A note before you begin. This article is a study map of the Hajj days, written in plain English so the sequence and meaning are clear in advance. It is not a recitation text and does not replace the Mansak. On each day you recite from the original Arabic / Lisan ud-Dawat and follow your Musaid and the FAIZ team — they hold the precise wording, timing and conditions. Use this to orient yourself; let the original text and Musaid guide you on the ground.
The Hajj is not a single act but a journey across several days and places, each with its own station and meaning. The Mansak lays it out as a connected route — out to Mina, the great standing at Arafat, the night at Muzdalifah, and the return to Mina and Mecca for the closing rites. Here is that journey, day by day.
8 Dhul Hijjah — into ihram, out to Mina
On the 8th of Dhul Hijjah you tie the ihram of Hajj (the same preparations and garments as for Umrah) and set out for Mina, where you spend the night of Arafa. On arrival you give sadaqa, and from this day, after every obligatory prayer until the ‘Asr of the 12th, you recite the Takbirat al-Tashriq — Allahu akbar… Allahu akbar ‘ala ma hadana (“Allah is greatest for that to which He has guided us”).
9 Dhul Hijjah — the standing at Arafat
This is the heart of the Hajj. After sunrise you leave Mina for Arafat, reciting the dua of setting out — “O Allah, to You I have set my course; upon You I have relied; Your countenance I have sought.” Near Arafat are Masjid al-Shajara and, in Wadi ‘Urana, Masjid Namira, where one prays the greeting of the mosque; if they cannot be reached, the prayer is performed wherever one is.
The wuquf (standing) fills the day with remembrance, Qur’an and long supplication — the Mansak devotes many pages to it, including duas from the Sahifa Sajjadiyya of Imam Ali Zayn al-Abidin (AS) and from the Du’at. You recite the talbiyah from the morning of Arafat until the sun passes its zenith, after which it ceases and the day becomes one of standing, weeping and asking.
The night at Muzdalifah
After Arafat you move to Muzdalifah. On arrival you pray Maghrib and Isha together as obligatory prayers; you do not perform the voluntary shaf’, witr or julus prayers here. You spend the night, and at the time of Fajr pray its sunnah and obligatory prayers. At al-Mash’ar al-Haram — the Sacred Marker — you stand and recite its dua, echoing the Qur’an: “So when you depart from Arafat, remember Allah at the Sacred Marker.”
Here too you gather your pebbles for the stoning: seventy small stones, grey with a hint of black, about the size of a fingertip, picked up with your own fingers and kept safely. They are not taken from the mosque or any sacred spot, and you gather them yourself rather than ask another to do it for you.
10 Dhul Hijjah — the Day of Eid: Rami, Qurbani, Halq
After sunrise on the Day of Eid al-Adha you depart Muzdalifah for Mina, passing through Wadi Muhassir at a quickened pace. At Mina you perform Rami al-Jamratil-‘Aqaba — striking the great pillar with seven pebbles. You hold the pebbles in the left hand, take each between thumb and index finger, and flick it with the thumb, saying Bismillah, Allahu akbar with each throw, and asking Allah to drive away Shaytan and his hosts and to make this an accepted Hajj.
Then come the qurbani (sacrifice) and the halq (shaving) — and the Mansak notes that whichever of the two you can do first, you may. The sacrifice is performed at Mina, ideally before midday; the Mansak details which animals are preferred and their minimum ages, that the animal is laid facing the Qibla, and that “I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth…” is recited, asking Allah to accept it “as You accepted from Ibrahim al-Khalil.”
For halq, men shave the head fully with a razor — “O Allah, give me, for each hair, a light on the Day of Resurrection” — then trim the moustache, take a little from the sides of the beard, and cut the nails. The hair and nail-clippings are buried at Mina. With this, much of what ihram forbade is released.
Tawaf al-Ifadah — the return to Baitullah
You then travel to Mecca for the Tawaf al-Ifadah (the Tawaf of Hajj). You perform ghusl before entering the Masjid al-Haram and walk toward the House in wudu, since tawaf cannot be performed without it. On first sighting the House you ask Allah to “increase this House in honour, magnification and veneration.” The tawaf, the two rak’ats at Maqam Ibrahim, and the sa’i between Safa and Marwah follow as in the Umrah, with the obligatory Tawaf al-Nisa’ completed before leaving Mecca.
11–13 Dhul Hijjah — the Days of Tashriq
Back at Mina for the Ayyam al-Tashriq you stone all three Jamarat each day — the first (small), then the middle (Wusta), then the ‘Aqaba — seven pebbles at each, with the same method and duas, stepping aside after the middle Jamarah to face the Qibla and supplicate. One who wishes to leave on the 12th may do so, but must depart Mina before sunset; if sunset overtakes him there, the night at Mina becomes obligatory, and the leftover pebbles meant for the 13th are buried at Mina.
The journey closes with the mosques of remembrance — Masjid al-Khayf in Mina and Masjid al-Muhassab on the way to Mecca — each with its Qur’anic recitation and long supplication, and a final return to Mecca where, the Mansak says, you give whatever charity you are able.
Times, conditions and the exact wording of every dua belong to the Mansak and your Musaid. Where this map is brief or silent, follow the original text and the FAIZ guidance.