But some said that it is the distance of five hundred cubits, a cubit being approximately half a metre.

It appears that it is not possible to hasten nowadays, since a person is confined by the cars and cannot move forward or backward. He may even be held up in the same place, unable to walk. But this is beyond a person’s control, so he should intend in his heart that, had it been possible for him to hasten, he would have done so. If Allah knows this to be his intention, He may reward him for the merit and reward that he has missed.

His statement, “and he took the pebbles”: the apparent meaning of the author’s words is that he took them from the Valley of Muhassir or from beyond it, since he said, “When he reached Muhassir, he hastened for the distance of a stone’s throw and took [the pebbles].” Accordingly, he would take them after passing beyond Muhassir, along his route.

What appears to me from the sunnah is that the Messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, took the pebbles from beside the Jamarah, for “he instructed Ibn Abbas to pick up pebbles for him, while standing and saying to the people, ‘Stone with pebbles like these.’” (1) As for taking them from Muzdalifah, this is not recommended. It was only regarded as recommended by some of the early Successors, so that one could begin by stoning Jamrat al-Aqabah as soon as one reached Mina, since stoning Jamrat al-Aqabah is the greeting of Mina and is done before anything else. Indeed, the Messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, stoned it while still on his camel, before going to his camp and dismounting. People, while on their camels, cannot readily ask someone among them, “Pick up pebbles for us,” but many