47- In another wording recorded by Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr in his Sunan, through ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurasānī, Abu Hurayrah said: “Guard duty (ribāṭ) for a single day in the path of Allah is dearer to me than spending the Night of Decree in worship in either of the two mosques—the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Mosque of Allah’s Messenger; and whoever keeps watch for forty days in the path of Allah has completed the full term of ribāṭ.”1
48- Allah, Exalted, says: “Do you consider the providing of water to the pilgrims and the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque as equal to the one who believes in Allah and the Last Day and strives in the path of Allah? They are not equal in the sight of Allah, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. Those who believe, emigrate, and strive in the path of Allah with their wealth and their lives are greater in rank before Allah, and it is they who are the successful. Their Lord gives them glad tidings of mercy from Him, approval, and gardens wherein they will have lasting bliss.” (al-Tawbah 9:19-21)
49- In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim,2 al-Nuʿmān reported: I was standing beside the pulpit of Allah’s Messenger when a man said, “I would not mind doing no deed after accepting Islam other than providing water for the pilgrims.” Another said, “Other than maintaining the Sacred Mosque.” Yet another said, “Jihād in the path of Allah is better than…"