Step 6 of 12
The Night at Muzdalifah
After sunset the pilgrims leave 'Arafah for Muzdalifah, calmly: the Prophet ﷺ signalled to the people with his right hand to go gently. Allah says: ﴿فَإِذَآ أَفَضْتُم مِّنْ عَرَفَـٰتٍ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ عِندَ ٱلْمَشْعَرِ ٱلْحَرَامِ﴾ (“When you pour down from 'Arafat, remember Allah at the Sacred Monument.”)
At Muzdalifah, pray maghrib and 'isha together with one adhan and two iqamahs, with no prayer between them. The Prophet ﷺ then lay down until dawn, prayed fajr as soon as it was clear, and stood at al-Mash'ar al-Haram facing the qiblah, praising Allah and supplicating until it was very light. He left before sunrise.
When 'Urwah ibn Mudarris (رضي الله عنه) reached Muzdalifah exhausted, the Prophet ﷺ told him that whoever prays this prayer with us and stays with us until we leave, having stood at 'Arafah by night or by day before that, has completed his hajj.
The Prophet ﷺ let the weak leave earlier: Sawdah (رضي الله عنها) left during the night with his permission, and he sent Ibn 'Abbas ahead with the weak of his family. There is no requirement to pick up the pebbles for stoning here; on the morning of the 10th the Prophet ﷺ had Ibn 'Abbas pick up seven small pebbles for him, and warned against going to extremes in religion.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
What is obligatory at Muzdalifah?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Maliki.
Show each school
- Obligatory: standing there after dawnHanafi
- Obligatory: stopping there brieflyMaliki
- Obligatory: being there after midnightShafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- The obligation is to be at Muzdalifah between dawn and sunrise; spending the night there is a sunnah, and the weak who leave earlier owe nothing.
- Maliki
- The obligation is to stop at Muzdalifah for as long as it takes to set down one's baggage; spending the whole night there is recommended.
- Shafi'i
- In the relied-upon view the obligation is to be at Muzdalifah for some moment of the second half of the night, and one who is not owes a sacrifice.
- Hanbali
- One who leaves before midnight owes a sacrifice unless he returns before dawn, and one who arrives after midnight need only be there before dawn.
- Qur'an 2:198
- Sahih Muslim 1218Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1673 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 891 Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
- Sunan Abi Dawud 1950 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1680 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 1290Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1677 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 1293Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan al-Nasa'i 3057 Graded by Abu Ghuddah: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
- Sunan Ibn Majah 3029 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Fouad Abd al-Baqi: Sahih · Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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