Is it obligatory to collect the pebbles for stoning the Jamarat from Muzdalifah?

Stoning the three Jamarat is one of the rituals of hajj performed during the Days of Tashreeq. The three Jamarat sites are:

• Jamrat al-Ṣughra (the small or lower Jamrah), which is the closest to al-Khayf Mosque,
• Jamrat al-Wusṭa (the middle Jamrah)
• Jamrat al-ʿAqabah al-Kubra (the large Jamrah at al-ʿAqabah), which is located at the far end of Mina.

The pilgrim throws seven pebbles consecutively at each Jamrah while saying "Allahu Akbar" with each throw. They begin with the first (Jamrat al-Ṣughra), and after stoning the first and middle Jamrah, they pause to make supplications to Allah Almighty while facing the qiblah. There is no pause after the last stoning site (Jamrat al-ʿAqabah).

It is not obligatory to collect the pebbles for stoning from Muzdalifah during the Days of Tashreeq. Rather, it is permissible to collect them from any place the pilgrim chooses, as there is no requirement to collect them from a specific location. The matter is flexible, with no hardship or restriction involved. The evidence for this is the report of Ibn ʿAbbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that states that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me on the morning of al-ʿAqabah while he was on his mount,
"Pick up [some pebbles] for me,"
so I picked up some pebbles for him which were a little bigger than a chickpea. When I put them in his hand, he said,
"Stone with pebbles like these. Beware of going to extremes in religion, for those who came before you were destroyed because of their excessiveness in religion"
(recorded by Imam Aḥmad in al-Musnad, Ibn Majah, and al-Nasa’i in al-Sunan).

This hadith indicates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had the pebbles collected for him while he was in Mina, not in Muzdalifah. He also instructed us to avoid excessiveness and rigidity in religion, such as designating a specific place from which the pebbles must be collected. Accordingly, a pilgrim may collect the pebbles from any place they choose, and this is sufficient to fulfill the obligation. This is the unanimous opinion of the four schools of jurisprudence.

As for the narrations or views reported in the Ḥanafi, Shafiʿi, and Ḥanbali schools regarding the dislike (karaha) of collecting pebbles from specific locations, these are based on particular considerations and contextual factors. They do not affect the validity of the stoning itself, especially since the relied-upon positions in the three aforementioned schools are as above stated.

And Allah the Almighty knows best