The evidence for this is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, invoked blessings for those who shaved their heads and for those who trimmed their hair (1); and he only supplicates for something that is prescribed by the Sacred Law.

His statement, “No expiatory sacrifice is required for delaying it, nor for doing it before stoning and slaughtering,” means that if one delays shaving or trimming until after the Days of Tashriq, or beyond the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, or delays it until Rabi, Ramadan, or even the following year, nothing is due from him. However, he remains in the first stage of release, because he cannot enter the second stage of release until he shaves or trims his hair.

Yet what appears to be correct is that it is not permissible to delay it beyond the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, because it is a rite, and Allah the Exalted says: “Hajj is in well-known months.” [al-Baqarah 2:197]

But if someone was ignorant of the obligation to shave or trim, and later comes to know of it, we say to him: Shave or trim your hair; and there is nothing due from you for any of the prohibitions of ihram that you may have committed.

His statement, “Nor for doing it before stoning and slaughtering,” means that if he shaves or trims before stoning and slaughtering, it is permissible. If it is asked: Did Allah the Exalted not say, “And do not shave your heads until the sacrificial animal has reached its place of slaughter”? [al-Baqarah 2:196] The answer is: Yes, but the verse does not explicitly prohibit shaving before slaughtering, for Allah the Exalted said, “Until the sacrificial animal has reached its place of slaughter,” [al-Baqarah 2:196] and did not say, “Until you have slaughtered.” The sunnah has clarified that it is permissible to do so before slaughtering.

Thus, the sunnah is that, upon reaching Mina, one begins by stoning the Jamrat al-Aqabah, then slaughtering the sacrificial animal, then shaving or trimming the hair, then performing tawaf, then sa'i; then, if