From the foothills of the Sadah Mountains to the point where it empties into the Red Sea, the valley measures roughly 150 kilometres. We are now at al-Saʿdiyyah, almost halfway along its course. After touring the area, observing it firsthand, comparing our findings with the statements of the scholars, and consulting experts and local residents, we concluded that the name Yalamlam mentioned in the noble hadith as the miqat for the people of Yemen—and for all who travel by their route—applies to this entire valley, which intersects every coastal road that leads from Yemen and along the Red Sea coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The designation covers the valley from its tributaries in the Sadah foothills all the way to its mouth in the Red Sea, and it is impermissible for anyone intending pilgrimage rites to pass beyond it without entering iḥrām, no matter from which side or by which road he approaches it.
The former route passed through al-Saʿdiyyah, a village with the Saʿdiyyah well, a local administrative office, a school, and an old mosque—now renovated—that is attributed to Muʿādh ibn Jabal. Al-Saʿdiyyah is 92 kilometres from Mecca. The asphalt road recently laid by our government lies about 20 kilometres west of al-Saʿdiyyah, crosses Wadi Yalamlam, and at the crossing point the wadi is 120 kilometres from Mecca.
During the Ḥajj season of 1401 AH we informed the authorities that assuming iḥrām is permissible on either the old road, the new one, or any other route that traverses the valley. I am writing these lines in Rabīʿ al-Thānī 1402 AH, and I do not yet know whether the road will be redirected again through al-Saʿdiyyah—its original course—or whether the new route will remain in use, with facilities for iḥrām and restrooms for pilgrims to be built on the valley’s bank.
Yalamlam is the miqat for the coastal regions of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, as well as for pilgrims from Indonesia, Malaysia, China, India, and other parts of South Asia. Today, however, most pilgrims arrive by air or by sea on vessels that dock only at the ports of Jeddah.
Qarn al-Manāzil: the qāf is vocalised with a fatḥah and the rāʾ is quiescent. It is also called Qarn al-Thaʿālib (“Fox Ridge”) because four small mounds there were once home to foxes; one mound was removed to widen the Mecca–Ṭāʾif highway, leaving three, and the foxes themselves have fled with urban expansion. A qarn is a small mountain.
This miqat is now commonly known as al-Sayl al-Kabīr. The distance from the valley floor to Mecca is 78 kilometres, and from the cafés and other familiar spots where people customarily assume iḥrām it is 75 kilometres. Al-Sayl al-Kabīr has grown into a sizeable settlement with a courthouse, an administrative centre, a full range of public offices, utilities, services, and various schools.
Qarn al-Manāzil is the prescribed miqat for the people of Najd and for pilgrims from all the eastern regions—the Gulf states, Iraq, Iran, and beyond.
Wadi Muḥarram is the uppermost part of Qarn al-Manāzil; it is an inhabited village with a school, and in the past it was not used as a place to enter iḥrām.