The ruling on one who enters the state of ihram from his home and does not enter it from the miqat.

The questioner : A man has a miqat—for example, a Yemeni, whose miqat is in Yemen—and he entered the state of ihram from his home in his family’s neighborhood, and did not enter it from the miqat. What is the ruling on his action?

The Shaykh : He is transgressing, transgressing against the Sunnah.

The questioner : He is transgressing against the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : He is transgressing against the Sunnah. Of course, his ihram is valid, but he has added to the Sunnah what is not part of it, so this addition is invalid. Therefore, entering ihram from one’s family neighborhood, even though this is mentioned in some reports, and indeed it came in a hadith, but it is not authentic. However, the Sunnah is to enter ihram from the miqat. Imam Malik was asked about such an ihram from one’s family neighborhood, and he rejected it, saying:The questioner : “It is only a few steps I am adding.” He rejected this from him with the strongest rejection, and said to him: How do you add to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? And without a doubt, as we always repeat in our lessons and sermons, his saying (peace be upon him): . If entering ihram before the miqat were better, the Messenger (peace be upon him) would have preceded us to it, and those after him from the righteous Salaf would have preceded us. But we continue, and we ask Allah to keep us firm upon the best of guidance, the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Then we consider that this ihram is from the category of excessive strictness in religion, and he (peace be upon him) said: .
And I remember—as they say—if I forget, I will not forget a man of about fifty or sixty years of age, an Afghan, whom I saw in Damascus in the state of ihram. So I asked him why he was like that, as if he were a pilgrim? He said: Yes, I am a pilgrim. I said: And how do you wear the ihram before the miqat? He said: I entered ihram from my family neighborhood, from Afghanistan, the poor man! So consider how long this person will live in difficulty and hardship until he arrives! And perhaps he was in the state of ihram for the individual Hajj, so he will remain in this ihram from his country until he exits the state of ihram on the Day of Sacrifice. This is hardship and this is difficulty, . And therefore, the Sunnah is more deserving of being followed, which is entering ihram from the miqat.
Just as it is not permissible to delay entering ihram past the miqat, so it is not permissible to advance entering ihram before the miqat. An example of this is the five prayers. The five prayers have temporal times, and Hajj and 'Umrah have spatial times. Just as it is not permissible for a Muslim to exceed the temporal times regarding the five prayers, neither by advancing nor delaying; so the one who delays the prayer from its time is like the one who prays it before its time. Otherwise, he has actually nullified the saying of the Exalted: . So what is the benefit of timing if he prays before the time or prays after the time? Likewise, what is the benefit of these spatial times for pilgrims and those performing 'Umrah if we permit them to enter ihram before the miqat, or permit them to enter ihram after the miqat, but we oblige them to sacrifice an animal? No, we say: It is not permissible to enter ihram before the miqat or after the miqat, except for one who did so out of ignorance or forgetfulness; this is an excuse. As for the one who knows; he is sinful, and this sin is sufficient for him.