He should collect the pebbles for the stoning on his way, before he reaches Mina; this is preferable. He may, however, gather them in Muzdalifah or in Mina, and wherever he takes them it is acceptable, for Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them) reported: “On the morning of al-ʿAqabah, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was riding, he said, ‘Pick up for me some stones.’ I therefore gathered for him seven small pebbles—the sling-stones known as ḥasā al-khadhf1. He began to roll them in his palm and said, ‘With stones like these, throw.’ He then added, ‘People, beware of excess in religion; those before you were only destroyed by their excess in religion.’”

Thus each pebble should be roughly the size of a broad bean, slightly larger than a chick-pea.

It is not valid to pelt with anything other than pebbles, nor with large stones that would be called rocks, because the Prophet ﷺ cast with small pebbles and said, “Learn your rites from me.”

When the pilgrim reaches Mina—which extends from Wadi Muḥassir to the Jamrat al-ʿAqabah—he goes to the Jamrat al-ʿAqabah, the last of the three Jamarat on the side nearest Mecca and also known as the Major Jamrah. He pelts it with seven pebbles, one after another beginning after sunrise, and the time for casting continues until sunset.

Every pebble must land inside the basin of the Jamrah, whether it remains there or bounces out afterward. The pilgrim must therefore aim at the basin itself, not at the upright pillar, for that pillar was not erected to be struck.