the Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ prayers with the imām, and, after performing the dawn prayer, remained there until daybreak—having already stood at ʿArafah—then his Hajj is complete, for this is exactly how the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, performed the rite.

The scholars then differed: is remaining at Muzdalifah after the dawn prayer and spending the night there merely a Sunnah of Hajj, or is it one of its obligations?

Al-Awzāʿī and a group of the Successors held that it is obligatory; whoever misses it must perform another Hajj the following year and offer a sacrificial animal. The jurists of the various regions, however, consider it non-obligatory, maintaining that anyone who fails to stand at Muzdalifah and spend the night there must simply offer a blood-sacrifice.

Al-Shāfiʿī said: If a pilgrim leaves Muzdalifah after the first half of the night has passed and has not prayed there, he is liable for a blood-sacrifice.

The majority’s chief proof is the sound report that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, sent the weaker members of his household ahead during the night, so they did not witness the dawn prayer with him at Muzdalifah.

The first party rely on his words, peace and blessings be upon him, in the ḥadīth of ʿUrwah ibn Muḍarris—whose authenticity is agreed upon: “Whoever joins us in this prayer (meaning the dawn prayer) at Jamʿ, and had previously stood at ʿArafah by night or by day, his Hajj is complete and he has fulfilled his rites.” They also cite the verse:

“When you stream down from ʿArafāt, remember Allah at the Sacred Monument, and remember Him as He has guided you” (Qur’an 2:198).

Another argument advanced by the first party is that the Muslims have unanimously agreed not to implement every detail of that ḥadīth; the majority hold that whoever stays in Muzdalifah during the night and departs before dawn still has a complete Hajj, as does one who sleeps through the prayer. They likewise concur that if a pilgrim stands at Muzdalifah without making remembrance of Allah, his Hajj remains valid. This consensus, they argue, also weakens any attempt to treat the plain wording of the verse as an absolute obligation.

“Muzdalifah” and “Jamʿ” are two names for the same site. The Sunnah of Hajj there—as noted—is for the pilgrims to spend the night, combine the Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ prayers at the beginning of the ʿIshāʾ time, and pray Fajr while it is still dark.

A Discussion of the Stoning of the Jamarāt

The rite that follows is the pelting of the jamarāt. The Muslims agree that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—stood at the Sacred Monument (that is, Muzdalifah) after he had prayed Fajr, then left it before sunrise for Minā, and that on that day—the Day of Sacrifice—he stoned Jamrat al-ʿAqabah after sunrise.

They likewise concur that whoever stones it on that day during that period—namely, from sunrise until the sun begins its decline—has performed the rite in its proper time. They also agree that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did not stone any jamrah on the Day of Sacrifice other than that one.

They differed, however, concerning one who stones