The miqat stations are binding upon the people for whom they were fixed and upon every traveller who passes by any one of them while intending Hajj or ʿUmrah, even if he is not of its people. Whoever lives inside the area between a miqat and Mecca commences his ihram from his own home.
Imam Mālik does not approve of anyone entering ihram before reaching his appointed miqat; if a person nevertheless does so, the ihram counts but Mālik still deems it disliked. Other scholars of Madinah and elsewhere do not consider it disliked.
A Meccan begins the ihram for Hajj from within Mecca itself, but for ʿUmrah he may enter ihram from any point in the ḥill—that is, any place outside the Sacred Precinct.
Whoever travels by a route that does not pass directly by one of the miqat stations, whether by land or by sea, should assume ihram when he is parallel with (ḥidhw) the nearest miqat.
If someone who is not from Syria, Egypt, or the Maghrib passes by Dhū l-Ḥulayfa intending Hajj or ʿUmrah and then continues past it to al-Juhfa or elsewhere before entering ihram, he must offer a compensatory sacrifice (dam). This ruling does not apply to a person whose designated miqat is al-Juhfa. Even so, it is preferable for the people of Syria and the Maghrib who pass by Dhū l-Ḥulayfa on their way to Hajj or ʿUmrah to assume ihram there; if they delay it until al-Juhfa, no penalty is due.
No one who intends Hajj, ʿUmrah, or any comparable act may cross the miqat except in a state of ihram. If a person crosses the miqat for some need that lies short of Mecca, with no intention of entering Mecca and without mentioning Hajj or ʿUmrah, and later decides to assume ihram for either of the two, he does so from the very spot where he is—near or far—and he is not required to return to the miqat, nor is anything due from him.
Should he cross the miqat intending to enter Mecca in an ordinary state (not in ihram) and then assume ihram, he must offer a sacrifice; some say no sacrifice is due, and both opinions are related from Mālik.
Whoever crosses the miqat while intending Hajj or ʿUmrah must return to his miqat and enter ihram there; if he assumes ihram after passing it, he becomes liable for a sacrifice, whether he did so deliberately, through forgetfulness, or out of ignorance. Once he has entered ihram he does not go back to the miqat—whether he is still close to it or not—because the sacrifice has already become obligatory and there is no point in returning. According to Mālik, a person who intends Hajj or ʿUmrah returns to his miqat only so long as he has not yet assumed ihram; but once he has entered ihram he does not—