Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim relate that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “One prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousand prayers elsewhere, except al-Masjid al-Ḥarām.”

Imām Aḥmad reports the same ḥadīth in his Musnad with a sound chain and adds the phrase, “for that is superior.”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim likewise transmit—through Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān, from Khubayb, from Ḥafṣ ibn ʿĀṣim, from Abū Hurayrah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The space between my house and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and my pulpit is at my Basin.”

The traditions extolling the virtues of this noble mosque are extremely numerous. God willing, we shall present them in the Book of Pilgrimage of the larger work al-Aḥkām al-Kabīr. In Him we place our trust, upon Him we rely, and there is no might nor power except with Allah, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.

Imām Mālik and his companions were of the view that the Mosque of Madinah is superior to al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, reasoning that the latter was built by Abraham, whereas the former was built by Muḥammad ﷺ—and it is well known that Muḥammad is superior to Abraham, peace be upon them both. The majority, however, hold the opposite opinion, asserting that al-Masjid al-Ḥarām is superior because it stands in a land Allah made sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth, a sanctity affirmed by Abraham the Friend of God and by Muḥammad, the Seal of the Messengers. Thus it possesses qualities found in no other place. A detailed discussion of this issue belongs elsewhere; Allah’s help is sought.

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Rooms were constructed for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ around his blessed mosque as residences for him and his family. They were low-built dwellings with small courtyards. Al-Ḥasan ibn Abī al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī—who, while still a boy, lived there with his mother Khayrah, the freedwoman of Umm Salamah—said: “I could touch the highest roof in the Prophet’s rooms with my hand.”

I add: al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī was, however, a man of large build and tall stature.

Al-Suhaylī says in al-Rawḍ: “His dwellings were built of palm-stalks coated with clay, and some of them were of neatly set stones, while all of their roofs were made of palm branches.” He then cited the statement of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī mentioned above.