—to the end of the verse. He also said:
“and [preventing access to] the Sacred Mosque and expelling its people from it are graver in Allah’s sight.” [al-Baqarah: 217]
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, accorded Mecca a distinction over Medina by virtue of Allah’s having made it sacred. He said: “Allah made Mecca sacred; people did not make it sacred.” On this basis, all scholars required compensation from anyone who hunts within Mecca’s sanctuary, whereas only a few dissenting scholars required it from anyone who hunts within Medina’s sanctuary. From this, a consensus may be inferred that the sin of hunting within Mecca’s sanctuary is more serious than that of hunting within Medina’s sanctuary.
A number of scholars held that the prescribed punishments are aggravated within Mecca’s sanctuary because of its sanctity, yet are not carried out there, because Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:
“Whoever enters it shall be safe.” [Āl ʿImrān: 97]
No scholar held this view regarding Medina’s sanctuary.
If, then, sin in Mecca is more serious than in Medina, and prayer in the Sacred Mosque is superior to prayer in the mosque of Medina—as explicitly reported from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, through ʿAtāʾ ibn Abī Rabāh, from al-Zubayr, who related 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 in any other mosque except the Sacred Mosque, and one prayer there is better than a hundred prayers here”—and if sin within Mecca’s sanctuary is more serious than within Medina’s sanctuary, while prayer in the mosque of Mecca is superior to prayer in the Prophet’s mosque, peace and blessings be upon him, then Mecca is indeed superior to Medina. It is to that House that Allah, because of its excellence, made pilgrimage obligatory, saying:
“Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to Allah by all who are able to make their way there.” [Āl ʿImrān: 97]
For the superiority of some places over others does not arise from any quality inherent in them, but rather from the multiplication of good and evil deeds within them. ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I would rather commit ten sins in Medina than one in Mecca.” The meaning is that evil deeds are multiplied in Mecca just as good deeds are multiplied there.
Judge Abū Muhammad ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Mālikī supported his view that Medina is superior to Mecca by appealing to the apparent meanings of numerous reports, none of which provides proof for his position.