THE articles in this series quote the detailed Hadith narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah, describing the pilgrimage of the Prophet (peace be upon him) from the moment he announced his intention to do it.

This Hadith provides the basis of most of the rulings concerning the performance of all pilgrimage rituals.

We quote the Hadith and add some comments of explanation where necessary.

We stopped last week at the point when the Prophet made a speech at Arafat, declaring all vengeance killing and usury to be wiped off and forgone, starting with those belonging to his own family. We continue to follow his footsteps as he continued with his pilgrimage rituals.

“He then said the adhan (i.e the call to prayer) and followed it by the iqama (i.e. the call to start the congregational prayer) and prayed Dhuhr. He then said another iqama and prayed Asr. He did not pray any Sunnah between them. He then mounted his she-camel until he arrived at the place where he stood.

He put the tummy of his camel against the large rocks and turned toward those who were walking, facing the qiblah.

“The Prophet remained in attendance at Arafat until the sun had set and a little yellowness appeared, and the whole of the round shape of the sun had completely disappeared. He carried Usamah behind him on his camel and moved onward pulling the rein of his she-camel right back, to the extent that her head could touch his saddle. He motioned with his right hand and said: ‘Be calm! Be calm!’ Every time he came to a hill he would relax his grip on the rein a little so that the camel could go up hill. When he arrived at Muzdalifah he prayed there the two prayers of Maghreb and Isha with one adhan and two iqamas.

He did not separate the two obligatory prayers with any glorification of God. He then reclined until dawn. He then prayed Fajr or dawn prayers, when he was sure that it was due. An adhan and iqama were said before that prayer.

He then mounted his she-camel and moved on until he arrived at Al-Mash’ar Al-Haraam and, facing the qiblah, he prayed to God, glorifying Him and repeating phrases confirming God’s oneness and declaring that he believed in no deity other than God until the light of day was very bright. He then moved forward before sunrise.

We note that the Prophet used most of his time at Arafat and Muzdalifah in God’s glorification. His prayers were combined, with each two offered together in the shortened form making every 4-rak’ah prayer in two rak’ahs only. This makes clear that during the time when a pilgrim is fully engaged with his pilgrimage duties, he should concentrate on these. Even prayers are shortened and combined so that his full attention is given to the pilgrimage rituals only.

We note that on arriving in Muzdalifah, the Prophet offered his two obligatory prayers and went to sleep. All pilgrims are very tired at this point after having spent the day in Arafat and moved on to Muzdalifah.

To have maximum rest is of paramount importance. They continue to be fully engaged in a major and fully rewarding act of worship, even when they sleep at Muzdalifah. Therefore, they need not entertain any thought of offering voluntary night prayers. Even supplication can wait until the morning, following the Prophet’s example as he said all his supplication, or dua, in the morning, moving on to Mina shortly before sunrise.