Bayan Li al-Haj

Question:

What are the conditions for pilgrims who wish to perform nafar awwal?

Answer:

Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.

For hajj, pilgrims are given a choice of either performing nafar awwal or nafar thani. The purpose of nafar awwal is to reduce the duration of hajj while nafar thani means performing the usual hajj.

Allah SWT state:

فَمَن تَعَجَّلَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ وَمَن تَأَخَّرَ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ

“Then whoever hastens [his departure] in two days - there is no sin upon him, and whoever delays [until the third] - there is no sin upon him,”

Surah al-Baqarah (203)

According to Syeikh Wahbah al-Zuhaili in Tafsir al-Munir, he explains making the throwing of jamrah only for two days (11^th and 12^th Zulhijjah) is not sinful, while whoever lengthens it to the third day (13^th Zulhijjah) is also not sinful. While the prioritized way is to stay in Mina for three days and three nights for the throwing of jamrah. (Refer Tafsir al-Munir, 2/218)

For every worship, there are conditions to complete it. Among the conditions of nafar awwal are as the following:

1. The pilgrim must leave Mina before the sun sets on 12^th of Zulhijjah.
2. The pilgrim has completed the throw of all three jamrah during the two tasyriq days (11^th and 12^th Zulhijjah), of which the total is 42 stones.
3. The pilgrim has stayed in Mina for two complete nights.
4. The pilgrim must set the intention of nafar awwal before he leaves Mina and he should hasten to leave Mina after setting his intention.
5. The pilgrim must be determined to not come back and stay in Mina. Thus, he has to do nafar before the sun sets on the 12^th of Zulhijjah. This means that the pilgrim must have already left and started on his journey, however, if he is still in the outskirts of town but still in Mina and then the sun sets, then his nafar is valid.

Conclusion

For nafar awwal, it is a sanctioned facilitation given for pilgrims of hajj. This facilitation is for those who are in a hurry and want to shorten the duration of hajj. Through nafar awwal, the duration of hajj can be shortened and ease the pilgrims of hajj to make their way back home.

However, since this is not the usual method of performing hajj, one should really understand the conditions of nafar awwal in order to maintain the completeness of hajj so that it will be accepted by Allah SWT.

Hopefully, this explanation can resolve the confusion of the questioner. Lastly, let us pray that we are all distanced and protected from anything that could lead to the wrath of Allah SWT and we are always in His blessings. Amin.

Wallahua’lam.