His statement, “Its sacred precinct extends from Ayr to Thawr,” means that the sanctuary of Medina measures one barid by one barid. A barid is four farsakhs, and a farsakh is three miles. Thus, it is a square extending from Ayr to Thawr. Thawr is a small mountain behind Uhud, on the northern side.

Ayr is a large mountain southwest of Medina, south of Dhu al-Hulayfah.

As for its eastern and western boundaries, everything between its two lava plains is sacred. The sanctuary of Medina is well known to its people.

The Differences between the Sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina:

First: The sanctuary of Mecca is established by explicit text and scholarly consensus, whereas the sanctuary of Medina is a matter of disagreement.

Second: Hunting game in the sanctuary of Mecca incurs both sin and compensation, whereas hunting game in the sanctuary of Medina incurs sin but entails no compensation.

Third: The sin resulting from hunting game in the sanctuary of Mecca is graver than that resulting from hunting game in Medina.

Fourth: The sanctuary of Mecca is superior to the sanctuary of Medina, for good deeds are multiplied more greatly in Mecca than in Medina, and sins committed in Mecca are more serious than those committed in Medina.

Fifth: Whoever brings game into Medina from outside the sanctuary may keep it and is not required to relinquish his actual possession of it. This is how the account of Abu Umayr is understood: he had a small bird with which he played, called a nughayr. When the bird died, the boy grieved over its death, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,