Baytuta in Mina

Baytūta in Minā (البيتوتة في منی, Staying at Minā during the night) is the twelfth obligation of hajj and the fourth act at Minā.

It is obligatory to spend the night before 11th and 12th of Dhu l-Ḥijja at Minā. Therefore, if a person goes to the holy city of Mecca from Minā on the day of Eid al-Adha in order to perform the two ṭawāfs, and their prayers and saʿy, he/she should return to spend the night at Minā.

Spending the night at Minā is not mandatory for the following three groups:

• The sick, and those who take care of the sick people, and all the people who have a genuine excuse and are unable to spend the night there.
• Those who are afraid of getting lost or their property in Mecca may be stolen.
• Those who stay at the holy city of Mecca for worship and spend the whole two nights until sunrise and do not perform anything except worship i.e. they spare only sometime for basic life activities such as eating food and using toilet.

Spending night at Minā is an act of worship and should be performed with the correct intention.

Spending night from sunset to the middle of night is adequate. Those who do not observe spending night in first part of the night without excuse, should spend the second half of the night at Minā though it is not remote to say that in normal conditions spending the second half of the night at Minā is also permissible.

Whoever neglects the obligatory spending night at Minā without spending night for worship in the holy city of Mecca must pay kaffāra i.e. a sheep for each night. On the basis of caution, this ruling is applied to excused, ignorant, and forgetful people as well.

Whoever is allowed to go out of Minā' on the 12th day of Dhu l-Hijja should go out after sharʿī noon and it is not permissible for him to exit before 'noon'.