Ruling on stoning the Jamaraat with a piece of concrete

The majority of fuqaha’ stipulated that the Jamaraatshould be stoned with pebbles, which are small stones of whatever type of rock.Concrete is not rock, so it is not acceptable, according to the majority.

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It isacceptable to stone the Jamaraat with anything thatis called pebbles, which are small stones, whether they are black or white orred, and whether they are marble, flint, granite and so on. This is the view ofMaalik and ash-Shaafa‘i.al-Qaadi said: Marble, buraamand kadhdhaan (types of rock) are not acceptable. Andwe may understand from his words that marble and solid stones are notacceptable either. Abu Haneefah said: It ispermissible to use dried clay or mud, or anything that comes from the earth.Something similar was stated by ath-Thawri. It wasnarrated from Sakeenah bintal-Husayn that she stoned the Jamarah,and a man was handing pebbles to her, and she was saying takbeerwith each throw. And she dropped a pebble, so she threw her ring.

We also have areport that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stoned the Jamaraat with pebbles, and he told the people to throwpebbles the size of chickpeas, so nothing other than pebbles is to be pickedup, and that includes pebbles of all types. It is not permissible to single outany particular type without evidence, or to add anything else to it, because itis a topic in which there is no room for analogy.

End quote from al-Mughni, 3/218

In al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (15/277)it says: When stoning the jamaraat, it is stipulatedthat the pebbles be of stone, according to the majority of fuqaha’(Maalikis, Shaafa‘is and Hanbalis). So it is not permissible to use gold, silver,iron, lead, wood, clay, seeds, dust, pearls, antimony or plaster in their view,because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) threw pebblesand instructed us to throw pebbles the size of chickpeas, so nothing elseshould be picked up. The Shaafaa‘is allowed stoningthe Jamaraat with all kinds of stones.

The Hanafis were of the view that it is permissible to stonethe Jamaraat with all kinds of things that come fromthe earth, such as stones, mud and clay, and everything with which it ispermissible to do tayammum, but it is not permissibleto use wood, amber, pearls or gemstones, because they are not from the earth.End quote.

Based on this,there is nothing wrong with breaking stones or large rocks and stoning the Jamaraat with them.

As for throwingconcrete or pieces of brick, it is not acceptable according to the majority,although it is acceptable according to the Hanafis.However the view of the majority is more on the safe side.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah havemercy on him) was asked: What is the ruling on stoning the Jamaraatwith pieces of concrete?

He replied: Somescholars think that the stones that are taken from concrete are not acceptablefor stoning the Jamaraat, unless this piece of concretecontains stone. If it contains stone then there is nothing wrong with it.

End quote from Majmoo‘Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 23/125

To sum up: If onthe first day you threw pieces of concrete in which there was no stone, thenyour stoning was not valid according to the majority, and you have to sacrificea sheep, the meat of which is to be distributed among the poor of the Haram; you may delegate someone to do that on your behalf.

If you cannotafford the price of a sheep, then you do not have to do anything.

And Allah knows best.