Throwing the Pebbles as a Form of Stoning the Devil during Hajj

3-3-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it true that ALLAH (subhanhu wa taala) puts the devil (satan) alive at the place of stoning during the days of stoning (al Jamarat) during pilgrimage (Haji) and does the devil feels these stone and tortured this way.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

According to the view of the majority of Muslim scholars, throwing the pebbles during Hajj is a form of worship whose hidden meaning human beings cannot comprehend. Thus, Imam An-Nawawi said: “Sa'y (running between As-Safa and Al-Marwa) and throwing the pebbles are incomprehensible to human being; i.e., their meanings are hidden. One is only required to show his full obedience and surrender. So, both one's self and mind have chance to do something except showing full surrender and obedience.”

According to some scholars such as Muhammad ash-Shanqeeti in his book Adhwaa al-Bayaan, one's mind can comprehend the meaning of this form of worship. In this vein, the Prophet said: “You stone the devil in reality and this is the religion of your father Ibraheem.” [Al-Haakim who said: it is sound according to Al-Bukhari and Muslim, but they did not mention it]

Al-Albaani regarded it as a sound Hadeeth. Ash-Shanqeeti said: “This indicates that Muslims are throwing at the devil himself, and this is the comprehensible and reasonable meaning, then Ibn ‘Abbas reported such narration from the Prophet .”

However, the most important concern is to perform the worship in full and complete way, as done by the Prophet .

Allah knows best.