• al-baytūta (overnight stay): From bāta – yabītu, meaning to spend the night, whether one sleeps or not. One says, “bāta yafʿalu kadhā,” i.e., he did such-and-such by night.
• Yawm al-nafr (Day of Departure): It is said, “nafar al-qawm yanfurūna nafran,” meaning the people dispersed. Al-Muḥīṭ states, “The pilgrims departed from Minā and hastened toward Mecca.” I say: Whoever leaves on the second of the Days of Tashrīq has performed the first departure (al-nafr al-awwal), and whoever leaves on the third has performed the final departure (al-nafr al-ākhir).
What is derived from the two hadiths
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Spending the nights of Tashrīq in Minā is obligatory. The proof is al-ʿAbbās’s request for permission and the wording “grant a concession,” for a concession is only given when the original ruling is mandatory.
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A dispensation is granted to the keeper of the pilgrims’ water supply and to the camel herders, excusing them from the overnight stay because of their duties.
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The required stay is to remain for most of the night, not all of it, whether one begins at the start or at the end of the night. Sharḥ al-Ghāyah states: “What is meant by baytūta in Minā is the greater part of the night,” and this view is sound. Al-Nawawī said: “There are two opinions regarding the required amount; the sounder is that it is most of the night.” Fatḥ al-Bārī likewise affirms: “The obligation of overnighting is not fulfilled except by spending the greater part of the night.”
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The well-known view in the school of Imām Aḥmad is that the concession is restricted to the carriers of Zamzam water and the herdsmen, limiting it to the explicit text. Al-Mughnī, however, says: “Those with valid excuses—such as the sick, or one who fears the loss of his property, and the like—are treated like the herdsmen with respect to omitting the overnight stay.” Ibn al-Qayyim adds: “Since the Prophet ﷺ granted a dispensation to the water-bearers and the herdsmen, then anyone who fears for his property, has a sick person who might suffer if he stays away, or is himself ill, is likewise exempt, in light of that textual concession. Allah knows best.”
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As for the stoning: the water-bearers stone the pillars like everyone else. The herdsmen stone the Jamrat al-ʿAqabah on the Day of Sacrifice, then drive the camels away; when they return on the first Day of Departure they cast the stones for the two days, and then