Then he mounted his riding beast; and when it reached the open plain of al-Bayḍāʾ, he proclaimed the talbiyah for ḥajj.

As to the point from which the pilgrimage offering (hady) should be driven, Mālik held that the Sunnah is to bring it from outside the Sanctuary (al-ḥill). Accordingly, he ruled that anyone who buys a hady in Mecca without first leading it in from al-ḥill must take it to ʿArafah and make it stand there; if he fails to do so, he must provide a substitute. If the animal has indeed been brought in from al-ḥill, it is merely recommended that it be stationed at ʿArafah—a view attributed to Ibn ʿUmar and endorsed by al-Layth.

Al-Shāfiʿī, Sufyān al-Thawrī, and Abū Thawr stated that making the hady stand at ʿArafah is Sunnah, yet no blame attaches to one who omits it, whether or not the animal has come from al-ḥill. Abū Ḥanīfah, by contrast, maintained that stopping the hady at ʿArafah is not Sunnah at all.

Mālik’s proof for bringing the hady from al-ḥill into the Sanctuary is that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—did so, saying, “Learn your rites from me.”

Al-Shāfiʿī remarked that this procedure of taʿrīf (bringing the hady to ʿArafah) is Sunnah, just like collaring. Abū Ḥanīfah replied that it is not Sunnah; the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—only performed it because his dwelling lay outside the Sacred Precinct. A report from ʿĀʾishah gives one the choice of performing taʿrīf or leaving it.

As for the proper place of slaughter, it is the Ancient House. The Exalted says, “Then their place of sacrifice is at the Ancient House” (al-Ḥajj 22:33), and, “as an offering that reaches the Kaʿbah” (al-Māʾidah 5:95). The scholars unanimously agree that no one may slaughter inside the Kaʿbah itself, nor within the Sacred Mosque, and that the phrase “as an offering that reaches the Kaʿbah” means slaughtering in Mecca so that its meat benefits the city’s needy and poor.

Mālik would say that the words “as an offering that reaches the Kaʿbah” denote Mecca, and he would permit no one to slaughter a hady within the Sanctuary except in Mecca. Al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfah held that slaughtering anywhere in the Sanctuary, even outside Mecca, is sufficient. Al-Ṭabarī maintained that one may slaughter the hady wherever one wishes, apart from the hady of qirān and the hunting-compensation, which may be slaughtered only inside the Sanctuary.

In summary, slaughtering at Minā during ḥajj is unanimously accepted, and during ʿumrah it is in Mecca, save for the dispute over the hady of someone prevented (muḥṣar). Mālik held that slaughtering for ḥajj in Mecca and for ʿumrah at Minā is also acceptable.

Mālik’s evidence for restricting slaughter within the Sanctuary to Mecca is the Prophet’s statement—peace and blessings be upon him—“All the passes and pathways of Mecca are a place of slaughter.” He made one exception: the compensatory hady (fidyah), which he allowed to be slaughtered outside Mecca.

Regarding the time of slaughter, Mālik said that if the hady of tamattuʿ or a voluntary offering is slaughtered before the Day of Sacrifice it does not suffice. Abū Ḥanīfah permitted this for a voluntary hady, while al-Shāfiʿī deemed it permissible in both cases.

There is no disagreement among the majority that when a hady is commuted to fasting, the fasting may be done wherever one wishes, for no benefit from it accrues to the people of the Sanctuary or of Mecca. They did, however, differ over charity substituted for the hady: the majority of scholars said it must be given to the poor of Mecca and the Sanctuary, since it replaces the hunting-compensation that belongs to them. Mālik said: “The feeding …”