Question:

I entered Jeddah without intending to perform Umrah because I was told that I would not be allowed to enter Makkah on a tourist visa due to the Hajj season. However, after arrival I decided to go to Makkah hoping that I would get through somehow, and الحمد لله it payed off. Now that I am in Makkah I want to perform 'Umrah, so where do I initiate my Ihraam? Sheikh Abu Amr Al-Hajoori hafidhahullah: اخرج إلى الحل واحرم من الحل Go to the حِلّ (outside the Haram perimeters) and initiate your Ihraam from there. Date: 6/Dhul Qi'dah/1444 H (26/5/23) ___ Sheikh Ibn Baz rahimahullah said in a Fatwa to a similar question: “Whoever leaves Riyadh or elsewhere, heading for Makkah, and does not want to perform Hajj or Umrah, but rather wants another objective, such as business or visiting some relatives, or the like, then after arriving in Makkah it decides to perform Hajj, then he enters into ihram from wherever he is; if he is in Jeddah, he enters into ihram from there, and if he is in Makkah, he enters into Ihram from Makkah, and so on. Wherever he intends to perform Hajj or Umrah, he enters into Ihram from there, for both Hajj and Umrah, if it is within the Meeqaat, and there is no sin on him; because his Meeqaat is from where he intended to perform Hajj or Umrah, if it is within the Meeqaat; due to the statement of the Prophet ﷺ when he set the meeqaat: “and whoever is within that, then he should initiate (Ihram) from where he is, even the people of Makkah from Makkah. But if he wants to perform 'Umrah while he is in the sanctuary of Makkah, it is not permissible for him to enter into ihraam from inside the sanctuary, but rather he must leave the sanctuary in order to enter into ihraam for 'Umrah; because the Prophet ﷺ commanded 'Aishah to enter into ihraam for 'Umrah from outside the sanctuary, when she wanted to perform 'Umrah during the Farewell Pilgrimage while she was already inside the sanctuary.” Source: https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/14538/%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7-%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AC-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA