Informational summary, not a religious ruling. Where the schools of law differ, both positions are named. For anything affecting the validity of your Hajj, ask a qualified scholar or your group's guide.
8 Dhul Hijjah
Yawm at-Tarwiyah · The day of watering
- Enter ihram for Hajj, from your accommodation in Makkah if you are performing Tamattu‘.
- Travel to Mina and remain there.
- Pray Dhuhr, ‘Asr, Maghrib, ‘Isha and the next day’s Fajr at Mina, shortening the four-rak‘ah prayers.
The night at Mina is sunnah rather than obligatory, but every operator schedules it, and it is the night in which most first-time pilgrims discover that a hundred thousand identical tents look identical after dark.
9 Dhul Hijjah
Yawm ‘Arafah · The day of Arafah
- After sunrise, travel from Mina to Arafah.
- Pray Dhuhr and ‘Asr combined and shortened at the time of Dhuhr.
- Stand in du‘a from midday until sunset. This is the Hajj.
- After sunset, leave for Muzdalifah without praying Maghrib at Arafah.
- At Muzdalifah pray Maghrib and ‘Isha combined, rest under the open sky, and gather pebbles.
This is the day heat casualties concentrate. Hours standing in open ground in the Saudi summer, often with limited shade. Drink before you are thirsty, and treat the band’s heat warning as instruction rather than information.
10 Dhul Hijjah
Yawm an-Nahr · The day of sacrifice · Eid al-Adha
- Leave Muzdalifah after Fajr.
- Stone Jamrat al-Aqabah, the largest pillar, with seven pebbles.
- Offer the hady, the sacrifice.
- Shave or shorten the hair. Most restrictions of ihram now lift.
- Travel to Makkah for Tawaf al-Ifadah, and sa‘i if it is due.
- Return to Mina for the night.
The busiest day of the pilgrimage, with four separate rites in several locations. The order above is the preferred one, but the schools permit considerable flexibility in sequencing, and an exhausted pilgrim should ask rather than guess.
11–12 Dhul Hijjah
Ayyam at-Tashriq · The days of drying meat
- Stay at Mina.
- After midday each day, stone all three pillars in order (the small, the middle, then Jamrat al-Aqabah), seven pebbles each.
A pilgrim in a hurry may leave Mina before sunset on the 12th. One who is still there when the sun sets stays for the 13th and stones again.
13 Dhul Hijjah
The final day
- Stone all three pillars once more, after midday.
- Leave for Makkah.
Staying for the 13th is the more complete option and is what the Prophet ﷺ did.
Before departure
Tawaf al-Wada‘ · The farewell tawaf
- Seven circuits of the Kaaba as the last act before leaving Makkah.
Waived for menstruating women. For everyone else it should genuinely be the last thing you do: leaving, then returning to shop, undoes the point of it.