After sunrise on 9 Dhul-Hijjah, all pilgrims must proceed to Arafat, but they are recommended to enter Arafat after midday, if they can. The leader of the pilgrimage, who is normally the king or his deputy, is recommended to deliver a sermon explaining the actions which pilgrims must do on that day and the following days. He should enjoin all pilgrims to maintain the fear of God in their hearts and to abstain from every forbidden thing. After that they are recommended to pray both Zuhr and Asr, with each prayer shortened to two rak’ahs only, and both offered in succession. Pilgrims may use the whole area of Arafat with the exception of the Valley of Uranah. They are recommended to turn their faces toward the direction of the Kaabah, and stand on the Mount Mercy, if that is convenient. What pilgrims do at Arafat is to praise God and pray Him for whatever they like. If they read the Qur’an, it is perfectly fine. They should praise God and repeat their talbiyah declaration, which affirms that they believe in His oneness and that He has no partners. Prayers which are reported to have been said by the Prophet (peace be upon him) as he attended at Arafat on his pilgrimage are available in any manual of pilgrimage. It is most emphatically recommended that pilgrims devote their thoughts to their worship and not indulge in anything forbidden. They must not quarrel with anyone, even if they are wronged. If they have a grievance against anyone, they will be amply rewarded by God if they refrain from quarrelling over their grievances.

For the attendance at Arafat to be proper and valid, it should be during its appointed time, which runs from midday on 9 Dhul-Hijjah until dawn on the following day. If a pilgrim attends only for a very brief period during this span of time, he has attended at Arafat and his pilgrimage is valid. It is much more preferable, however, to combine a portion of daytime and a portion of the night at Arafat. The mark that separates day from night, from the Islamic point of view, is sunset. Pilgrims must try to arrive at Arafat before sunset so that they can attend there during the day and the night. If someone is delayed and arrives at Arafat after sunset, his attendance is valid and proper. Without attendance at Arafat, the pilgrimage is not valid. The Prophet says: “Arafat is the pilgrimage.”

There are many things the pilgrims are recommended to do at Arafat. One is to try to reach the place where the Prophet attended, which was at the large rocks at the bottom of Mount Mercy. One must not, however, cause anyone any harm in attempting to be there. His reward will be greater if he forgoes that in order not to injure anyone. A pilgrim should also maintain his cleanliness and purity, demonstrate his humbleness, stress his need of God’s grace, pray Him ardently and with humiliation, devote himself totally to God, make clear his repentance of his past sins, and repeat his determination to try to avoid all sins in future. The day of Arafat is a great day for Muslims. God’s mercy is bestowed on them. He forgives them their past sins and praises them to His angels.

When the sun sets on that day and pilgrims are at Arafat, their attendance is complete and the main part of their pilgrimage is over.

Departing From Arafat

After sunset, pilgrims may leave Arafat and proceed to Muzdalifah. Although this departure is known as “surging on”, pilgrims should take it easy as they leave. They do not need to run as some people suggest. The atmosphere must be one of calmness, quietness and ease. The Prophet used to speed a little when he was in an open space, which is not crowded with people. Pilgrims are also recommended to repeat the phrases declaring that they are responding to God’s call and that they believe in His oneness. These phrases are known as Talbiyah. The most common of them are: Labbayk Allahumma labbayk. Labbayk Laa shareeka laka labbayk. Inna al-hamda wal-ni’mata laka wal-mulk. Laa shareeka lak. Phrases of glorifying and praising God and reading the Qur’an are also recommended as the pilgrims continue their journey from Arafat to Muzdalifah.

When the pilgrims arrive at Muzdalifah they should pray Maghrib and Isha there as a “delayed combination.” One adhan and two iqamahs are required for both prayers which are offered one after the other, starting with Maghrib in 3 rak’ahs before praying Isha in the shortened form of two rak’ahs. No Sunnah is to be offered in between these two obligatory prayers. When prayers are over, the pilgrims may sleep, because they are required to stay the night at Muzdalifah.

The main duty of staying at Muzdalifah is deemed to have been fulfilled if one spends there any part of the second half of the night, but it is strongly recommended that pilgrims stay there until they have prayed Fajr, or dawn prayer. At Muzdalifah, pilgrims pick up seven stones to do the stoning at the grand Jamrah. They may pick up 49 little stones, if they so desire, but they may equally well pick up only seven at Muzdalifah and pick up the rest at Mina. After dawn prayers pilgrims stand facing the direction of qiblah and pray God for forgiveness and for anything they wish. Muzdalifah is the place mentioned in the Qur’an as Al-Mash’ar Al-Haraam, which indicates that it is a sacred place where worship and devotion are richly rewarded.

Shortly before sunrise, pilgrims resume their journey to Mina. Again, they are recommended to repeat their talbiyah as often as possible. When they arrive at Muhassar Valley, which is in between Muzdalifah and Mina, they should quicken their pace a little. As they arrive at Mina, they should proceed to do their first stoning, which, on this day, is at the grand Jamrah only. As the pilgrim throws each stone, he raises his hand and says: Allah-u akbar or “God is supreme.” It is recommended that as we do the stoning we should keep Mina to our right-hand side and the Kaabah to our left. However, this is not compulsory.

The Sacrifice

After finishing the stoning at the Jamrah, it is time for the pilgrim to slaughter the animal he wishes to sacrifice. Each pilgrim, man or woman, who has taken advantage of offering the Umrah either before the pilgrimage or together with it, is required to sacrifice a sheep, or, alternatively, seven pilgrims may share in the sacrifice of one camel or a cow. Pilgrims are recommended to have a portion of their sacrifice for themselves and leave the rest for the poor.

After the sacrifice, the pilgrims may shave their heads or shorten their hair. To shave is much better, because the Prophet prayed for those who shaved three times before he included those who shortened their hair with them. Women shorten only a small portion of their hair by an inch or so. As they shave, pilgrims may pray God and praise Him for having enabled them to offer the pilgrimage and ask Him to add a good deed into their record for every hair they have taken off their heads and to wipe off a sin for every hair as well. With shaving or shortening his hair, a pilgrim releases himself from the restrictions of ihraam, with the exception of those relating to sex.

The Ifaadah

When pilgrims have finished their stoning, sacrifice and shaving, and have put on their ordinary clothes, they are recommended to wear some perfume and go to Makkah where they can offer the tawaf of ifaadah, or ziyarah (i.e. visit). This tawaf is one of the main and essential duties of the pilgrimage. It is done in the same manner as the tawaf of arrival. Once this tawaf has been completed, all restrictions of ihraam are lifted. If some pilgrims delay going to Makkah until they have finished their stay in Mina, then they must continue to observe the last restrictions of ihraam until they have done their tawaf of ifaadah. Women who are in their menstrual period cannot do this tawaf until they have finished their period. The Hanafi school of Fiqh, however, allows a woman in her period to do the tawaf if her company is about to leave for home and delaying her tawaf means that she is left behind. Imam ibn Taymiyah is of the opinion that her tawaf is perfectly valid and that she need not sacrifice anything in compensation.

The Hanafi school of Fiqh, however, requires her to slaughter a camel or a cow.

Pilgrims who have not done their sa’ie for the pilgrimage may do it after the tawaf of ifaadah.

Other Duties

After the tawaf of ifaadah, pilgrims return to Mina where they are required to stay two or three days. Every day they stone the three Jamrahs, with seven little stones each. Whether they stay two or three days is a matter of their own choice, but on these days they must spend the night at Mina. As they do the stoning, they start with the little Jamrah, the nearest to Mina, then the middle one, and finish with the grand one. This stoning is symbolic of the pilgrim’s determination not to yield to Satan’s temptation, as he tries to lure him away from the path of piety. A pilgrim must try to hit the place with each stone.

The stoning on the first day, which is only at the grand Jamrah, is done at any time between sunrise and sunset. On the following days, it is done between noon and sunset. Those who wish to speed up their departure from Mina on the second day must do the stoning and be outside Mina by sunset. Otherwise, they are required to stay the third day and do the stoning again after midday.

With the departure from Mina, all the main duties of the pilgrimage have been completed and the pilgrims return to Makkah. Their only duty left is the tawaf of farewell that should be done just before departure from Makkah.