Masjid al-Shajarah (Bir Ali) — Miqat of Medina

Masjid al-Shajarah — known popularly as Bir Ali and officially as Dhu'l-Hulayfah — is the miqat (station for assuming Ihram) for pilgrims departing from Medina toward Mecca for Hajj or Umrah. It is the furthest of the five main miqat stations from Mecca (approximately 450 km), and therefore the point at which pilgrims coming from or through Medina must enter the state of Ihram before proceeding. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself put on his Ihram here before his Hajj and Umrah journeys from Medina. The masjid marks the site of a tree (shajarah) under which the Prophet rested. Pilgrims perform ghusl, dress in the two white sheets of Ihram, offer 2 raka'ats namaaz, and recite the talbiyah (Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk) upon entering Ihram. The current structure is a large modern mosque. In Bohra practice, pilgrims who have traveled to Medina before Hajj — the common route — pass through Bir Ali and formally enter their Ihram here, though in the Tayyibi fiqh they complete a special Ihram ceremony inside Hijr Ismail at the Kaaba upon arrival in Mecca.