Thursday 18 Ramadan 1445 - 28 March 2024
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Ruling on one who enters ihraam after passing the meeqaat

Question

This year my husband and I went for Hajj. The trip was from Abu Dhabi to Jeddah, and the captain of the airplane was not Muslim. He told us that in 45 minutes we would be in line with the meeqaat, but after that time had passed, he did not tell us that we were in line with the meeqaat, and we heard some other passengers reciting the Talbiyah. Do we have to offer a sacrifice or not?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

If you entered ihraam after you passed the meeqaat, then you have to sacrifice one sheep on behalf of yourself and another on behalf of your wife, to be slaughtered in Makkah and the meat distributed to the poor there. 

It says in al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (22/140): 

If a person passes the meeqaat without entering ihraam, then he must go back to it and enter ihraam from there if he can. If he goes back and enters ihraam from there, then he does not have to offer a sacrifice, according to scholarly consensus, because he entered ihraam from the meeqaat from which he was enjoined to do so. 

But if he passed the meeqaat and then entered ihraam, he must offer a sacrifice, whether he went back to the meeqaat or not. This is according to the Maalikis and Hanbalis. End quote. 

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: what is the ruling on passing the meeqaat for Hajj or ‘Umrah? 

He replied: 

It is not permissible for the Muslim who wants to do Hajj or ‘Umrah to pass the meeqaat that he passes through without entering ihraam. 

If he passes it without entering ihraam, then he must go back to it and enter ihraam from there. 

If he fails to do that and enters ihraam from a place that is within the boundary or closer to Makkah, then he must offer a sacrifice according to many of the scholars, to be slaughtered in Makkah and distributed to the poor, because he failed to do an obligatory action, which is entering ihraam from the proper meeqaat as prescribed in sharee’ah. End quote. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (17/9). 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: I travelled by plane from Riyadh to Jeddah with the intention of doing ‘Umrah, then the pilot announced that after twenty five minutes we would be passing over the meeqaat, but I missed the time of passing over the meeqaat by four or five minutes, and I completed the rituals of ‘Umrah. What is the ruling? 

He replied: 

The ruling according to what the scholars have said is that the questioner must sacrifice a sheep in Makkah and distribute the meat to the poor; if he cannot afford that, then Allaah does not burden any person beyond his scope. 

But I advise my brothers: if the pilot announces that there are twenty five minutes or ten minutes, they should enter ihraam, because some people sleep after that announcement and doe not realize it until the plane is approaching Jeddah. If you enter ihraam twenty five or fifteen minutes before reaching the meeqaat, or an hour or two hours beforehand, there is nothing wrong with that, rather what is wrong is delaying entering ihraam until one has passed the meeqaat. Five minutes in a plane covers a long distance. 

So I say to the brother who asked this question: sacrifice one fidyah in Makkah and distribute it to the poor on behalf of each of you who did not enter ihraam until after the meeqaat, but in the future, pay attention when the pilot makes the announcement. The matter is broad in scope, so enter ihraam, and even if you fall asleep after that it will not matter. End quote. 

Al-Liqa’ al-Shahri, no. 56, question no. 4 

And Allaah knows best.

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Source: Islam Q&A