Another example is his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Faith surely retreats to Medina as a snake retreats to its hole.” This likewise provides no proof, for the meaning of “Faith surely retreats to Medina” is that people come to it from every direction to embrace Islam because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is there. This does not establish its superiority over Mecca.
Another example is his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “I have been commanded to migrate to a town that devours other towns. It is called Yathrib, and it expels people as a furnace removes impurities from iron.” This likewise provides no proof. The meaning is: “I have been commanded to migrate to a town from which other towns—that is, cities—will be conquered.” This came to pass as he foretold, peace and blessings be upon him, both during his lifetime and after his death. His foretelling what would happen before it occurred is one of the signs of his prophethood; it does not establish Medina’s superiority over Mecca.
Another example is his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Angels guard the approaches to Medina; neither the plague nor the Dajjāl will enter it.” This likewise provides no proof, especially since Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “He will reach every watering place, plain and mountain except Medina and Mecca. Allah has forbidden him to enter them, and angels stand at their gates.”
Another example is his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise.” This provides no proof, for its meaning is to make known the merit of that place: the person praying there has his rank raised and his supplication heard, thereby attaining a garden from the gardens of Paradise. Thus, the statement is not literal, but an instance of the figurative language found in the Quran and familiar to the Arabs, like his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Paradise lies beneath the shade of swords.” His declaration of the merit of that place does not establish Medina’s superiority over Mecca.
He also argued for Medina’s superiority over Mecca on the grounds that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was created from its soil, and that his soil is therefore the best of soils. This likewise provides no proof, for we have already explained that some places have not been favoured over others because of an inherent quality peculiar to them. Rather, they have been favoured because Allah has given them precedence by raising the ranks of those who perform righteous deeds there.
When he had finished presenting his argument from these hadiths, which we have cited and shown to be inadequate as evidence for his claim, he said: “Once Medina’s superiority over Mecca has been established by what we have mentioned, prayer in its mosque must necessarily be superior to prayer in the Sacred Mosque, and the exception made for the Sacred Mosque in declaring the superiority of