Continuation of the explanation: (Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) lay down until the dawn appeared, and he prayed the Fajr prayer when the morning became clear to him, with the adhan and iqamah. Then he mounted)

The Shaykh : In this, also, is the fact that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) urged his mount in Batn Mahsir. Mahsir is a valley that separates Muzdalifah and Mina. It is called Mahsir because it exhausts the one who travels through it, due to the abundance of sand in it. Why did he urge it? Was it because it was easier for the camel, since if it walked quickly, it would move more easily across the sand that the flood had carried into the course of this valley? Or did he urge it because the elephant perished there? Or did he urge it because the Quraysh used to stand there and mention the glories of their fathers and grandfathers?
There are three opinions of the scholars on this, and the apparent one, and Allah knows best, is the first, because the elephant did not perish there. The elephant perished at al-Maghmas near al-Abtah, as Umayyah ibn al-Salt said: "The elephant was held at al-Maghmas until it crawled as if it were shackled."
In this phrase of the hadith, also, is the fact that it is recommended for a person to take the shortest path to reaching his objective. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the middle path of the paths of Mina. At that time, there were three paths in Mina: a northern path, a southern path, and a middle path. This middle one is the one that leads to the Jamarat al-Aqabah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took it because it was closer to his objective, which is the stoning.
The student: Which is the stronger opinion, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : We mentioned the stronger opinion.
The student: The first one?

The Shaykh : Yes, we mentioned that it is the first one, because the elephant was not held there.
As for the standing of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance in this place, it is not established.
In this phrase of the hadith, also, is the taking of the easiest path to achieving a good objective, as we have mentioned.
In this, also, is the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stoned the pillar on the Day of Sacrifice while riding, because he intended it before doing anything else, so he stoned it.
In this, also, is evidence for what the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) held, which is that the greeting of Mina is the stoning of the Jamarat al-Aqabah, which is begun before anything else.
In this: Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) did not mention from where he picked up the pebbles for the pillars. However, we know that he did not pick them up from Muzdalifah, because he lay down until the dawn appeared, then he prayed the Fajr prayer, then he went to al-Mash'ar, then he set out to Mina. But did he pick them up from the road, or did he pick them up when he stood at the pillar? The hadith of Ibn Abbas is ambiguous regarding this; it is possible that he picked them up from the road or that he picked them up when he stood at the pillar. Allah knows best. In any case, what is recommended is that a person be prepared with the pebbles, so that when he reaches the pillar, he can stone it.
In this, also, is the fact that the stoning is done with seven pebbles, neither less nor more. If he throws less, it is said that it does not suffice for him, and that he must feed a poor person. For two pebbles, he must feed two poor people. For three pebbles, a blood sacrifice is required, if this is from the last of the pillars on the days of Tashreeq. If it is from the first pillar, then the pillars after it are not valid, and in that case, a full blood sacrifice is required of him.
But the apparent, and Allah knows best, is that the dropping of one or two pebbles does not harm, because the Companions used to stone the pillars, and one of them would say, "I stoned with five," and another would come and say, "I stoned with six," and no one would rebuke another.
In this, also, is the fact that the pebbles are like the pebbles of al-Khadhf. Al-Khadhf is when a person places the stone between his fingers and then strikes with it like this. This must be small, which is why the jurists said in their definition: between the size of a chickpea and a hazelnut. Some of them said: it is like a bean. So it is neither large nor small.
In this, also, is the fact that he stoned from the bottom of the valley, meaning not from the mountain. The Jamarat al-Aqabah, previously, before this expansion and adjustment, was on a mountain, on the slope of a mountain. Below it was a valley, the course of the flood, and above it was a mountain, but not a high one. It was attached to the mountain itself. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came from the bottom of the valley and stoned it, and did not come to it from above. Accordingly, the Sunnah is to stone it from this side, placing Makkah on his left and Mina on his right, as Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) did, and he said: "This is the standing place of the one upon whom Surat al-Baqarah was revealed."
But if attempting to reach the pillar from this side is difficult for a person, and if he stoned it from another side where there is no difficulty, and it becomes more reverent for him and more complete in tranquility, then his stoning from the other side is better, based on the known rule: that the virtue attached to the essence of the worship is more deserving of consideration than the virtue attached to its place.
In this, also, is the fact that when he stoned the pillar, he hastened to the slaughter, as he said: .
In this, also, is the fact that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) organized his Hajj and designated a specific place for the slaughter of his camels, so that the harm and dirt resulting from the slaughter, such as blood and dung, would be contained, as he said: .
He says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the one who slaughters his sacrificial animals in humility to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and in worship to Him, because this slaughter is not for eating, but it is an act of devotion in itself, as the Exalted said: .
In this is evidence for the error of the idea prevalent among people today, which is that the objective of the 'Id sacrifice is the meat. Therefore, you find that a person does not care whether he slaughters his sacrifice with his own hand, in his house, in his country, or in another place. Until they became—may Allah write for us and for them guidance to the straight path—until they send money to distant, far-off countries instead of the sacrifice, saying: "They are more in need than we are." But the objective is not the meat; the objective is drawing near to Allah through the slaughter. This is the most important thing in the sacrifice. And the wonder is that these people are as if they say: "We feed and do not eat," even though Allah said: , so He began with eating. But these people said: "We do not eat, but we feed and do not eat." Glory to Allah! You leave what Allah ordered first and do what Allah placed last.
The most important thing is that you slaughter it yourself, in humility to Allah and in magnifying Him, and in drawing near to Him. If you cannot, then appoint someone to slaughter it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib to slaughter what remained of his sacrificial animals.
Then, when you have slaughtered and drawn near to Allah, if you wish, eat, and if you wish, give it in charity.
Therefore, when hardship befell the Muslims in one of the years, he did not say, "Give charity with food," nor did he say, "Give charity with money," but he said: . And in the second year, when the hardship was lifted, he said: .
The important point is: it is obligatory for students of knowledge to alert people to the fact that the slaughter itself is a great act of worship that Allah has paired with prayer, the slaughter itself. And if they love to benefit their brothers from the other side, let them send charity money, voluntarily for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We do not say, "Do not send to the poor there," but we say: Do not send the rituals to be performed there while you leave them in your own country.
Therefore, it was part of the wisdom of Allah that these rituals, which are drawing near to Allah through slaughter, are performed in lands other than Makkah, but in Makkah it is hady, and elsewhere it is udhiyah.
So this is a matter that one should be alert to. Most people are carried away by emotion: "Benefit your brothers in the lands, they are hungry, they are poor, they are in greater need than you." Fine, there is no objection, but the slaughter itself is worship. Slaughter it, eat from it, pack it, and send it to them.
Then, if we send the money there, who will undertake the slaughter? We do not know, we do not know who will undertake it? Will a Shi'ite undertake it? Or a Qadiani? Or an atheist? Or one who does not pray? Or one who does not say the name of Allah over the sacrifice? We do not know?! And even if we assume the best, we do not know when they will slaughter. The animals may not be available there, so they delay the slaughter until after the days of slaughter, especially if the sacrifices sent to them are numerous. If, for example, thirty thousand or twenty thousand are sent to them, who will find these sacrifices? And who will sacrifice them?
Therefore, it is obligatory for students of knowledge to clarify this to people, and a person should not be a follower of the crowd, doing what people do without deliberation and without referring to the principles of Islamic law. And here it says: and he shared with him in his hady.
The scholars said: This is part of the divine wisdom that he slaughtered sixty-three with his own hand and gave to 'Ali what remained, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sixty-three years old, and his last hady was sixty-three camels.
In it is also: evidence for agency in the hady, but only in cases of hardship and difficulty. Otherwise, it is better for a person to undertake the slaughter of his hady himself. But if there is hardship, as there is now, a person finds great hardship if he goes to the slaughterhouse.
In it is also: a great virtue for 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, which is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) shared with him in his hady. This sharing was, first, because of his closeness to him, for the best relative of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at that time was 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. Then, 'Ali said: "I entered the state of ihram with what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) entered with, and I dedicated what the Messenger dedicated." So this was his reward, a fitting reward, just as he dedicated what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) dedicated, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him from his hady.
In his saying: is evidence for the emphasis on eating, because he ordered a piece from every camel, and it would have been sufficient for him to take from one camel and eat as much as he wished. But to realize the saying of Allah the Exalted: he ordered that a small piece be taken from every camel, and it was placed in the pot. I said "a small piece" because there were a hundred pieces, which would require a large pot, but these pieces were small. They were placed in a pot and cooked, and he ate from its meat. He and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib ate from its meat and drank from its broth. It is known that if he ate a piece of meat, he did not eat [all of it], but the broth, which contains the taste of all the meat, he drank from it, and the taste of all the meat is present in the broth. They ate from its meat and drank from its broth. Then he mounted (peace and blessings be upon him) and proceeded to the House, and prayed.
In it is also: that when he slaughtered, he would mount to the House and circumambulate. Jabir did not mention the shaving, but others did. This is evidence for what we mentioned previously that Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) did not narrate everything the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did in Hajj. He did not mention the descent of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) between 'Arafah and Muzdalifah, and he did not mention that he prayed witr, nor did he deny the witr, and he did not mention from where he picked up the pebbles, and he did not mention the shaving, even though the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) shaved, applied perfume, and removed himself from his state of ihram, and descended to the House and circumambulated it, circumambulated the House, and did not perform sa'y, because he was performing qiran and had performed sa'y after the Tawaf of Arrival. So he proceeded to the House and prayed the midday prayer in Makkah.
The order of the rites mentioned by Jabir here: stoning, then slaughtering, then proceeding, and he was silent about shaving, but shaving is between slaughtering and proceeding.
In this is evidence that it is recommended for a person to pray the midday prayer in Makkah after circumambulating, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did.
In it is the great blessing in the deeds of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Imagine the matter: he set out from Muzdalifah when it was very light on the camels, and he proceeded calmly, except in the valley of al-Mash'ar, and he stoned the pillars, and slaughtered the camels, and shaved, and dressed, and descended to Makkah and prayed the midday prayer there. A great blessing in this short period, even though it appears, and Allah knows best, that his Hajj was at a time like this, meaning in the time of spring when the night and day are equal.
In it is also that he prayed the midday prayer in Makkah, and in the hadith of Anas that he prayed the midday prayer in Mina, which is in the two Sahihs. Some people preferred the hadith of Anas because it is in the two Sahihs, and said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not pray the midday prayer except in Mina. And some preferred the hadith of Jabir. The correct view is that there is no contradiction, and that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the midday prayer in Makkah, then went out to Mina and found that his companions had not prayed, so he repeated the prayer with them. This is a possible reconciliation, and there is no objection to it. But the objection is to say that Jabir made a mistake, for example, or to discard his narration. That is the objection.
And it is obligatory to reconcile when reconciliation is possible.
In it is also - in this passage - that it is recommended to drink from the water of Zamzam, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank from the water of Zamzam.
In it is that the actions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) are a model, due to his saying to Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib: "Take off, O Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib, for if it were not that the people would overpower you in the distribution of the water, I would take off with you." Because if he had taken off, it would have been a sunnah, and people would follow it, and at that time they would overpower them in the distribution of the water.
In it is the humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he drank from the bucket from which the people drink. They handed him a bucket and he drank from it (peace and blessings be upon him). The apparent situation is that he drank while standing. It was said: He drank while standing because of the narrowness of the place. And it was said: He drank while standing in order to fill himself with it - meaning the water of Zamzam - because the more a person is standing, the wider his stomach becomes, so he fills himself with it more. So Allah knows best.
The important thing is that this hadith is one of the longest hadiths regarding the description of the Hajj of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). For this reason, Shaykh al-Albani - and may Allah grant him understanding - made it the basis for the description of the Hajj of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and built his known and famous ritual on this, and added to it what he added. Yes.