Al-Hajj Al-Mabroor

Free choice and specific enjoined duties
We have to pay attention that in Hajj man steps outside the scope
of general free choice to that of specific enjoined duties, so he
cannot overpass any of the places The Legislator has specified to
him without being in a state of Ihrâm [The sacred state of practicing
great self-denial into which a Muslim must enter before performing
Hajj or ‘Umrah, during which certain actions are forbidden (like having
conjugal relations, shaving, cutting one’s nails, and several other
actions) nor commit sin, nor dispute unjustly. In this sacred state the
dress of Muslim pilgrims consists of two lengths of white cotton, one
wrapped around the loins, the other thrown over the left shoulder.
Ihrâm clothes for women should fully cover the body except the face,
hands and feet.] The essence of Ihrâm is the abandonment of vain
choices to an abidance by the faith commitments dictated by Allah.
For instance, there is the Mîqat [The place where pilgrims declare
their intentions to perform Hajj or ‘Umrah and assume the state of
Ihrâm], which is the place separating between the sacred precincts
of Mecca and the land outside them. Outside the Mîqat you are not
governed by special rules that restrict your movement, but inside
it you are within the sacred precincts, which you cannot enter
except in a state of Ihrâm.
In the Hajj man submits to new enjoined duties. A fact arousing
wonder is that the locations of the Mîqat are not geometrically
specified in a way that makes their dimensions equally separated
from the Ka‘bah. The distance of the Mîqat for the people of Hejaz,
wherein is the Sacred House, is the longest among all Mîqats.
Whoever enters from Medina to perform Hajj must assume Ihrâm
from the location called Abar ‘Ali. The distance from Abar ‘Ali to
Mecca is 450 km. On the other hand, the Mîqat of Râbigh is 204 km,
Al-Juhfa 187 km, Al-Irâq 94 km and Yalamlam 54 km.
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