As for the practices established in the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—staying at Minā on the Day of Tarwiyah, spending the night there before the Day of ‘Arafah, then staying at ‘Uranah, between the Sacred Monument and ‘Arafah, until the sun passes its zenith, and proceeding from there towards ‘Arafah, delivering the sermon and offering the two prayers along the way in the valley of ‘Uranah—these are virtually matters of consensus among the jurists. Nevertheless, many authors do not clearly distinguish these details, and most people are unfamiliar with them because newly introduced customs have become so prevalent.

It was also the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to lead all the Muslims together in combining the noon and afternoon prayers at ‘Arafah, and the sunset and night prayers at Muzdalifah. With him were many people from Mecca and its surroundings whose homes lay less than the distance permitting the shortening of prayers. He did not instruct those living near the Sacred Mosque to offer each prayer separately at its prescribed time. Nor did he instruct the Meccans and others like them to withdraw, refrain from offering the afternoon prayer with him, and instead pray it separately within its own time, apart from the other Muslims. Anyone who examines the hadith reports knows beyond doubt that no such thing occurred.

This is the view of Mālik and a group of followers of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad, and Ahmad’s own statements support it. Some followers of al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad overlooked this and applied their analogy concerning the combining of prayers across the board. They believed that he combined the prayers only because he was travelling, and that combining prayers on account of travel is permitted only for someone who travels sixteen parasangs, whereas the residents of Mecca do not live that far from ‘Uranah.