Thus, fasting these three days may begin from the moment he enters ihram for ‘umrah, and the latest time for fasting them is the final day of the Days of Tashriq.

What appears to me from the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar and ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with them, is that the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to fast them during the Days of Tashriq. This is due to the statement of ‘Aishah and Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them: “Permission to fast during the Days of Tashriq was granted only to one who could not find a sacrificial animal.” (1) The apparent meaning of this report is that the Companions used to fast them during the Days of Tashriq. Fasting them during the Days of Tashriq is fasting them during Hajj, since the Days of Tashriq are among the days of Hajj: the stoning of the pillars takes place on the eleventh and twelfth, as well as the thirteenth. Therefore, if someone were to hold that it is preferable to fast the three days during the Days of Tashriq, this would be closer to what is correct.

Must they be consecutive?

The answer is: If he begins them on the first day of the Days of Tashriq, they must necessarily be consecutive, for he can only fast them during the days of Hajj consecutively, since only three days of Hajj remain, and it is not permissible to delay them beyond the Days of Tashriq.

However, if he fasts them before the Days of Tashriq, he may fast them either separately or consecutively. This is based on the general principle of legal theory and hadith: that what Allah and His Messenger have left unrestricted must remain unrestricted, and what Allah has restricted must be restricted.