the time between mid-morning and the afternoon. If he delays it until the following day, as some people do, saying, “I will enter ihram on the Day of ʿArafah and proceed to ʿArafah,” then he is deprived even more.

The correct view is that he should not enter ihram from Mecca itself; rather, he should enter ihram from the place where he is staying. If they are staying in houses, then from their houses; and if they are in tents, then from their tents.

The evidence for this is that, when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had completed the circumambulation and the saʿy, he went out to the outskirts of Mecca—to al-Abṭaḥ—and stayed there. The people entered ihram from that place. (1) Accordingly, we say: it is sunnah for one to enter ihram from wherever he is, whether in Mecca or elsewhere.

Strangely, some scholars said that it is sunnah to enter ihram beneath the Kaʿbah’s water-spout—that is, in the Ḥijr, since it is where the spout drains. This contradicts the apparent meaning of the sunnah, for the Companions entered ihram from al-Abṭaḥ, where they were staying. Moreover, this view entails an evident hardship, though the one who held it was exercising independent legal reasoning.

“It is valid from the rest of the Sacred Precinct, and he spends the night at Minā, ...”

His statement, “It is valid from the rest of the Sacred Precinct,” means that entering ihram for Hajj from the rest of the Sacred Precinct is valid. Is there a difference here between Mecca and the Sacred Precinct?

The answer is yes: there is a difference between them. Mecca means the town—that is, its houses—whereas the Sacred Precinct includes everything within its boundaries. In our time, however, part of Mecca lies outside the Sacred Precinct, because the houses have extended in the direction of al-Tanʿīm, into the non-sacred area.