[al-Hajj: 29], and this refers to the sacrificial animal brought along, for it is an offering made by vow. Hence, if it became unable to continue before reaching its appointed destination, it must be slaughtered. Ordinarily, it is slaughtered only upon reaching its appointed destination, and it reaches that destination only when its owner reaches his own point of lawful release, since its status is dependent upon his. Its owner reaches that point only on the Day of Sacrifice, for before then he may not exit ihrām completely, since he is still required to perform Hajj. This is unlike one who performs a separate Umra, for he exits ihrām completely.

[STAYING AT MINĀ ON THE DAY OF TARWIYAH AND SPENDING THE NIGHT THERE]

As for what the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) includes—staying at Minā on the Day of Tarwiyah and spending the night there before the Day of Arafah; then remaining at Uranah—which lies between the Sacred Monument and Arafah—until the sun passes its zenith; and proceeding from there to Arafah, with the sermon and the two prayers taking place along the way in the bed of Uranah Valley—all this is virtually a matter of consensus among the jurists, although many authors fail to distinguish these details and most people are unaware of them because newly introduced customs have become prevalent.

[COMBINING THE DHUHR AND ASR PRAYERS, AND THE MAGHRIB AND ISHĀ PRAYERS]

Another part of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he led all the Muslims in combining the Dhuhr and Asr prayers at Arafah, and the Maghrib and Ishā prayers at Muzdalifah. He was accompanied by a great many people from Mecca and its surrounding areas whose homes lay within the travel distance required for shortening prayers. Yet he did not instruct those residing in the vicinity of the Sacred Mosque to perform each prayer separately at its prescribed time. Nor did he instruct the Meccans and others like them to withdraw and refrain from praying Asr with him, then perform it separately during its prescribed time, apart from the rest of the Muslims. Anyone who has examined the hadiths necessarily knows that nothing of the sort occurred. This is the view of Mālik and of a group of the followers of al-Shāfiī and Ahmad, and it is also indicated by Ahmad’s statements.

Some followers of al-Shāfiī and Ahmad overlooked this and consistently applied their analogical reasoning concerning combined prayers, believing that he combined them only because he was traveling. Combining prayers due to travel, however, is permitted only to someone who has traveled sixteen parasangs, whereas the residents of Mecca are not that far from Uranah.