A Pause with the Acts of the Days of Hajj (The Eighth to the Thirteenth Day)

The Shaykh : We have several points to consider regarding this:
First point: The days of Hajj are established to be six days, namely: the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth days.
So what do we do on the first day, the eighth? The pilgrims who are in a state of ihram for Hajj enter the state of ihram on the morning of the eighth day and descend to Mina, where they pray the Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha, and Fajr prayers. These are the acts of the eighth day and the night of the ninth.
On the ninth day, the pilgrims leave Mina for 'Arafah. If it is convenient for them, they stop at Namirah; if it is not convenient, there is no harm in continuing their journey to 'Arafah, where they pray the Dhuhr and Asr prayers combined and shortened. The combination is a combination of advancing (jam' taqdim) in order to allow sufficient time for supplication and for people to disperse to their standing places. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) chose to combine the prayers by advancing on the Day of 'Arafah for this reason: first, to lengthen the time of standing, and second, so that people would disperse to their standing places. If they had dispersed before praying Asr, they would not have gathered for the prayer. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the prayers by advancing. Then, is the place where the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) stood specific, or is all of 'Arafah a standing place? Listen to the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): So if you stand in your place, you have performed the Sunnah. This is especially true in our present time, given the severe congestion and the loss of many who go to stand in the place of the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him). Therefore, it is better to remain in one's place.
Then know that if you go to the place where the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) stood, you are at risk of getting lost, at risk of hunger or thirst, and it will not be possible for you to stand in that place until the sun sets, because you must return to your camp before the sun sets, otherwise you will be lost among these vehicles, and you will miss the humility required of a person in such sacred sites. Therefore, it is better to stand in your place to avert these harms or these disadvantages.
On the Day of 'Arafah, people stand in 'Arafah after the Dhuhr and Asr prayers, combined by advancing, until the sun sets. It is not permissible for a person to leave 'Arafah before the sun sets. The evidence for this is:
First: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stood until the sun set and said: This is a matter in which we should follow his example.
Second: If leaving before sunset had been permissible, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would have been the first to do so, because that would be easier and more comfortable for the community, as they would leave during the day. It was part of the guidance of the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) If we say that the easier option is to leave during the day, and the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) refrained from it, we know that it is a sin, because it was part of his guidance to choose the easier option as long as it was not a sin.
Third: If we left before sunset, it would be imitating the polytheists and contradicting the guidance of the Master of the Messengers (peace and blessings be upon him), because the polytheists left 'Arafah before the sun set. When the sun was on the tops of the mountains, like turbans on the heads of men, they would leave.
On the night of the festival, the pilgrims descend to where? To Muzdalifah. Is it permissible for them to leave before praying Fajr? We say: Yes.
It is better for women and the weak to advance in leaving, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) granted them a dispensation. A person should not deviate from a dispensation, especially in our present time with the congestion. Therefore, it is preferable for women, children, and those who cannot withstand the pushing of people to leave at the end of the night in order to throw the pebbles before the crowd of people. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he permitted women and children to leave at the end of the night.
At Muzdalifah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood after praying Fajr at al-Mash'ar al-Haram, based on the saying of the Exalted: Is it necessary to stand there, i.e., at al-Mash'ar, which is the location of the mosque today? No, it is not necessary, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) stood at al-Mash'ar and said: And Muzdalifah is the gathering place.
On the day of the festival, and after arriving at Mina, we understand that the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) did the following:
First: He threw the pebbles, then slaughtered, then shaved and exited the state of ihram, then descended and performed the circumambulation. This is the best order for a person to follow: throwing, then slaughtering, then shaving, then circumambulation, then sa'y for one who is performing tamattu', ifrad, or qiran and had not performed sa'y after the Tawaf of Arrival.
If a person performs these five or four acts of Hajj in a different order, is there any blame on him? The answer is: No. Listen to the answer from the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him): Do it, and there is no harm. Until a questioner from among the people said: This is from the mercy of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, that He made room for people to perform some of these things before others so that they would not all gather for one thing. If all the people gathered for throwing, or all for circumambulation, or all for slaughtering, hardship would result. But when the matter is spread out, so that this person goes to Makkah and performs circumambulation, and this person goes to the place of slaughter and slaughters, and this person goes to the place of throwing and throws, there is ease in that.
It was reported in some questions that came to the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) on that day that the questioner said: I did not realize, so I did such and such before such and such.
And in some of them, the statement was general. Do we take this restriction and say that it is not permissible to change the order except for a person who did not realize? The answer is: No.
We do not restrict this, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is something for the future. If he had said: There is no harm on you, we would have said that perhaps this answer was based on the question, and that there is no harm on a person if he performs some of them before others without realizing. But when he said: And do as people know it is for the future, we know that the order is not obligatory. Therefore, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to correct what had happened and prevent what was to come, he said to Abu Bakrah when he bowed before reaching the row: If this order had been obligatory, he would have said to the questioner: There is no harm, and do not repeat it.
In any case: The one who reflects on the Sunnah in this matter sees that the matter is broad, and that there is no harm in a person performing some of them before others, whether for an excuse or without an excuse.
So on the day of the festival, how many acts of Hajj does the pilgrim perform? Five or four? Five, if he is performing tamattu', or ifrad, or qiran and had not performed sa'y with the Tawaf of Arrival. And four if he is performing ifrad or qiran and performed sa'y with the Tawaf of Arrival, because in this case, sa'y is dropped from him. This is on the day of the festival.
On the eleventh day, the night of the eleventh, people are staying in Mina, and staying in Mina is obligatory. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) only granted a dispensation to those with excuses, such as water carriers and shepherds, to leave the overnight stay in Mina. He granted a dispensation to his uncle al-Abbas to descend to Makkah to take charge of what? The provision of water, providing water to people from Zamzam, and this is a public benefit. And he granted a dispensation to the shepherds of the pilgrims' camels not to stay overnight in Mina, but to stay in their pastures, because they are occupied with a public benefit. This indicates that others do not have a dispensation. The negligence of some people regarding the overnight stay in Mina has no justification whatsoever. So whoever wants the Sunnah and the accepted Hajj, let him adhere to what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did.
On the eleventh day, people throw the pebbles after the sun passes its zenith, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not throw them except after the sun passed its zenith. It is not permissible to advance the throwing on the days of Tashreeq before the sun passes its zenith. It is not permissible to advance the throwing on the days of Tashreeq before the sun passes its zenith. Why? Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) threw after the sun passed its zenith and said: And if throwing before the sun passes its zenith were not valid, he would have granted a dispensation to the weak and women to throw before the sun passes its zenith, just as he granted them a dispensation to throw before the sun rises on the day of the festival. If it had been permissible, i.e., throwing before the sun passes its zenith, the Prophet (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) would have done it, because throwing before the sun passes its zenith is easier for people than throwing after the sun passes its zenith.
The fact that the stoning is performed after the sun has passed its zenith means waiting for the heat to become intense, which is difficult for people. If stoning in the morning were permissible, it would have been easier for the Muslim community. Since the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left it and waited until the sun passed its zenith, we know that stoning before the sun passes its zenith is not the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
What indicates to you that stoning before the sun passes its zenith is not valid is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would wait, meaning he would wait until the sun passed its zenith, and from the time it passed, he would stone before praying the midday prayer. So it is as if he was waiting, as they say, with impatient eagerness for the sun to pass its zenith so that he could stone.
Do not be deceived by the permission of some scholars that is based on no legal principle. If we wanted to take an absolute permission, we would say: All the days of Tashreeq are a place for the remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), so stone at whatever time you wish. But these are specific matters: of the remembrance of Allah in the counted days, the stoning of the pillars. Do we take the verse in its absolute sense and say: Whenever you wish, stone?
The answer is: No, because the command to remember here is absolute, and what specifies it is what? The Sunnah. So do not be deceived.
But if someone says: If you say that stoning does not occur except after the sun passes its zenith, and the pilgrims number one million and five hundred thousand, how is it possible for these people to stone between the sun passing its zenith and the setting of the sun? This is very difficult, because if you divide one million and five hundred thousand by this time, you will find that one must stone at such and such minute out of a hundred.