Fainted at `Arafah: Hajj Valid?

According to Abu Hanifah and Malik, if one faints and remains unconscious until he leaves `Arafah, his Hajj is valid. Ash-Shafi`i and Ahmad, however, hold that his Hajj is invalid because staying at `Arafah is an essential part of Hajj.

In this regard, we will cite what Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq, states in his well-known book, Fiqh As-Sunnah: “The scholars differ regarding the position of one who faints and remains unconscious until he leaves `Arafah. Abu Hanifah and Malik hold that the Hajj of such people is valid.

Ash-Shafi`i, Ahmad, Al-Hasan, Abu Thawr, Ishaq, and Ibn Al-Mundhir hold that such a person’s Hajj is invalid, because staying at `Arafah is an essential part of Hajj, and an unconscious person cannot perform this or any other rites of Hajj.

After reporting the hadith of Ibn Ya`mur that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered an announcer to proclaim “Hajj is (spending the day at) `Arafah, so he who joins other pilgrims on the night of Muzdalifah before dawn, will be considered as having performed Hajj”, At-Tirmidhi remarks: “Sufyan Ath-Thawri said that the knowledgeable Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and others followed this hadith and held that a person failing to spend the day or a portion thereof at `Arafah before the dawn of the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah, or arriving there after sunrise, had missed Hajj. Such a person should consider his present Hajj as an `Umrah, and must repeat it the following year. This is the opinion of Ash-Shafi`i, Ahmad, and others.”