in his Tanbīh.

Al-Mabsūṭ further reports that Mālik said: “If someone vows to walk to one of the mosques in order to pray there, I find that objectionable for him, because the Messenger ﷺ said, ‘Mounts are only to be saddled for three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, the Mosque of Jerusalem, and this mosque of mine.’ ”

Muḥammad ibn al-Mawwāz relates in the Mawāziyyah that Mālik added: “Unless the mosque is nearby, in which case he must fulfil the vow, for that does not amount to saddling a mount.”

Shaykh Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr stated in his Tamhīd: “It is forbidden for Muslims to turn the graves of the prophets and the righteous into places of prayer.”

Once these points are established, it is impermissible to brand as an unbeliever anyone who answers this question by saying that such a journey is prohibited. Whoever pronounces takfīr on him without due cause—if he deems that permissible—is himself an unbeliever; otherwise, he is merely a sinner.

Imām Abū ʿAbd-Allah Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Māzarī said in his work al-Muʿallim: “Whoever declares a member of the qiblah-facing community to be an unbeliever—if he regards this as lawful—has himself disbelieved; if not, …” [ق 126]