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The first thing a person intending Hajj or ʿumrah must do when he wishes to begin either is to enter ihrām, the state of consecration, for it. Before this, he merely intends Hajj or ʿumrah and has not yet begun either. He is like someone setting out for the Friday prayer: he receives the reward for making his way there, but has not begun the prayer until he formally enters it. Upon reaching the mīqāt (designated entry point), he must enter ihrām.

There are five entry points: Dhū al-Hulayfa, al-Juhfa, Qarn al-Manāzil, Yalamlam, and Dhāt ʿIrq.

{When the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, designated these entry points, he said: “These are for their inhabitants and for those from elsewhere who pass through them intending Hajj or ʿumrah. Whoever lives nearer to Mecca than these points enters ihrām from his home; even the people of Mecca enter ihrām from Mecca.”}

Dhū al-Hulayfa is the farthest of these entry points from Mecca. The distance between it and Mecca is ten stages of travel, or somewhat less or more, depending on the route, since several routes lead from it to Mecca. It is also called Wādī al-ʿAqīq, and its mosque is called the Mosque of the Tree. There is a well there which the ignorant among the common people call “ʿAlī’s Well,” believing that ʿAlī fought the jinn there. This is false, for none of the Companions fought the jinn, and ʿAlī is far too exalted