My wife and I intended to perform Hajj with our one year and three month old baby girl who is very attached to her mother. We went from ‘Arafah to our house in the Al-‘Azeeziyyah district of Makkah instead of heading directly to Muzdalifah in order to feed the child, change her diaper, and fulfill our own needs as well. After that, we went on to Muzdalifah. What is the ruling on our action? How long should one stay in Muzdalifah before being allowed to depart from it?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

It is permissible for you not to go directly from ‘Arafah to Muzdalifah; you can fulfill your needs in Makkah then head to Muzdalifah, provided that you would be in Muzdalifah after midnight. According to Shaafi‘i and Hanbali scholars, spending the night in Muzdalifah is fulfilled even by staying an hour there after midnight. However, a pilgrim who arrives at Muzdalifah before midnight cannot leave until after midnight. It is safer for women and the pilgrim who does not have an excuse, to stay in Muzdalifah until performing Fajr prayer. Remembering Allaah at Al-Mash‘ar Al-Haraam (a place in Muzdalifah) is an act of following the Sunnah.

The above was the answer to your question. However, we advise directly departing from ‘Arafah to Muzdalifah so as to be imitating the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and be perfectly following his Sunnah. Moreover, it is possible that something might obstruct one from reaching Muzdalifah if he goes to Makkah, and that would prevent him from spending the night in Muzdalifah. This will most likely happen because of the overcrowding, on one hand, and the direction of the traffic flow system, on the other. The reasons you mentioned are not a Sunnah by not directly departing from ‘Arafah to go to Muzdalifah.

There would be no difficulty in fulfilling the needs of your child, changing her clothes, and feeding her in Muzdalifah. You could also fulfill your own needs there. What is apparent is that you would not bear any considerable hardship when fulfilling these needs while still applying the Sunnah by directly departing from ‘Arafah to Muzdalifah.

Allaah Knows best.