46. CHAPTER: THE MAWAQIT
THE DESIGNATED ENTRY POINTS FOR HAJJ (MAWAQIT)
The author says, “Chapter: al-Mawaqit”: It is the plural of miqat, which refers to set limits of time and place denoted by Allah and His Messenger for the performance of acts of worship. (See al-Misbah al-Munir (p. 920)) The mawaqit for Hajj can be divided into two types:
Mawaqit that is time specific: Entering the state of ihram for Hajj is only permissible at a specific time, which is during the sacred months. Allah mentions it in the ayah: {Hajj is [during] well-known months, so whoever has made Hajj obligatory upon himself therein [by entering the state of ihram], there is [to be for him] no sexual relations and no disobedience and no disputing during Hajj.} (Al-Baqarah: 197)
These well-known months are: Shawwal, Dhul Qa’dah and the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. If a person enters the state of ihram intending Hajj during any of these specific days, his ihram is valid. This is only for Hajj. As for those who are performing ‘Umrah, there is no specific time for entering the state of ihram. The person may do so whenever he likes throughout the year.
The miqat of the people of Madinah is: Dhul Hulayfah, for the people of Sham, Egypt and Morocco it is: al-Juhfah, for the people of Yemen: Yalamlam, for the people of Najd it is: Qarnun and for the people from the East, it is Dhat Irqin. These Mawaqit are to be used by the residents of each region Mawaqit.
These five mawaqit [are the second type,] specific to place:
“The miqat of the people of Madinah is: Dhul Hulayfah”: This is for the residents of Madinah and for those who travel past it. Dhul Hulayfah is a valley well known as Wadi al-Aqiq, situated near Madinah. It is the furthest miqat from Makkah. It was named Dhul Hulayfah after a tree called “Haifa”. Hulayfah is the diminutive form (Arabic grammar: tasghir) of halfa. The Messenger of Allah(pbuh) and his Companions entered into the state of ihram at this miqat when they performed the Farewell Hajj. He designated Dhul Hulayfah as the miqat for the people of Madinah and for those who travel past this place.
“For the people of Sham, Egypt and Morocco it is: al-Juhfah”: Al-Juhfah is a small village situated along the old route to Makkah from Sham, Egypt or Maghrib (Morocco). They enter into the state of ihram at Dhul Hulayfah when crossing it on land or sea. Those who travel by sea should enter into ihram at the same geographical location of al-Juhfah while out at sea. Likewise, is the case for those travelling by air, they enter into the state of ihram at the approximate position of al-Juhfah.
“For the people of Yemen: Yalamlam”: Yalamlam is the name of a mountain or a valley which is near a mountain. The people of Yemen enter into ihram from this miqat as do those who travel via this route. It is also known as “Alamlam.” It is popularly called “al-Sa’diyah” by people in the current time.
“For the people of Najd, it is: Qarnun”: That is, Qarn al-Manazil which is a large stream. This is the miqat for the people of Najd.
“And for the people from the East, it is Dhat Irqin”: The people being referred to here are the Iraqis and those who travel by a similar route to that of the Iraqis. They enter into the state of ihram from Dhat Irqin. It lies to the north of Qarn al-Manazil, at close proximity to it along the route taken by the pilgrims when travelling to Makkah.
It is said that these mawaqit were designated by ‘Umar (Reported by al-Bukhari (2/166) from the narration of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar.) as he had delineated the miqat for the people of Najd. It was reported in a hadith that it was in fact the Prophet(pbuh) who delineated it. (Reported by Muslim (4/7) and Ibn Majah (2915) from the narration of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, which is a marfu report.) It is said that there is no contradiction between the two hadiths as it was the Messenger of Allah(pbuh) who delineated it initially and ‘Umar, being oblivious to it, exercised his wisdom to delineate the miqat. Coincidentally, he had chosen the very spot the Prophet(pbuh) had chosen earlier. This is just one example of the many instances of ‘Umar making a favorable ijtihad.
Whoever performs Hajj from amongst the people of Makkah, should enter ihram from within it whilst that for ‘Umrah is done from beyond the sacred city.
“Whoever performs Hajj from amongst the people of Makkah, should enter ihram from within it whilst that for ‘Umrah is done from beyond the sacred city”: The residents of Makkah enter ihram in Makkah itself, whilst those who perform ‘Umrah must enter ihram from the outskirts of Makkah. The proof for this is the incident where ‘Aishah requested to perform ‘Umrah. The Prophet(pbuh) asked ‘Aishah’s brother ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Bakr to accompany her to a place called al-Tan’im which lay on the outskirts of Makkah and thus not within the sacred city. She then entered ihram from there. (Reported by al-Bukhari (2/174), (3/6), (4/76) and Muslim (4/133) from the narration of Aishah.)
This is proof that the residents of Makkah cannot enter the state of ihram for ‘Umrah while remaining within it. They must go to the outskirts beyond the city’s sanctuary and can do so from al-Tan’im, or al-Ji’ranah, the place where the Prophet(pbuh) entered ihram when he performed ‘Umrah in the year of the battle of Hunayn, ‘Arafah or from any place that is a mile away from the sanctuary of Makkah. They should enter into the state of ihram and only then enter Makkah.
The wisdom behind this disparity between Hajj and ‘Umrah with regards to entering into the state of ihram, and Allah knows best, is for these rites to attain a combination of being within the sanctuary of Makkah and outside. The Hajj pilgrim gets to be in the sanctuary and outside the sanctuary whilst performing the Hajj rites. He has to stand at ‘Arafah, which is outside the sacred city. However, the rites of ‘Umrah do not take the pilgrim outside of the sanctuary. Hence, he is ordered to enter into ihram from outside the sacred city so that a combination of being within the sanctuary and outside is achieved.
The sacred months are: Shawwal, Dhul Qa’dah and the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah.
“The sacred months are: Shawwal, Dhul Qa’dah and the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah”: The season for Hajj is limited to these months. Allah says: {Hajj is [during] well-known months.} (Al-Baqarah: 197) These well-known months are those mentioned above. If a person enters into ihram to perform Hajj on the day of ‘Eid al-Fitr, it is considered valid. He must remain in his ihram until he completes his Hajj. Similarly, if he enters into ihram before dawn of Yawm al-Nahr (10th of Dhul Hijjah) while he is at ‘Arafah, then his state of ihram is valid as he did so within the sacred months.Point to note: There are instances of pilgrims traversing through the mawaqit and entering into ihram at Jeddah. This is a mistake. Jeddah is a miqat for only its residents and for those who made an intention to perform Hajj or ‘Umrah whilst there. The Prophet(pbuh) said while delineating the mawaqit, “And he who is at a lesser distance,” referring to a person who is closer to Makkah than the mawaqit, “Then his place [of ihram] is that of the residents,” (Reported by al-Bukhari (2/165) and Muslim (4/5) from the narration of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas.) or he can enter into ihram from his current place.
By Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan
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