Is sleeping in Mina a sunna or an obligation
Question: We are going for Hajj and the leader of the team gives us instructions. Among these instructions is that sleeping in Mina will be for one night only (4 hours) and he said that sleeping in Mina is a sunna and not obligator. Please let me know the ruling.
Answer: Sleeping in Mina has two parts: the first is on the 8th of Dhil-Hijja (the night of Arafah) and going to from Mina to Arafah on the 9th of Dhil-Hijja. The second is on the nights of the days of Tashriq, i.e the days following the day of slaughtering sacrifices (the day of Eid); two days for those who want to finish early and three days for those who want to stay more. Most scholars consider the first one as sunna and the second as an obligation. However, if this was so hard, a pilgrim can leave it and he has to do nothing in compensation.