The Messenger of Allah ﷺ designated Dhul Hulayfah as the place of ihram for the people of Madinah, Juhfah for the people of Sham, Qarn for the people of Najd, Dhat Irq for the people of Iraq, and Yalamlam for the people of Yemen.
عن رسول الله ﷺ أنه وقت لأهل المدينة ذا الحليفة، ولأهل الشام لجحفة، ولأهل نجد قرنا، ولأهل العراق ذات عرق، ولأهل اليمن يلملم.
Nasai (2656) narrated it from Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Ammar Mawsili, who said, Abu Hashim Muhammad bin Ali told us, from Maafa bin Imran, from Aflah (that is, Ibn Humayd), from Qasim, from Ayesha, and he related it.Abu Dawud (1739) and Nasai (2653) both narrated it from the hadith of Hisham bin Bahram Madaini, who said, Maafa bin Imran told us, with his chain, and he related it in similar fashion, except that Abu Dawud abridged it with the wording, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set Zat Irq as the boundary for the people of Iraq."Abu Hashim Muhammad bin Ali is al-Asadi. Ajli said of him, "Trustworthy, a righteous man." Muhammad bin Ghalib Tamtam said, I said to Yahya bin Main, I have written down the "Jami of Thawri" from Abu Hashim, from Maafa. Yahya said, It has reached me that this man is the equal of Maafa, or better than him. In summary, he is trustworthy.Furthermore, he was not alone in mentioning Zat Irq for the people of Iraq, rather Hisham bin Bahram also corroborated him, as found in Abu Dawud's narration. Ibn Main said of Hisham bin Bahram, "There is no harm in him," and Abu Hatim said, "Truthful." Ibn Saad and Ajli affirmed his trustworthiness, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy. Bayhaqi (5/28) also recorded it through his route with the full detail found in Nasai, and said, "Abu Dawud narrated it from Hisham in abridged form."However, Ibn Adi mentioned in Kamil, in the biographical entry on Aflah bin Humayd (1/408), that Imam Ahmad disapproved of Aflah's statement in this hadith, "and for the people of Iraq, Zat Irq," without disapproving of anything else in its chain or text. He said, Ibn Sayd said, Ahmad bin Hanbal used to disapprove of this hadith, along with others, from Aflah bin Humayd. It was said to him, "Does anyone other than Maafa narrate from him?" He said, "Maafa bin Imran is trustworthy." Ibn Adi said, "Aflah bin Humayd is more well known than that, and trustworthy people have narrated from him, such as Ibn Abu Zaida, Waki, and Ibn Wahb, the last of them being Qanabi. In my view he is sound, and I hope that all his hadiths are correct. This hadith, however, is one that Maafa alone narrates from him."I say, so he attributes this being narrated alone to Maafa bin Imran, whom Ahmad confirmed to be trustworthy. What is meant by "narrated alone" here is his statement, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set Zat Irq as the boundary for the people of Iraq," but it has corroborating evidence, as mentioned before, and as will come later.