On this point the scholars have disagreed, and its detailed discussion will follow shortly, Allah willing.
It is a mercy from Allah to His servants that He appointed a separate miqāt for every direction along the pilgrim’s route to Mecca, whether the traveller is a native of that region or not. Had He placed the miqāt in only one direction, those coming from elsewhere would have faced great hardship.
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The Prophet’s ﷺ precise designation of these miqāts is one of the miracles attesting to the truth of his prophethood. He fixed their locations and specified their times of entry while the people of those regions were still unbelievers, thereby indicating that they would one day embrace Islam, perform the pilgrimage, and assume ihrām from them—and so it came to pass; all praise and favor belong to Allah.
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The very act of assigning these sanctified boundaries magnifies and exalts the Sacred House: no one who intends a rite may cross them without approaching in reverence, humility, and submissiveness, clothed in this distinctive state.
Scholarly disagreement:
The scholars unanimously agree that entering ihrām is legislated for anyone who wishes to enter the Haram, whether for a rite or for some other purpose. They also unanimously agree that it is obligatory for the one who enters seeking to perform Hajj or ʿumrah.
They differ, however, over its obligation upon someone entering for a purpose other than the rites—such as trade, residence, and the like.
The three Imams—Abū Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and Aḥmad—held that ihrām is mandatory for whoever enters, whether for a rite or not. They cite the Prophet’s ﷺ words concerning Mecca: “It is a sanctuary by Allah’s sanctity until the Day of Resurrection. It was not lawful for anyone before me, nor will it be lawful for anyone after me; it was only made lawful for me for one short hour of the day, then it returned to the sanctity it possessed yesterday.”
They also invoke the report of Ibn ʿAbbās recorded by al-Bayhaqī: “No one enters Mecca except in ihrām,” about which Ibn Ḥajar said, “Its isnād is sound.”
Imām al-Shāfiʿī, in the well-known view attributed to him, maintains that one may enter without ihrām if he does not intend Hajj or ʿumrah. This is likewise the position of the Ẓāhirīs, championed by Ibn Ḥazm in al-Muḥallā. It is also a reported view of Imām Aḥmad, preferred by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah and Abū’l-Wafāʾ Ibn ʿAqīl; Ibn Mufliḥ remarked in al-Furūʿ that it is the apparent ruling.
Their evidence is the Prophet’s phrase in this hadith: “for anyone who wishes to perform Hajj or ʿumrah.”