this, saying: “When you depart from ‘Arafat, remember Allah at the Sacred Monument.” [al-Baqarah 2:198] The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, likened it to ‘Arafah when he said, “I stood here, and all of Muzdalifah is a place of standing.” (1)

However, the middle position—and the best of the views—is that it is obligatory, and that failing to observe it is remedied by a sacrificial offering. This is the established position of the school.

“He may depart after the middle of the night; if he leaves before then, he must offer a sacrifice, just as if he reaches Muzdalifah after dawn rather than before it …”

His statement, “He may depart after the middle of the night”: the pronoun refers to every pilgrim, whether strong or weak, male or female. He may depart after the middle of the night. What is meant is the legally defined midpoint of the night: halfway between sunset and the rise of dawn.

The evidence cited is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, permitted the weak to depart from Muzdalifah at night. (2) They say: once the night has reached its midpoint, he has spent most of the night at Muzdalifah, and in many scholarly issues, the greater part is treated as equivalent to the whole. Thus, if he has spent most of the night there, that suffices. However, this reasoning in this ruling is open to question, for it does not accord with the evidence.

The evidence is that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, sent the weak members of his household ahead at night; and in some reports, it says: during the pre-dawn hours. (3) The word “night” may refer to the first half, the second half, or the pre-dawn hours; restricting it to what comes after the midpoint requires evidence.