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MIQAT DHU'L-HULAYFAH
The gateway to the sacred journey — Also known as Masjid ash-Shajarah (the Mosque of the Tree) and Abyar Ali (the Wells of Ali).
The threshold between two worlds
Fourteen kilometers southwest of the Prophet's Mosque ﷺ, where the road inclines towards Mecca, stands a mosque that pilgrims have crossed for fourteen centuries. This is where it all begins. This is where the ordinary traveler becomes a pilgrim. It is here, in this blessed valley, that the garments of the world fall away and the soul strips itself to present, pure and naked, before its Lord.
This place is not just a stop among others. It is the threshold. The invisible boundary between two states of being.
The three names of one place
Masjid ash-Shajarah — the Mosque of the Tree — because the Prophet ﷺ stopped there under a tree during his Farewell Pilgrimage. Dhu'l-Hulayfah — a diminutive of ḥalfa (al-ḥalfāʾ, esparto grass), a plant that grew in this valley. Abyar Ali (the Wells of Ali) because, according to popular tradition, the fourth caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) had wells dug here to quench the thirst of the pilgrims.
The founding hadith
Abdullah ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنهما) reported: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ designated Dhu'l-Hulayfah as the Miqat for the people of Medina, al-Juhfah for the Levant, Qarn al-Manazil for Najd, and Yalamlam for Yemen." (Sahih al-Bukhari no. 1524 · Sahih Muslim no. 1181)
Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) reported that he heard the Prophet ﷺ say, in the valley of al-'Aqiq: "Tonight, a messenger from my Lord came to me and said: Pray in this blessed valley, and say: an Umrah within a Hajj." (Sahih al-Bukhari no. 1534)
The rite, the passage
The pilgrim arrives here, performs ghusl, dons the white Ihram, prays two rakats, makes his intention, and pronounces: "Labbayka Allahumma Labbayka. Labbayka, lā sharīka laka, Labbayk." He becomes muhrim — a consecrated one.
Practical information
- Location: Abyar Ali, southwest of Medina
- Distance: 14 km by road · about 9 km as the crow flies from the Prophet's Mosque ﷺ
- Architecture: 13 domes · 5 minarets
- Coordinates: 24.4136° N, 39.5425° E