Among the proofs that taking up residence in its vicinity is recommended are the following:
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They say: Residing there allows one to perform acts of worship—and to have them multiplied—in a way that is impossible elsewhere. Circumambulation of the House can be done only in Mecca, and it is one of the most virtuous deeds; likewise, prayer performed there—as well as other acts of devotion—is multiplied.
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The Exalted says: “And purify My House for those who walk around it, those who stand to pray, and those who bow and prostrate.” (Al-Hajj 22:26)
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It is reported: “Every day one hundred and twenty mercies descend upon the House: sixty for those who circumambulate, forty for those who pray, and twenty for those who merely look at it.”1
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For this reason the scholars have stated that prayer in Mecca is superior to prayer at the frontier outposts, even though they also hold that standing guard at the frontier is itself superior. Sins committed there are likewise multiplied. When a place possesses stronger incentives toward good and weaker incentives toward evil, living there is [better]2 than living where that is not the case.