What is the thing that the pilgrim does to attain the first release, with evidence?

The questioner : The question came from some of the brothers, saying: What is the thing that, if the pilgrim does it, he attains the first release, with mention of the evidence? And is there a basis for what some jurists mention, that it is obligatory for him to do two things to attain release?

The Shaykh : There is no binding evidence in the Sunnah that the pilgrim must combine two acts of worship, such as the sacrifice and the stoning, or let us say the stoning and the sacrifice, or the stoning and the shaving. Rather, the authentic hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is: . From this hadith and its like, the scholars hold that the pilgrim’s release occurs in two stages. The first stage is what they call the lesser release, and that is this: if he stoned the Jamarah al-Aqabah, you have heard his statement (peace be upon him) in the hadith: .
As for the greater release, which means that his wife becomes lawful to him, that is only after he performs the Tawaf of Ifadah. If he performs the Tawaf of Ifadah, he has attained the greater release. As for making it a condition to add something from the acts of worship to the stoning, there is nothing in the Sunnah that is considered a condition. It may happen, and although a hadith came in the Sahih from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she applied perfume to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for his release after he stoned the Jamarah al-Aqabah, it came in some narrations that the application of perfume was not only after the stoning, but also after the shaving or the sacrifice—I do not remember it precisely right now. The point is that if some of these narrations occurred from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) along with the stoning, that does not indicate that it is a condition to add either the sacrifice or the shaving to the stoning. Rather, it is a permissible matter. But his statement (peace and blessings be upon him) is a clarification for the Ummah of when the lesser release becomes lawful for the pilgrim, and it is very clear and does not accept figurative interpretation: . So there is no harm if he stoned, then sacrificed, then shaved, or if he advanced or delayed these things; there is no blame in that, as came in many hadiths. So adding something to the stoning does not violate this restriction mentioned by the Messenger (peace be upon him) as a fundamental requirement for a person to be released from his Ihram. So if he stoned the Jamarah, that is sufficient for him to be released. If he continued and did not release himself—continuing with the shaving, continuing with the sacrifice—there is no harm in that. But the important thing is that the release from what is originally forbidden is not permissible because he is in a state of Ihram. It only becomes permissible for him when he stons the Jamarah al-Aqabah.
Perhaps I have answered the question?

The questioner : They mention a hadith regarding the matter of performing two acts of worship before release. What is its degree of authenticity?

The Shaykh : This is not authentic. It contains al-Hajjaj ibn Artat, and he is not to be cited as evidence.
Yes.