He also stayed at Minā on the day of Eid and in front of Minā, leading the Muslims in prayers of two rak‘ahs each. The people of Mecca and others prayed behind him. Abū Bakr and ‘Umar did likewise after him. Neither the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor Abū Bakr, nor ‘Umar instructed any of the people of Mecca to offer four rak‘ahs, whether at Minā or elsewhere.

Accordingly, the sounder of the two scholarly views is that the people of Mecca combine prayers at ‘Arafah and Muzdalifah and shorten them there and at Minā. This is the position of the majority of the jurists of the Hijaz, including Mālik and Ibn ‘Uyaynah. It is also the position of Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh and the preferred view of a group of scholars from the schools of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad, including Abū al-Khattāb in his treatment of acts of worship.

Another view holds that they combine prayers but do not shorten them. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and the position explicitly reported from Ahmad. Yet another view holds that they neither shorten nor combine prayers, as maintained by some scholars from the schools of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad. This is the weakest of these views.

The unquestionably correct position is that the people of Mecca shorten and combine prayers there, just as they did there with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his caliphs. It has not been reported that any Muslim told them there, “Complete your prayers, for we are travellers.” It is, however, reported that the Prophet said this during the campaign for the conquest of Mecca, when he led them in prayer within Mecca itself. Likewise, ‘Umar would instruct the people of Mecca to complete their prayers when he led them within the city, but he did not instruct them to do so at Minā.