Miqat

What Does Miqat Mean in Detail?

The mawaqit (plural of miqat) are sacred boundary markers that define the threshold between ordinary travel and the sacred ibadah haji. They were designated by Nabi Muhammad (shallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as recorded in the hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim. There are five principal miqat stations, each serving jamaah haji arriving from different geographical directions: Dhul Hulayfah (also called Abyar Ali), located about 450 km north of Mekkah near Madinah — it is the farthest miqat and serves jamaah haji coming from Madinah and the north; Al-Juhfah (near modern Rabigh), about 183 km northwest, serving jamaah haji from the Levant, Egypt, and North Africa; Qarn al-Manazil (also called al-Sayl al-Kabir), about 75 km east, serving jamaah haji from Najd and the central Arabian Peninsula; Yalamlam (also called al-Sa'diyyah), about 100 km south, serving jamaah haji from Yemen and the south; and Dhat Irq, about 90 km northeast, serving jamaah haji from Iraq and the east. For jamaah haji arriving by air, the miqat is the point where their flight path crosses the miqat boundary. Airlines announce when the plane approaches the miqat, and many jamaah haji enter ihram at the airport before departure to avoid missing it. Residents of Mekkah enter ihram from their homes for Haji, but for Umrah they must go outside the haram boundary — traditionally to Masjid Aisha in Tan'im, the nearest point outside the sacred precinct. The ruling is clear: any person intending Haji or Umrah who passes beyond the miqat line without being in ihram must either return to the miqat to assume ihram or offer a fidyah (compensatory sacrifice of a sheep). This applies to all jamaah haji regardless of their mode of travel. However, a person passing through the miqat zone without intending ibadah haji — for business or other purposes — is not required to enter ihram, menurut jumhur ulama.