Chapter on the Miqat

Introduction

The Arabic term mawāqīt is the plural of mīqāt, and it refers both to appointed times and appointed places.

1. The temporal miqāt consists of the months of pilgrimage: Shawwāl, Dhū al-Qaʿdah, and the first ten days of Dhū al-Ḥijjah.

2. The spatial miqāt is defined by the locations named in the two ḥadiths that follow.

These boundaries were instituted in order to magnify and honor the Sacred House, so that those who come for ḥajj or ʿumrah will cross them in a state of reverence, humility, and submissiveness.

For the same reason Allah has forbidden hunting and the cutting of trees within its sanctified zone, for such acts would show disregard for its sanctity and detract from its dignity.

Allah—exalted is He—has made it a place to which people continually return and a sanctuary, and He has provided its inhabitants with fruits so that they might give thanks.