And the months of Hajj are Shawwal, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah

The Shaykh : We now move on to the temporal miqat. The author said "And the months of Hajj are Shawwal, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah". The months of Hajj are three? No, according to the author, the months of Hajj are two months and part of a third: Shawwal, which is our current month, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and Dhu al-Hijjah. It is said Dhu al-Qa'dah and Dhu al-Qi'dah, and it is said Dhu al-Hajjah and Dhu al-Hijjah. The most eloquent form is to open the first (Dhu al-Qa'dah) and close the second (Dhu al-Hijjah), so you say Dhu al-Qa'dah and Dhu al-Hijjah. Okay, yes, Shawwal, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah. Why did he say "of Dhu al-Hijjah" while for the first one he said "Dhu al-Qi'dah" with the waw?

The questioner : A neighbor entered upon him.

The Shaykh : "Ten of," because it is in the genitive case, and "Dhu" means "owner" and is one of the five names that are raised with the waw, genitive with the ya, and accusative with the alif. Okay, this is the well-known view of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), and his followers adopted it, that the months of Hajj are two months and part of a third. However, a response to this view is that Allah said and did not say "in known months." If He had said "in months," the three months would be a time adverb, and the thing within the time is not required to fill the time. If He had said "in months," we would say yes, it is permissible that the meaning is two months and part of a third. But He said , and "ashhur" is a plural, and the well-known rule in the Arabic language is that the minimum for a plural is three. Accordingly, the months of Hajj are three, and this is the school of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him). It is closer to correctness than what the author held, because it aligns with the apparent meaning of the verse . If someone asks, "Do you permit people to stand on the fifteenth of Dhu al-Hijjah?" No, we do not permit it, just as you do not permit people to stand on the tenth of Shawwal, is that not so? These are months, but it is not required that Hajj be permissible on every day of these months; it is not required. Okay, and a response to the author's statement, clarifying its weakness, is that among the days of Hajj are the eleventh day, the twelfth day, and the thirteenth day. These days are days of Hajj. What is done in them? Stoning the pillars and staying overnight. How can we exclude them from the months of Hajj when they are times for the acts of Hajj? If a person said, "I want to stone the three pillars and the Pillar of Aqabah on the day of Eid," is that possible? No, it is not possible. So the stoning of the pillars must be on the three days, and on the day of Eid there is one pillar, the Pillar of Aqabah. This is outside the limit the author stated, because the author said "ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah". Some people say nine days of Dhu al-Hijjah, because Hajj is 'Arafah, and when does 'Arafah end? On the ninth. But this view is weaker than what the author held, because Allah said and said . According to the view that it is nine days, this day which Allah named the Day of Hajj is excluded. So the correct view is what Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) held, that the months of Hajj are three, as is apparent from the Qur'an: Dhu al-Qi'dah and Dhu al-Hijjah. Yes, Shawwal, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and Dhu al-Hijjah.
If someone asks, "Does anything follow from this disagreement?" We say yes, something follows. First, it follows in matters of oaths. If someone said, "By Allah, I will fast three days of the months of Hajj," and he fasted on the twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-third of Dhu al-Hijjah, would he have fulfilled his oath? No, according to the school, because the days of Hajj have ended. But according to Malik's view, he would have fulfilled his oath because he fasted in the months of Hajj, and the months of Hajj do not end until the thirtieth of Dhu al-Hijjah or the establishment of the month of Muharram. Also based on this, it is not permissible to delay any of the acts of Hajj beyond the three months except out of dire necessity. Otherwise, it is obligatory that Dhu al-Hijjah not end while you have any of the acts of Hajj remaining, except for the Farewell Tawaf, because the Farewell Tawaf is separate from Hajj for one who wishes to leave. Accordingly, is it permissible for a person to delay shaving his head until he enters Muharram? No. Is it permissible to delay the Tawaf of Ifadah until he enters Muharram? No. But if there is an excuse, there is no harm. The excuse for shaving or shortening is that there are wounds on his head that prevent him from shaving or shortening, so he may delay until he heals. The excuse for Tawaf is that a woman is afflicted with post-natal bleeding; she experiences post-natal bleeding while standing at 'Arafah, and post-natal bleeding usually lasts forty days. So she will leave Dhu al-Hijjah without having performed the Tawaf of Ifadah. We say this is permissible because her delay of the Tawaf is due to an excuse. This is the view that the soul finds comfort in and the heart finds rest in, because it aligns with the apparent meaning of the verse. The principle in indications is that we take what? The apparent meaning, unless there is a legal proof that takes the statement away from its apparent meaning. Otherwise, we take the apparent meaning. With this, it is established that there are two types of miqat: spatial, which are five, and temporal, which are three. What are the three temporal ones?

The questioner : Shawwal, Dhu al-Qi'dah, and ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah, according to the author's view.

The Shaykh : Is this the stronger position?

The questioner : The entire month of Dhu al-Hijjah.

The Shaykh : Okay, one of the benefits of timing is that we ask: Is it permissible for a person to enter the state of ihram for Hajj before the spatial or temporal miqat? Or for 'Umrah before the spatial miqat? We say, or the temporal miqat, or is there no need?

The questioner : There is no need.

The Shaykh : Why? Because 'Umrah is permissible at all times, while Hajj has specific times, known months. Is it permissible for a person to enter the state of ihram for Hajj before its months or before the spatial miqat, and likewise for 'Umrah? The answer: Some scholars said it is not permissible to enter the state of ihram before the spatial or temporal miqat, and that if one enters the state of ihram for Hajj before the month of Shawwal begins, the ihram becomes 'Umrah, not Hajj, because Allah the Exalted said , and this person entered the state of ihram before the months of Hajj, so his ihram is 'Umrah. Or do we say it is defective and does not take effect, just as if one prayed the midday prayer before the sun passed its zenith, it would be valid as a voluntary prayer or not valid? Some scholars said the ihram takes effect but is disliked. The ihram takes effect because he said the talbiyah for Allah, but it is disliked because it contradicts the apparent meaning of the verse .
Likewise regarding the spatial miqats. The second opinion in the issue is that it is disliked to enter the state of ihram before the miqat, but if one does, his ihram is valid and takes effect. For example, if a person from the people of Madinah enters the state of ihram from Madinah itself, we say this is disliked. Do not exceed what Allah and His Messenger have prescribed; enter the state of ihram from Dhu al-Hulayfah. But does the ihram take effect? Yes, according to the majority, it takes effect, but it is disliked. The intended meaning of ihram is the intention, not the washing and wearing the clothes. Most of the common people understand the meaning of ihram as what? Wearing the ihram clothes. But that is not the case. Ihram, as we will see, if Allah wills, in the next chapter, is the intention to enter the rites. Accordingly, if a person is in Madinah and washes and wears the ihram clothes but does not enter the state of ihram until Dhu al-Hulayfah, he has not done anything disliked. Why? Because ihram is the intention to enter the rites, and this did not occur from him except at the miqat. If someone asks, "What do you say about a person who does not pass by any of the miqats? Should he enter the state of ihram from his town, even if it is far, because he will not pass by a miqat?" What is the answer? We say that the people of Kufah and the people of Basrah complained to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both), and they said, "O Commander of the Faithful, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Qarn al-Manazil as the miqat for the people of Najd, and it is a detour from our path. Detour means far from our path." He said (may Allah be pleased with him) "Look for the point on your path that is opposite to it". So we say to this person who does not pass by the miqat: enter the state of ihram when you are opposite to the miqat. This is clear for one who is traveling on the ground, as 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said. But if one is traveling in the air, if he is opposite to it in the air, he enters the state of ihram, like the person in an airplane. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) explicitly stated that it is not permissible for one in an airplane to enter the state of ihram or to delay the ihram until he lands. He said it is obligatory to enter the state of ihram in the airplane when one is opposite to the miqat.

The questioner : There were no airplanes in his time.

The Shaykh : He mentioned it. He spoke about the sorcerers, the sorcerers who lie to people and say, "We are carried by the angels to Makkah in one day; we go to 'Arafah in one day." He said "These people are in error, because the jinn pass over them from above the miqat and they do not enter the state of ihram from it". This is exactly analogous to the airplane.