The miqat (Arabic: مِيْقَات‎, romanized: mīqāt, lit. 'a stated place') is the principal boundary at which Muslim pilgrims intending to perform the Ḥajj or Umrah pilgrimages must be enter the state of iḥrām (lit. 'prohibition'), a state of consecration in which certain permitted activities are made prohibited. There are five miqats, four defined by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and one by the second Rashidun caliph, 'Umar, to fulfill the needs of those offering the pilgrimages from the newly annexed regions in Mesopotamia.