Islamic Fiqh > Hajj and umra > Hajj step by step: rites, sunnas and prohibitions > The rites sequence and the Black Stone
Contents
Updated on 24 September 2026 at 7:46 PM
This section gathers five sheets of the encyclopedia devoted to the step-by-step performance of the Hajj ritual. It deals with tamattu' and the lawfulness of the three forms of pilgrimage, the fasting of the prescribed days, the acts of Hajj after arrival in Mecca, the first or minor tahallul and its effects, then the rulings concerning the Black Stone.
Tamattu' consists of entering into ihram for the 'umrah alone during the months of Hajj, then coming to Mecca and performing the rites of the 'umrah. The pilgrim then comes out of ihram and stays in Mecca in a normal state, then enters ihram again for the Hajj and performs its acts. By consensus, he is then required to slaughter a sacrificial animal (hadiy).
The pilgrim is called mutamatti' because he enjoys, after completing his 'umrah, women, perfume and all that resembles them of what is forbidden to the pilgrim in ihram, and because he finds ease and relief since one of the two journeys falls away. The link between qiran and tamattu' is that qiran consists of performing two rites with a single ihram without coming out of it, then undertaking the Hajj with a new ihram (al-Zayla'i 2/45, al-Binaya 3/130, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi p. 402, Mughni al-Muhtaj 1/513, Jawahir al-Iklil 1/172, al-Fawakih al-Dawani 1/434, Kashshaf al-Qina' 2/411, al-Mughni 4/382, al-Ifsah 1/450).
The jurists agree that the Hajj is valid with each of the three rites mentioned above: ifrad, qiran and tamattu'. They rely on the Book, the Sunnah and consensus.
As for the Book, Allah the Most High says:
"And it is a duty owed to Allah by the people to perform the pilgrimage of the House, for whoever is able to find a way to it."
Surah Al Imran, 97
And His words:
"And complete the Hajj and the 'umrah for Allah."
Surah al-Baqarah, 196
And His words:
"So whoever enjoys the 'umrah before the Hajj, let him offer whatever sacrifice is easy for him."
Surah al-Baqarah, 196
As for the Sunnah, there is in particular the hadith of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said:
We set out with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage. Some of us entered ihram for the 'umrah, some for the Hajj and the 'umrah together, and some for the Hajj; the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, entered ihram for the Hajj. As for those who had entered ihram for the Hajj or had combined the Hajj and the 'umrah, they did not come out of ihram until the day of the sacrifice.Narrated by al-Bukhari (1487) and Muslim (1211)
As for consensus, al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Consensus was established after that, that is, after the disagreement reported from some of the Companions, on the lawfulness of ifrad, tamattu' and qiran, with no disapproval" (al-Majmu' 7/163, Sharh Muslim 8/169).
Ibn Qudamah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "The people of knowledge agree on the lawfulness of entering ihram in any of the three rites one wishes" (al-Mughni 4/382).
Al-Khattabi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "The ummah has not differed over the fact that ifrad, qiran and tamattu', by enjoying the 'umrah up to the Hajj, are all lawful" (Ma'alim al-Sunan 2/301).
According to al-Khattabi and the Shafi'i school, as mentioned earlier, fasting the three days before the day of the sacrifice is an obligatory fast whose make-up is required if it is missed; no blood is therefore due for it when missed, as with the fast of Ramadan (al-Muhadhdhab 1/199, al-Majmu' 7/158 and following, Mughni al-Muhtaj 1/517, al-Mughni 5/110, al-Insaf 3/512).
The Hanafis, for their part, said: if one has not fasted the three days before the day of the sacrifice, nothing suffices except blood, and fasting does not suffice. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, indeed forbade fasting during these days; fasting stands in place of the sacrificial animal while having no parallel in the law; and substitution is established by legislation contrary to analogy, since there is no likeness between blood and fasting, so that it can only be established by the affirmation of the Lawgiver.
The text specified the time of the Hajj: when that time lapses, the fasting lapses with it, and the ruling of the original, namely blood, reappears as before. Whoever has not fasted the three days has therefore not fasted the seven, for the ten days became due as compensation for coming out of ihram and expired with the expiry of part of them, so the hadiy becomes due. If he cannot afford the hadiy, he comes out of ihram and owes two blood offerings: the blood of tamattu' and a blood for having come out of ihram before the hadiy (al-Ikhtiyar 1/170, al-Binaya 3/623 and 624, Bada'i' al-Sana'i' 3/185, Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-'Ulama' 2/170, Ahkam al-Qur'an by al-Jassas 1/368, al-Hidayah 1/155, al-Bahr al-Ra'iq 2/387).
The mutamatti' fasts seven days upon his return from the Hajj in order to complete the ten, according to the words of Allah the Most High: "and seven days when you return". It is preferable to fast these seven days after returning to one's family, according to what Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him:
Whoever cannot find a sacrificial animal, let him fast three days during the pilgrimage and seven days when he returns to his family.Narrated by al-Bukhari (1606) and Muslim (1227)
It is nevertheless not permitted to fast them before completing the acts of the Hajj, by consensus. The jurists then differed: is it permissible to fast them in Mecca after completing the Hajj, or only after returning to one's country and family?
The Shafi'is of the school hold that it is not permitted to fast them except after returning to one's family, unless one intends to reside in Mecca; according to the words of Allah the Most High: "and seven days when you return", that is, when you have returned to your families (al-Hawi al-Kabir 4/56).
The majority of the jurists, namely the Hanafis, the Malikis and the Hanbalis, as well as al-Shafi'i in one view, hold that it is permissible to fast them in Mecca after completing the Hajj. The return mentioned in the verse then designates the return with respect to the acts of the Hajj, for that is what is mentioned in the verse, so the return intended must be the one that marks the end of the Hajj; it has also been said: when the time of departure comes.
Moreover, if returning to one's family and country were a condition for the validity of this fasting, then, in the case of one who intended to reside in Mecca, fasting there would not suffice. Yet the unanimous agreement of the scholars on its lawfulness when one intends to reside there proves that returning to one's family is not a condition.
Ibn Qudamah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: every fast that is obligatory and valid in one's place of residence is valid before that as well, like the other obligations; as for the verse, Allah the Most High permitted deferring this fasting.
If the pilgrim intends to perform the sa'i afterwards, it is recommended for him to uncover his right shoulder (idtiba') throughout the rounds of this tawaf and to walk briskly (raml) during the first three rounds. Let him multiply supplications and remembrance of Allah throughout his tawaf, especially the supplications narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. At the end of the tawaf, he prays the two rak'ahs of the tawaf at the Station of Ibrahim (Maqam Ibrahim) if possible.
Then, if he wants to perform the sa'i, he goes to al-Safa and performs seven rounds between al-Safa and al-Marwah, observing the rulings and etiquette of the sa'i. This sa'i counts for the Hajj for the mufrid, for the 'umrah for the mutamatti', and for the Hajj and the 'umrah together for the qarin, according to the view of the majority: one sa'i therefore suffices the qarin.
According to the Hanafis, and Ahmad in one narration, this sa'i counts for the qarin only for the 'umrah, and a second sa'i is owed by him for the Hajj, for they require two sa'i of him. At this point the mutamatti' shaves his head after the sa'i or cuts it short, for he has come out of his ihram; the mufrid and the qarin, for their part, remain in ihram until they come out of it through the acts of the day of the sacrifice.
The pilgrim then stays in Mecca after his arrival until the day of al-Tarwiyah, to perform the rest of the rites and the acts of the Hajj. These acts spread over six days, as follows:
On that day the pilgrims set out for Mina, and the mutamatti' enters ihram for the Hajj, while the mufrid and the qarin remain in their ihram. All spend the night at Mina following the Sunnah, and there they pray five prayers: Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha and Fajr. This Fajr is that of the day of Arafah.
If he has already performed the sa'i, he neither uncovers his shoulder (idtiba') nor walks briskly (raml) in this tawaf, for no sa'i remains after it. If he has not performed the sa'i beforehand, let him perform it after the tawaf, and let him practice idtiba' and raml in his tawaf, for this is the Sunnah for every tawaf followed by a sa'i.
There follows the sa'i between al-Safa and al-Marwah for the one who has not performed the sa'i beforehand, then the tahallul. This tahallul is achieved by performing the acts mentioned above, and it is of two kinds.
The first tahallul, called the minor tahallul, is attained by shaving the head alone according to the Hanafis, and by stoning Jamarat al-'Aqabah according to the Malikis and the Hanbalis in the sound narration.
As for the Shafi'is, al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: the Hajj has two tahalluls, a first and a last, tied to stoning Jamarat al-'Aqabah, to shaving and to the tawaf; the slaughtered animal (nahr) has no part in the two tahalluls. If shaving is considered a rite (nusuk), the first tahallul is attained by two of the three acts: whichever pair is performed, stoning and shaving, stoning and tawaf, or tawaf and shaving, it constitutes the first tahallul, and the last tahallul is attained by the remaining act of the three.
If shaving is considered not to be a rite, no tahallul is tied to it: the two tahalluls are then attained by the stoning and the tawaf, the first by one of the two acts and the last by the other (al-Majmu' 8/161, Bada'i' al-Sana'i' 3/98, al-Mughni 5/57, al-Ifsah 1/528, al-Insaf 4/41, Mawahib al-Jalil 3/81, al-Muntaqa by al-Baji 3/30, al-Kafi by Ibn Abd al-Barr 1/374). The Hanbalis, in one narration, hold that the first tahallul is attained by the stoning and the shaving together (al-Mughni 5/57, al-Insaf 4/41).
The scholars differed over what the first tahallul makes lawful:
Ibn Khuzaymah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: here is the mention of the proof that the Stone testifies only for the one who touched it with intention, not for the one who touched it without intending by his touch obedience to Allah and drawing near to Him; the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, indeed made known that a person has only what he intended.
It was then narrated from Abdullah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
The Corner will come on the Day of Resurrection greater than Abu Qubays, with a tongue and two lips, and it will testify for the one who touched it with intention; it is the right hand of Allah by which He shakes hands with His creation.Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih (2737); a weak hadith
Fourth: the Black Stone is kissed, touched, and one may prostrate on it. Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih, from al-Zubayr ibn Arabi, who said: a man asked Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, about touching the Stone. He replied:
I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, touch it and kiss it...Narrated by al-Bukhari (1523)
Imam Muslim narrated, from Nafi', who said:
I saw Ibn Umar touch the Stone with his hand, then kiss his hand, and say: I have not abandoned it since I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, do it.Narrated by Muslim (1268)
Imam Muslim also narrated in his Sahih, from Suwayd ibn Ghaflah, who said: I saw Umar kiss the Stone and press himself against it, and he said:
I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, show the greatest care for it.Narrated by Muslim (1271)
Al-Bukhari narrated, from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said:
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, circumambulated the House on a camel; every time he came to the Corner, he pointed to it with something he had in his hand and pronounced the greatness of Allah (takbir).Narrated by al-Bukhari (1534)
Imam Ibn Khuzaymah devoted in his Sahih a chapter to prostration on the Black Stone when the pilgrim finds a way to do so without harming the Muslims. He then narrated, from Ja'far ibn Abdullah, who said:
I saw Muhammad ibn Abbad ibn Ja'far kiss the Stone and prostrate on it, then say: I saw your uncle Ibn Abbas kiss it and prostrate on it. And Ibn Abbas said: I saw Umar ibn al-Khattab kiss it and prostrate on it, then say: I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, do so, and I did the same.Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih (4/271) with a sound chain, by al-Tayalisi in his Musnad (28), by Abu Ya'la (1/192, 193) and by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (1/625)
Kissing the Stone and touching it are therefore part of the legislation: it is a Sunnah encouraged by the law, carrying immense reward and the wiping away of sins. Whoever does so does it in following of the Sunnah, without believing that the Stone can harm him or benefit him, contrary to what some people believe. That is why the rightly guided caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, pointed this out when he came to the Black Stone, kissed it, and then said:
By Allah, I kiss you while I know that you are a stone that neither harms nor benefits; had I not seen the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, kiss you, I would not have kissed you.Narrated by al-Bukhari (1520) and Muslim (1270), the wording being that of al-Bukhari