Ihram
Ihram rules, and where the miqat actually is
Zara Hajj & Umrah Services · Udupi, Karnataka
Updated 18 Jul 2026 · 9 min
How to wear it
Men
Two unstitched white cloths. The izar wraps the lower body from the waist, and the rida goes over the shoulders. Nothing stitched underneath, and the head stays uncovered.
Sandals leave the instep and heel bone visible. A belt with a zip pocket is permitted and is genuinely useful, you will be carrying a phone and a hotel card.
Bring two sets. The first gets soaked at Zamzam or in rain, and a wet rida for the rest of the day is miserable.
How to wear it
Women
There is no special garment. Ordinary modest clothing you can walk and pray in for hours is the whole requirement, loose, opaque, and unscented.
According to the majority, the face and hands are left uncovered while in ihram, so no niqab and no gloves. Where a woman would otherwise cover, a loose covering that does not touch the face is discussed among the schools; ask your own scholar.
Dark colours show less dust, and a second abaya matters for the same reason it does for men.
While in ihram
What is prohibited
These apply from the moment you make the intention until the trim at the end. Breaking one is not the end of your Umrah, but some carry an expiation, ask before assuming.
Cutting hair or nails
Both, anywhere on the body.
Perfume and scented products
Including scented soap, toothpaste, deodorant and wet wipes.
Marital relations
And anything leading towards them.
Hunting or killing game
Insects that harm you are excepted.
Contracting a marriage
Officiating or being married.
Men: covering the head
No cap, no hood. An umbrella is fine, it does not touch the head.
Men: stitched clothing
No underwear, no shirts, no socks over the ankle bone.
Women: niqab and gloves
Face and hands are left uncovered in ihram, according to the majority.
The boundary
The miqat points
Which one applies depends on the direction you approach from, not on where you started.
Dhul Hulayfah (Abyar Ali)
From Madinah
~12 km from Madinah
The furthest miqat from Makkah, and the one most groups use when travelling Madinah first. There is a mosque with changing facilities.
Qarn al-Manazil (as-Sayl al-Kabir)
From Taif and the east
~75 km from Makkah
Used by those coming from Taif, and by residents of Jeddah heading to Makkah via that road.
Yalamlam
From Yemen and the south
~100 km from Makkah
Also the boundary crossed by many flights approaching from the south.
Dhat Irq
From Iraq and the north-east
~94 km from Makkah
Less commonly used today.
Al-Juhfah (Rabigh)
From Egypt, the Levant and the north-west
~187 km from Makkah
Rabigh is used in practice as the modern marker for this miqat.
In the air, before Jeddah
Flying into JED
~45 min before landing
Your aircraft crosses a miqat boundary in flight. This is the single most common point of confusion for first-time pilgrims, see below.
Flying into Jeddah
The one thing first-timers get wrong
Jeddah airport is inside the miqat boundary on most approaches. You must already be in ihram when you land. Not at the hotel, not in the terminal.
What works:
- Change at your departure airport, before boarding. Simplest by far, and you can do it calmly.
- Or change on the aircraft and make the intention roughly 45 minutes out.
- Set your own alarm. Captains do announce the miqat. People also sleep through it, sit in the lavatory through it, wear headphones through it, and sometimes it simply is not announced.
If you realise you have passed it without ihram, the commonly held position is to go back and enter ihram there if you can. If you cannot, the schools differ on what is due. Ask a scholar rather than guessing, and do not let anyone wave it away as nothing.
- Change into ihram at your departure airport. Simplest version of this by far, and you can do it without hurrying.
- You cross the boundary roughly 45 minutes before landing. Set your own alarm. Captains announce it, and people sleep through the announcement.
- The airport and the city are both inside it. Changing in the terminal is already too late.
لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ، لَبَّيْكَ لَا شَرِيكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ، إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ وَالنِّعْمَةَ لَكَ وَالْمُلْكَ، لَا شَرِيكَ لَكَ
Labbayk Allahumma labbayk, labbayka la sharika laka labbayk, inna-l-hamda wa-n-ni'mata laka wa-l-mulk, la sharika lak
Here I am, O Allah, here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Indeed all praise, grace and sovereignty belong to You. You have no partner.