633 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “Sawdah asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, on the night spent at Muzdalifah, for permission to leave ahead of him. She was thabita—that is, slow-moving and heavy—so he allowed her to go.” Agreed upon. (1)
Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• thabita: from thabbata – yuthabbitu – thabt, “to impede or slow down”; a thabit person is sluggish or weighty. A woman is called thabita; the plural is thabitāt.
Lessons drawn from the two ḥadiths
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Both narrations indicate that the Prophet’s ﷺ practice was to spend the night in Muzdalifah until after daybreak. Al-Mughnī states: “The recommended course is to follow the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by remaining there until morning, then standing until the light becomes bright.”
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For the weak—women, children, the incapacitated elderly, the sick—and likewise any strong companions whom they cannot do without, it is permissible to send them on from Muzdalifah to Minā after the middle of the night preceding the Day of Sacrifice. Al-Mughnī says: “We know of no disagreement over allowing them to go ahead, for it brings them ease, spares them the hardship of the crowd, and follows the practice of their Prophet ﷺ.”
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Al-Wazīr said: “There is consensus that it is allowed to depart Muzdalifah after midnight, except that Abū Ḥanīfah obliges a compensatory sacrifice.” The evidence of the majority is the ḥadith of Ibn ʿAbbās: “I was among those whom the Prophet ﷺ sent on ahead with the weak members of his family from Muzdalifah to Minā.” Reported by al-Bukhārī (1678) and Muslim (1293).