The Messenger of Allah ﷺ designated Dhu al-Hulayfa as the place of entering ihram for the people of Madinah, Juhfa for the people of Sham, Qarn al-Manazil for the people of Najd, and Yalamlam for the people of Yemen. These are for them and for anyone passing through them from elsewhere who intends to perform Hajj or Umra. Whoever lives within these boundaries enters ihram from his own home, and likewise the people of Makkah enter ihram from Makkah itself.
وقت رسول الله ﷺ لأهل المدينة ذا الحليفة، ولأهل الشام الجحفة، ولأهل نجد قرن المنازل، ولأهل اليمن يلملم، فهن لهن، ولمن أتى عليهن من غير أهلهن، ممن أراد الحج والعمرة، فمن كان دونهن فمهله من أهله، وكذاك حتى أهل مكة بهلون منها.
Bukhari related it in the chapter on Hajj (1526), and Muslim in the chapter on Hajj (1181:11), both through the route of Hammad bin Zayd, from Amr bin Dinar, from Tawus, from Ibn Abbas. Bukhari also related it (1530), and Muslim (1181:12), through the route of Wahib, from Abdullah bin Tawus, from his father, from Ibn Abbas, with similar wording.His statement, "for those who intend Hajj and Umrah," makes clear that entering into ihram from these stations is only obligatory for someone whose passage through them is with the intent of Hajj or Umrah, not for someone who does not intend either of them. So if a resident of Madinah were to pass by Zulhulayfa while not intending Hajj or Umrah, and continued on until he drew near to the sanctuary, and then decided he wanted Hajj or Umrah, he would enter ihram from wherever the intention came to him, and no sacrifice would be obligatory upon him, unlike the case of someone who left his house intending Hajj or Umrah, then passed beyond the designated station and entered ihram after having gone past it. This point was made by Khattabi.His statement, "so whoever is short of them, his point of entering ihram is from his own household," means that his station is his residence and his home, and he must not go beyond it without ihram if he intends Hajj or Umrah. As for the people of Makkah, if they intend Hajj, they enter ihram from their own house, and if they intend Umrah, they go out to the area outside the sanctuary and enter ihram from there.