Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
- There is consensus among Muslim scholars that spending the day at Arafah is the most important part of Hajj. The Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered an announcer to proclaim, “Hajj is (spending the day at) Arafah, so he who joins other pilgrims on the night of Muzdalifah before dawn will be considered as having performed Hajj.” (At-Tirmidhi)
- It is Sunnah to leave Arafah peacefully and calmly after sunset. It is also desirable to utter talbiyah and make remembrance of Allah while leaving Arafah.
In this regard, Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq states in his well-known book Fiqh As-Sunnah:
According to the Sunnah, pilgrims should leave Arafah quietly and peacefully after sunset. The Prophet (peace be upon him) left Arafah very peacefully and quietly, holding the reins of his she-camel tightly, while he said to the people, “O people, walk calmly; rushing or making haste is not a virtue” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
They also reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) let his she-camel go at a normal pace, but when he found ample space in front of him he urged it to go faster.” He did this out of compassion and consideration for the people.
It is desirable for pilgrims to utter talbiyah and make remembrance of Allah as much as possible. The Prophet (peace be upon him) continued to repeat talbiyah until he threw the pebbles at Jamrat Al-Aqabah.
Ashath ibn Sulaim reported from his father that he said, “I went with Ibn Umar from Arafah to Muzdalifah. He did not stop making remembrance of Allah and declaring His Oneness until we reached Muzdalifahز” (Abu Dawud)
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.