Allah has blessed me with the Hajj to His Sacred House, and while I was at Muzdalifah, I found fifty riyals in the dirt while I was collecting pebbles, so I took them with the intention of donating them.
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The questioner : Allah has blessed me with the Hajj to His Sacred House, and while I was at Muzdalifah, I found fifty riyals in the dirt while I was collecting pebbles, so I took them with the intention of donating them to Muslims or others, because if I had left them in the dirt, no Muslim would have benefited from them. In fact, when I returned, I donated them, adding a sum of money, to the Muslims in Kosovo. Is there anything required of me in this?
The Shaykh : First, the questioner mentioned that she found this while she was picking up pebbles. I tell her and others that picking up pebbles from Muzdalifah is not a recommended practice (sunnah), for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not pick up the pebbles for stoning from Muzdalifah, nor did he order it.
Rather, some scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) considered it recommended because a person is commanded, upon arriving at Mina, to begin with stoning before anything else. They said that if a person mounts his mount and heads to Mina, when would he pick up the pebbles if we say that the first thing he begins with is stoning? So they said that it is recommended to take the pebbles from Muzdalifah before mounting. This is the view of some scholars: that it is recommended to pick up pebbles from Muzdalifah. Otherwise, there is no recommended practice (sunnah) in that. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that seven pebbles only be picked up for him while he was on his way to Mina. Indeed, Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "He ordered Ibn Abbas to pick up pebbles for him while he was standing at the Jamrah al-Aqabah (the first pillar), so let him pick them up for him, and then he stoned with them" This is the well-known report.
As for what she found, it is not permissible for her to donate it in her place in her country, whether in Kosovo or elsewhere. This is because she found it in a noble place where good deeds are multiplied, so she had to donate it in Mecca in order to increase the reward for its owner.
Based on this, we tell this woman that what she donated to Kosovo is in its proper place, if Allah wills, but the reward is for you. You must donate fifty riyals in Mecca now, instructing one of your acquaintances to donate fifty riyals on behalf of the owner, and Allah the Exalted knows about it.
And if she has no acquaintances in Mecca, then when she goes to Mecca, she donates fifty riyals on behalf of the owner of the fifty that were lost.
The Shaykh : First, the questioner mentioned that she found this while she was picking up pebbles. I tell her and others that picking up pebbles from Muzdalifah is not a recommended practice (sunnah), for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not pick up the pebbles for stoning from Muzdalifah, nor did he order it.
Rather, some scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) considered it recommended because a person is commanded, upon arriving at Mina, to begin with stoning before anything else. They said that if a person mounts his mount and heads to Mina, when would he pick up the pebbles if we say that the first thing he begins with is stoning? So they said that it is recommended to take the pebbles from Muzdalifah before mounting. This is the view of some scholars: that it is recommended to pick up pebbles from Muzdalifah. Otherwise, there is no recommended practice (sunnah) in that. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that seven pebbles only be picked up for him while he was on his way to Mina. Indeed, Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "He ordered Ibn Abbas to pick up pebbles for him while he was standing at the Jamrah al-Aqabah (the first pillar), so let him pick them up for him, and then he stoned with them" This is the well-known report.
As for what she found, it is not permissible for her to donate it in her place in her country, whether in Kosovo or elsewhere. This is because she found it in a noble place where good deeds are multiplied, so she had to donate it in Mecca in order to increase the reward for its owner.
Based on this, we tell this woman that what she donated to Kosovo is in its proper place, if Allah wills, but the reward is for you. You must donate fifty riyals in Mecca now, instructing one of your acquaintances to donate fifty riyals on behalf of the owner, and Allah the Exalted knows about it.
And if she has no acquaintances in Mecca, then when she goes to Mecca, she donates fifty riyals on behalf of the owner of the fifty that were lost.