be prohibited from doing so. Were the Sacred Mosque the entire sacred precinct, the polytheist would be forbidden to approach the boundaries of the sacred precinct, for Allah says: “So let them not come near the Sacred Mosque.” [al-Tawbah 9:28] We ask: Is it forbidden for a polytheist to enter within the boundary markers, or merely to come near them?

The answer is that the former is forbidden, for if he entered within the boundary markers—the signs erected to demarcate the sacred precinct—he would have approached the Sacred Mosque.

Those who hold the second view cite as evidence that, at al-Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet—may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him—camped in the area outside the sacred precinct. Al-Hudaybiyyah lies partly outside the sacred precinct and partly within it, but he would pray within the sacred precinct; that is, he would deliberately enter the sacred precinct in order to pray. (1)

Upon reflection, however, this provides no proof, because it does not establish the particular virtue—that a prayer is better than one hundred thousand prayers. Rather, it only establishes that the land of the sacred precinct is better than land outside it. There is no dispute concerning this: prayer in the mosques within the sacred precinct is better than prayer in the mosques outside it.

They also cite as evidence Allah’s saying: “an offering that reaches the Ka‘bah.” [al-Ma’idah 5:95] It is well known that the sacrificial animal is not slaughtered in the Ka‘bah; rather, it is slaughtered within the boundaries of the sacred precinct, whether in Mecca or outside it.

The response is that it cannot naturally come to the listener’s mind