The Stoning: A Symbol of Complete Devotion
Edited by Adil Salahi

When we arrive in Mina, shortly after sunrise on the day of
the sacrifice, after having spent the previous night at
Muzdalifah following the day of Arafat, we have a very busy
day ahead of us. Four duties of the pilgrimage become due.
The recommended order is to begin by stoning at the grand
Jamrah, then to offer the sacrifice, then to shave one’s
head or trim one’s hair, and finally to do the tawaf of
ifaadah at the Kaaba. The Hanafi school of thought
considers this order a duty, the violation of which
requires atonement in the form of sacrificing a sheep. The
weightier opinion, which is agreed by all other schools of
thought and the great majority of scholars, is that to
follow this order is a Sunnah the omission of which does
not require anything by way of compensation or atonement.

The facts speak for themselves. The Prophet (peace be upon
him) stood in Mina at the end of the day of sacrifice when
he offered the pilgrimage with over 100,000 of his
companions. People asked him all sorts of questions about
their pilgrimage. Many mentioned that they did not observe
the same order he followed in doing the four duties. They
reversed the order in all sorts of permutations. The
Prophet approved all the permutations suggested without
instructing anyone to make any compensation. Abdullah ibn
Amr reports: “God’s messenger (peace be upon him) stood up
in Mina in his farewell pilgrimage and people asked him
questions. A man came forward and said: ‘Messenger of God,
I unwittingly shaved before I offered my sacrifice.’ The
Prophet said: ‘Offer your sacrifice, and no blame attaches
to you.’ Another man said: ‘Messenger of God, I unwittingly
slaughtered my sacrifice before I did the stoning.’ The
Prophet said: ‘Do the stoning and no blame attaches to
you.’ Every time the Prophet was asked about anything put
forward or put back, he answered, ‘No matter, do what is
left.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari).

Nowadays, with the pilgrimage attracting over two million
people every year, to insist on following a particular
order in performing these four duties will cause much
hardship to many pilgrims. Therefore, it is much more
preferable to adopt the weightier view and follow the
easier option requiring no specific order.

When a pilgrim has done the stoning on the day of sacrifice
and shaved his head, or shortened his hair, he gains his
first release from ihraam, and all restrictions associated
with the state of ihraam, or consecration, are over except
for sexual intercourse with one’s wife. In other words, a
pilgrim may put on his ordinary clothes, wear perfume and
do everything normally except that he may not have sex with
his wife until he has done the tawaf of ifaadah.

The stoning is done on three or four days of the
pilgrimage. On the first day, i.e. the day of sacrifice,
only the grand Jamrah is stoned with seven pebbles,
preferably picked at Muzdalifah. On that day, the stoning
may be done at any time from sunrise to sunset. On the
following two days, all three Jamarahs are stoned with
seven little pebbles each. The time for stoning on these
days, however, begins at noon and ends at sunset. It is
important that the stoning of the three Jamrahs is done in
the right order, beginning with the first one, nearest to
Mina, then the middle one, then the last one known as the
Jamrah of Aqabah. It is recommended that as we throw every
stone we say: Allah-u Akbar, or God is great.

Everyone who has done the pilgrimage realizes that there is
a great rush at the Jamrahs to do the stoning. There is a
great deal of pushing and scrambling. People are squeezed
and, sometimes, trampled on if they fall. We have to
remember that to cause any harm to another person is a
grave sin. Let us always be mindful of others. We have to
do our duties in a proper Islamic way, i.e. with calmness,
patience and consideration to others. What is also very
important is that women, whether young or old, should not
be subjected to the hardship of that rush and squeeze.
There are two perfectly acceptable ways of ensuring that.
The first is to delay their stoning until night time.
Although stoning at night is generally discouraged, it is
acceptable for women in order to spare them that rush and
hardship. Similarly, it is accepted for elderly or sick
men. The other method is for a man to do the stoning on
behalf of his women companions, whether they are his
relatives or not. A person may do the stoning on behalf of
any number of people who cannot do the stoning themselves.
Many people think that when you do the stoning on behalf of
another person, you have to do all three Jamrahs for
yourself first, then go back to the first Jamrah and
complete the three Jamrahs for each person on whose behalf
you are stoning. In other words, you do the full circle of
the three Jamrahs for one person before you do another full
circle for the stoning on behalf of another. This is
mistaken. You can do the stoning at each Jamrah for
yourself first, then for every one you are acting on his or
her behalf, before you move on to the next Jamrah. Thus you
do one circle for all.

When you have done the stoning at the first and second
Jamrahs, you are recommended to stand aside after each one
and pray to God as you wish and for any purpose. It is
preferable to face the qiblah when you do this prayer and
to lift your hands. After the grand Jamrah, which is the
third, you move on directly without stopping to pray.

In total, you throw 49 or 70 pebbles, depending on whether
you stay in Mina for two or three days after the day of
sacrifice. On the day of sacrifice you do the stoning only
at the grand Jamrah of Aqabah, while on each of the
following days you do the stoning at all three Jamrahs,
with seven pebbles each.

The stoning is a symbolic act which demonstrates our total
submission to God and complete devotion to Him. It is done
in commemoration of what Prophet Abraham (peace be upon
him) did when Satan tried to dissuade him from fulfilling
his purpose as he went about his pilgrimage. First, Satan
appeared to him at the Jamrah of Aqabah, and Abraham stoned
him seven times, and Satan sank into the ground. He
reappeared at the middle Jamrah and Abraham stoned him
again. Satan reappeared for the third time at the first of
the Jamrahs and again Abraham stoned him. For this reason,
Ibn Abbas explains that when you do the stoning, “you stone
the devil, and you follow the doctrines of your father.”

Speaking on the symbolism of the stoning, the great Muslim
scholar, Al-Ghazali, comments: “By stoning, let the
pilgrims intend to fulfill God’s order and demonstrate his
servitude to God, and his willingness to do as he is told
without questioning. Let him also intend to follow in the
footsteps of Abraham (peace be upon him) when the devil
appeared to him at that spot to mar his pilgrimage or to
tempt him with a sinful act. God ordered him to stone the
devil as an expression of rejecting his suggestions. Should
the thought that Satan was stoned by Abraham when he saw
him with his own eyes, while you do not see Satan occur to
you, then you must realize that this thought is inspired by
the devil. He hopes to make you think that the stoning is
useless, and nothing more than a child’s play. You must
realize that by throwing the pebbles into the Jamrah you
are actually hitting Satan in the face and breaking his
back. Satan’s face is rubbed in the dust by your
fulfillment of God’s order in total obedience, without any
question.”

Stoning is a duty, the omission of which is compensated for
by sacrificing a sheep. While the stoning must be done on
the day of sacrifice at the grand Jamrah only, the other
duties may be delayed. It is permissible to do the
sacrifice on any of the three days following the day of
sacrifice. If it is delayed further, it remains outstanding
and it should be done as soon as possible. The sacrifice
may be done only within the Haram area.

The tawaf of ifaadah is a personal duty of pilgrimage which
must be done and cannot be compensated for, if omitted, in
any way. It may be done at any time in the four days
following the day of Arafat, starting at midnight.
According to the Hanafi school of thought, if it is delayed
further than these four days, a compensation by sacrificing
a sheep is required. Imam Malik extends its time range to
the end of the month of Dul Hijjah, while Al-Shafie and
Hanbali schools of thought do not specify an end for its
proper time. It must be remembered, however, that sex with
one’s wife is not allowed until the tawaf of ifaadah has
been done. The same requirements and recommendations which
we have discussed for tawaf apply to this tawaf as well.

When we have done these four duties, what remains of the
pilgrimage is to do the stoning on the two or three days
following the day of sacrifice, and to stay in Mina for two
or three nights. By staying in Mina is meant spending more
than half the night, each night, within the borders of the
valley of Mina. If we decide to stay only two days, we must
leave Mina before sunset on the second day after the day of
sacrifice, i.e. 12 Dul Hijjah. If we are in Mina when the
sun sets, then we must spend that night again in Mina and
do the stoning after midday on the following day. Violation
of either of these two duties of stoning and staying in
Mina may be atoned for by sacrificing a sheep. However, the
Hanbali school of thought considers staying in Mina to be a
Sunnah, which means that if one does not stay there on
those two nights, he has done badly but no compensation is
required.

The final duty of the pilgrimage is the tawaf of farewell,
which is an ordinary tawaf done just before we depart from
Makkah. If we do this tawaf and then our departure is
delayed for several hours, then we must do it again. Its
omission requires the compensation of slaughtering a sheep.
The tawaf of farewell is a duty required of all pilgrims
except those who reside in Makkah and the Haram area. Many
people who live in Jeddah think that it is not required of
them because they live in the Hil area, but this is a
mistake. It is required of them as well as all pilgrims who
come from beyond that area.

When we slaughter a sheep in compensation for violating or
omitting any of the duties of the pilgrimage, then we
cannot partake of the meat of that sheep or give it to our
immediate relatives. This is unlike the sacrifice given in
gratitude to God for enabling us to do the Umrah and the
pilgrimage in one year. Of that we can eat and give to our
immediate relatives.





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