ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, his sons, his grandsons, their students, and the rest of the scholars of the Salafī daʿwah; it is likewise the position of the hadith scholars.
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The ban on travelling to any place of worship other than the three mosques is a safeguard against polytheism and the avenues that lead to it, for polytheism arose only from exalting sites and locations that Allah did not exalt and for which He did not legislate travel—especially places that contain the graves of prophets, saints, scholars, and the like. Setting out for such places and venerating their occupants is a practice many people adopted, and it led them away from their true religion into innovation and polytheism.
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Through its noble texts, Islam has severed every root of this veneration and excess so that it does not become a path to disbelief and misguidance.
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Shaykh al-Islām, in his Refutation of al-Akhnaʾī, said: “The view that travelling to anywhere other than the three mosques is forbidden—even if it be to the grave of our Prophet ﷺ—is the view of Mālik and the majority of his followers, as well as most of Aḥmad’s followers and the hadith scholars.” He then added: “Ignorant people undertake journeys to visit the grave of someone they venerate; they travel to him to invoke him, to supplicate to Allah at his grave, and to sit by it. Over the grave—or beside it—there is a mosque built for its sake, and they pray in that mosque out of reverence for the grave’s occupant. This is one of the deeds for which the Prophet ﷺ cursed the People of the Book and forbade his nation to do. During the illness that led to his death he said: ‘May Allah curse the Jews and Christians; they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship,’ warning against what they had done.” [al-Bukhārī (1390) and Muslim (531)]
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The lawful visit to al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah is for the traveller to intend worship in the Noble Prophet’s Mosque, which Allah has distinguished with honor and in which He has multiplied the reward of righteous deeds. Once he arrives, he visits the noble grave and the two honored Companions’ graves, in light of the hadith: “I had forbidden you to visit graves; now visit them.”