656 – Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “One prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousand prayers elsewhere, except al-Masjid al-Haram; and one prayer in al-Masjid al-Haram is better than a prayer in this mosque of mine by one hundred prayers.” Narrated by Ahmad and declared authentic by Ibn Ḥibbān (1).

— Hadith Status:
The hadith is ṣaḥīḥ (sound).
Al-Talkhīṣ states that it was transmitted by Ahmad, Ibn Ḥibbān, and al-Bayhaqī (10058).
Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī remarked in al-Muḥarrar: “Its chain fulfils the conditions of the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).”
Al-Zawāʾid adds: “This chain is sound, its narrators are trustworthy; its core wording is found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs through the narration of Abū Hurayrah, and in Muslim through the narration of Ibn ʿUmar.”

— Points Derived from the Hadith:

1. The excellence of the two sacred sanctuaries: the Noble Meccan Sanctuary and the Noble Medinan Sanctuary.
2. The reward for prayer and other righteous deeds performed therein is multiplied.
3. The reward for a prayer in the Prophet’s Mosque exceeds that of any other mosque—apart from the Sacred Mosque—by the equivalent of one thousand prayers. As for the Sacred Mosque, its superiority over the Prophet’s Mosque is by one hundred prayers, so its superiority over all other mosques, apart from the Prophet’s Mosque, amounts to one hundred thousand prayers.
4. Al-Masjid al-Haram is superior to the Prophet’s Mosque and provides a greater multiplication of reward.