the act of Hajj from the moment he travels, and before he travels he is able to
Source
جلسات الحج 1409هـ - 1 — binothaimeen.net (50:20)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.