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Allah Most High has set out hajj in full in His Book: its rites, sacred sites, rulings, prescribed time, and what is permitted and prohibited during it. He says:

“Hajj is in well-known months.” [Al-Baqara: 197]

[That is, the time for hajj is well-known months.] Hajj is an activity, whereas months are periods of time. Thus, the months are not themselves hajj; rather, they are its appointed time.

There is disagreement over which months are meant. One view is that they are Shawwāl, Dhū al-Qa‘da, and ten days of Dhū al-Hijja, because once a pilgrim has stoned the pillar on the Day of Sacrifice, he is released from ihram, or his hajj is not invalidated if he has intercourse thereafter. Abstaining from intercourse before the circumambulation of ifāda and the stoning of the pillar is among the prescribed practices of hajj, not its indispensable obligations. These may be called “months,” although they comprise two months and part of a third, because they designate a period of time. The Arabs use the name of an entire period to refer to part of it. Thus, someone says, “I came to you on Thursday,” although he came during only one hour of that day, or “I came to you in such-and-such a month,” although he came on only one day of it.

Another view is that the months meant are Shawwāl, Dhū al-Qa‘da, and Dhū al-Hijja, because stoning the pillars during the days at Minā takes place after the first ten days and is part of hajj. Moreover, a pilgrim may not have intercourse with women until after the circumambulation of ifāda, which he may defer until the end of the month without owing a compensatory sacrifice; this circumambulation is itself part of hajj.

Sexual relations are what is meant by the prohibition in His words:

“There must be no sexual relations, sinfulness, or disputing during hajj.” [Al-Baqara: 197]

Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“It has been made lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives on the nights of fasting.” [Al-Baqara: 187]

Sinfulness here means sacrificing at stone altars. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“Or a sinful offering over which a name other than Allah’s has been invoked.” [Al-An‘ām: 145]

Some say that sinfulness encompasses all acts of disobedience, and this is the more evident interpretation. The meaning is therefore that a pilgrim must not act sinfully by doing anything Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has forbidden while he is in ihram for hajj, such as killing game, removing hair, clipping a nail, or anything else Allah has forbidden him to do while in ihram.

As for the disputing Allah prohibited during hajj, Quraysh used to make their standing at al-Mash‘ar al-Harām, the Sacred Monument, at Quzah in Muzdalifa, whereas the Arabs and others used to stand at ‘Arafa, and they would