Volume 3 – 98 – Visiting Medina
Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “(One should travel to visit) only these three mosques: the Sacred Mosque [al-Masjid al-Haram], this mosque [al-Masjid an-Nabawi], and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” [71]
EXPLANATION
The phrase "shadd ar-rihal" mentioned in this honorable hadith originally means to pack a load on an animal. Here, it is a metaphor for travel. According to a narration in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abū Basra once went to Mount Tur to pray. On his return, he met Abū Hurayrah. Abū Hurayrah asked him where he had come from, and he informed him that he had come from Mount Tur. Abū Hurayrah said, “If I had seen you before you went to Mount Tur, I would not have let you go there, because the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade traveling for prayer to any mosque other than these three mosques. I heard this with my own ears.” If one makes a vow to pray in one of these three mosques, it is obligatory for him to fulfill his vow, but if he vows to pray in any other mosque, praying in another mosque suffices; it is not obligatory in that [other] mosque. (From *Ma’ālim al-Sunan*)