In the Sunan collections it is related from Usayd b. Zuhayr (1) al-Anṣārī—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Prayer in the Mosque of Qubāʾ is like an ʿumrah.”
The ḥadith is reported by Ibn Mājah; al-Tirmidhī also transmits it and comments, “A ḥasan gharīb report.” (2)
Sahl b. Ḥunayf (3)—may Allah be pleased with him—likewise narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Whoever performs his ablution at home, then comes to the Mosque of Qubāʾ and offers a prayer in it, will receive a reward equal to that of an ʿumrah.”
Recorded by Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah. (4)
Some scholars have remarked that the phrase
“Whoever performs ablution in his house, then comes to the Mosque of Qubāʾ”
signals that one is not prescribed to set out for it by saddling mounts or undertaking a special journey. Rather, a person comes to it from his own dwelling—where he is able to purify himself (5)—and then proceeds to it (6) in the same manner he would go to the mosque of his town, as opposed to the mosques for which travel is specifically undertaken.
(1) The printed edition gives the name as “Usayd b. Hudayr,” which is incorrect. The manuscripts—as well as Tirmidhi, Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and others—read: Usayd b. Zuhayr b. Rafi al-Ansari, a Companion, the maternal brother of Ubad b. Bishr; he died in the reign of Marwan. See: Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, 1:349, no. 635.
(2) Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Book of Prayer, chapter “What has been reported about praying in the Mosque of Quba,” hadith no. 324 (2:145–46). Abu Isa al-Tirmidhi said: “The hadith of Usayd is hasan gharib. We know of no other sound report from Usayd b. Zuhayr, and we know it only through the narration of Abu Usama from Abd al-Hamid b. Jaʿfar.” It is also recorded by al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, 1:487, who declared the chain sound, and by Ibn Majah, Book of Establishing the Prayer, chapter on the Mosque of Quba, hadith no. 1411 (1:452).
(3) This refers to Sahl b. Jaʿfar b. Wahb al-Ansari al-Awsi, a notable Companion and veteran of Badr. ʿAli appointed him over Basra, and he died during ʿAli’s caliphate. See: Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-Taqrib, 1:336.
(4) Musnad Ahmad 3:487; likewise Sunan Ibn Majah, same book and chapter, hadith no. 1412, vol. 1; and Sunan al-Nasai 2:37 in the section on the merits of the Mosque of Quba and prayer there. The chain is sound.
(5) Manuscript Ṭ reads: yutahhir (“purifies”).
(6) Manuscript A reads: yaqṣid (“intends”).