This
Hadeeth
again
is
very
clear
in
its
meaning.
All
traveling
for
the
sake
of
worship
has
been
prohibited
except
to
the
three
Masjids.
This
is
how
the
Sahabah
(radhi
allahu
anhum)
understood
this
Hadeeth.
It
is
mentioned
in
Musnad
Ahmad,
while
returning
from
a
trip,
Abu
Basrah
al-Ghifaree
met
Abu
Hurayrah
(radhi
allahu
anhu)
and
the
latter
asked
him
where
he
was
coming
from.
Abu
Basrah
replied
that
he
was
coming
back
from
at-Toor[2]
where
he
had
made
prayer.
Abu
Hurayrah
(radhi
allahu
anhu)
said:
“If
only
I
had
caught
you
before
you
had
set
out,
for
I
heard
Allah’s
Messenger
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
say:
“Don’t
travel
(for
religious
purposes)
to
other
than
three
Masjids…”[3]
Abu
Qaz’ah
also
related
that
he
had
wanted
to
go
to
at-Toor,
but
when
he
asked
Ibn
Umar
(radhi
allahu
anhu)
about
it,
he
quoted
the
Prophet’s
prohibition
of
(religious)
travel
to
other
than
the
three
Masjids.[4]
These
two
narrations
show
that
the
Sahabah
understood
the
prohibition
in
the
Hadeeth
to
include
all
places,
including
at-Toor.
[1] Saheeh al-Bukharee (Eng. Trans.) vol.2, p.157, no.281, Saheeh Muslim (Eng. Trans.) vol.2, p.699, no.3218), Sunan Abu Dawood (Eng. Trans.) vol.2, p.540, no.2028, Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Sunan an-Nasa’ee and Sunan Ibn Majah.
[2] At-Toor is the mountain mentioned in the Qur’aan, (2: 60), generally understood to be Mount Sanai (Dictionary of Islam, p.647 and Arabic English Lexicon, vol.2, p.1890.]
[3] Musnad Ahmad. Authenticated by Shaikh al-Albnee in Ahkaam al-Janaa’iz p.226.
[4] Collected by al-Azraqee in Akhbaar Makkah, p.304, and authenticated in Ahkaam al-Janaa’iz, p.226.
