if he misses one night; he must feed two poor persons if he misses two nights; and he must offer a sacrificial animal if he misses three nights.

It has also been said that if he does not spend the nights in Mina, no sacrificial animal is due at all. This view is based on the position that staying overnight is a sunnah, not an obligation.

Evidence cited for this is that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ granted his uncle al-‘Abbas permission, on account of providing water, to spend the night in Mecca so that he could give the people water from Zamzam. (1) Yet this was not a necessity, since Zamzam could have been left unattended and everyone who came could have drunk from it. However, the Prophet’s granting al-‘Abbas permission indicates that spending the night is a sunnah.

The correct view, however, is that it is obligatory, because the wording, “He granted al-‘Abbas permission to spend the night in Mecca on account of his water service,” indicates that the counterpart of a concession is a binding requirement that must be observed.

But we should not act as some muftis do today. A questioner comes to one of them and says: “I did not spend the entire night in Mina. Part of the night passed while I was in Mecca, because I went down to Mecca to complete the rites of Hajj and perform tawaf. Then my journey was delayed, and I did not reach Mina until after dawn.”

He then tells him, “You must offer a sacrificial animal.” This is wrong, for imposing upon Muslims what Allah has not imposed upon them is speaking about Allah without knowledge.

Issue: If a mufti gives a ruling without knowledge and tells the pilgrim, “You must…”