A man passed the miqat without entering the state of ihram until he reached Makkah, so he asked and was told to return to the nearest miqat. He returned to the nearest miqat and entered the state of ihram from there. Is his action sufficient, or

The questioner : His second question says: A man passed his miqat and entered Makkah, and he asked what he should do. He was told to return to the nearest miqat and enter the state of ihram from there, and he did so. Is this sufficient, or is it necessary for him to return to the miqat that he passed on his arrival?

The Shaykh : If a person passes the miqat intending to perform the rites, whether Hajj or 'Umrah, it is not permissible for him to pass it until he enters the state of ihram from it for what he intends, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) designated the miqats, and he said: As for this issue mentioned by the questioner, that he passed the miqat without entering the state of ihram until he reached Makkah, and then he was told to return to the nearest miqat and enter the state of ihram from there, we tell him that this fatwa he was given is not correct, and that he must go to the miqat that he passed, because that is the miqat from which he is obligated to enter the state of ihram, as indicated by the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) to which we referred earlier. However, if the one who gave him the fatwa is among the scholars whose knowledge and religion are trusted, and he relied on that, then he owes nothing, because he did what is obligatory, which is asking the scholars, and the error of the mufti is not his responsibility.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : This is a message from the listener Ali Sa'id al-Badi' from Riyadh.