or ʿumrah. Whoever lives inside those limits must enter iḥrām from the place where he sets out, even the people of Mecca, who do so from within Mecca itself.” Agreed upon. Muslim records in Jābir’s version: “The starting point for the people of Iraq is Dhāt ʿIrq.”

The wisdom behind this is that, because the Sacred House of Allah is so highly esteemed, He placed around it a bulwark—Mecca; around Mecca a sanctuary—the ḥaram; and around the ḥaram yet another sanctuary—the mawāqīt. No one may cross these boundaries on the way to the House without first donning iḥrām, in veneration of the Sacred House.

The farthest of these mawāqīt is Dhū al-Ḥulayfa, the mīqāt for the people of Madinah; it lies a ten-day journey from Mecca.

The mīqāt for the people of Syria, Egypt, and the Maghrib is al-Juhfa, near Rabigh, about three stages from Mecca, though some say it is farther.

The mīqāt for the people of Yemen is Yalamlam, two stages from Mecca. The mīqāt for the people of Najd is Qarn al-Manāzil—now known as al-Sayl—and it too is two stages from Mecca.

The mīqāt for the people of Iraq and the eastern lands is Dhāt ʿIrq, likewise two stages from Mecca.

These are the mawāqīt from which the inhabitants of the named regions must assume iḥrām, and from which anyone who passes by while intending Hajj or ʿumrah must do the same.