Discussion of the prerequisites for entering a state of iḥrām.
The primary conditions for iḥrām are two: place and time.

As for place, it is what is known as the pilgrimage miqāts. Let us begin, then, by saying: the scholars, in general, concur that the stations from which iḥrām is assumed are:
• For the people of Madinah: Dhū’l-Ḥulayfah;
• For the people of Greater Syria: al-Juhfah;
• For the people of Najd: Qarn;
• For the people of Yemen: Yalamlam.
This has been firmly established from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—through the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar and others.

They disagreed, however, about the miqāt for the people of Iraq. The majority of jurists of the various regions said their miqāt is Dhāt ʿIrq, whereas al-Shāfiʿī and al-Thawrī held that, if they enter iḥrām from al-ʿAqīq, that is preferable.

They also differed over who set that miqāt for them. One group said it was ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, while another maintained that it was the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who fixed Dhāt ʿIrq and al-ʿAqīq for the people of Iraq; this is narrated on the authority of Jābir, Ibn ʿAbbās, and ʿĀʾishah.

The majority of scholars hold that anyone who passes these stations intending iḥrām but fails to assume it until after them must offer a compensatory sacrifice (dam). Among these scholars are those who add that, if he returns to the miqāt and assumes iḥrām there, the sacrifice is waived—al-Shāfiʿī is of this view. Others, such as Mālik, say the sacrifice is not waived even if he goes back. A third group rules that no sacrifice is due at all, while yet others state that, if he does not return to the miqāt, his Hajj is invalid; he must go back, enter iḥrām there for an ʿumrah, and this will be discussed under the legal rulings.

The majority of scholars also agree that whoever resides within the bounds of these stations, his miqāt for iḥrām is his own place of residence.

They differ, however, on what is preferable for someone whose home lies outside those bounds: should he assume iḥrām from the miqāt or from his home? One group says it is better for him to enter iḥrām from his home, and that doing so from the miqāt is merely a concession; this is the position of al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Thawrī, and others. Mālik, Isḥāq, and Aḥmad respond that entering iḥrām at the miqāts is superior, adducing the aforementioned ḥadīths and arguing that this is the Sunnah instituted by the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and is therefore the better course.

The opposing side’s main proof is that a number of Companions assumed iḥrām before reaching the miqāts—among them Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn Masʿūd, and others—contending that they were the most knowledgeable of the Sunnah.

Finally, the foundational principles of the Ẓāhirīs require that iḥrām be taken only from the miqāt, unless a definitive consensus to the contrary is established.