The fifth ruling is that anyone who does not follow Islam—whether a dhimmī (protected non-Muslim) or a muʿāhid (non-Muslim under treaty)—must be barred from entering the Sacred Precinct, whether to reside there or merely pass through it. In a report transmitted by Ibn Manṣūr, he said: “A Jew or Christian may not enter the Sacred Precinct.” Thus, he barred them from it.

If a polytheist enters it without permission, he is subject to taʿzīr (discretionary punishment), but his entry does not make it lawful to kill him. If he enters with permission, he is not punished; rather, the person who granted him permission is censured, and his entry still does not make it lawful to kill him. The person who granted permission is subjected to taʿzīr if circumstances warrant it. The polytheist is escorted out safely.

If a polytheist wishes to enter it in order to embrace Islam there, he is prevented from entering until he embraces Islam before entering. If a polytheist dies in the Sacred Precinct, it is forbidden to bury him there; he must be buried outside the Sacred Precinct. If he is buried in the Sacred Precinct, he is moved outside it, unless he has decomposed, in which case he is left there, as the dead of the pre-Islamic era who died there were left.

Aḥmad said, according to the report of Abū Ṭālib: “Makkah has been accorded distinction only in these respects: one may pray there at any hour, day or night; nothing interrupts the prayer there; a woman may pass in front of a man; whoever enters it is safe; and its game is protected.”

As for the remaining mosques, is it permissible to grant them permission to enter them? There are two reports. One permits this, so long as they do not intend, by entering, to treat the mosque disrespectfully by eating and sleeping there; if that is their intention, they are barred. The second is that permission may not be granted to them under any circumstances.

As for the Ḥijāz, al-Aṣmaʿī said: “It was called the Ḥijāz because it separates Tihāmah from Najd.” The portion of it outside the Sacred Precinct is distinguished from other lands by four rulings. The first is that no polytheist—whether a dhimmī or a muʿāhid—may take up permanent residence there.

Aḥmad said, according to the report of Bakr ibn Muḥammad—when he was asked about the statement of the Prophet ﷺ—