I said, “Ride, dear uncle.” He replied, “My nephew, if I had wished to ride an animal I could easily have found one, but I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ walk to this mosque until he prayed in it, and I love to walk to it just as I saw him walk.” He therefore refused to mount and continued on his way.

Aḥmad recorded this report (2/119), and its chain of transmission is fair.

Ibn Ḥibbān also related in his Ṣaḥīḥ—as cited in al-Targhīb (2/139)—that Ibn ʿUmar attended a funeral at al-Awsāṭ in the house of Saʿd ibn ʿUbāda. When it was over he set off on foot toward Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf in the courtyard of al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khazraj. Someone asked him, “Where are you heading, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān?” He answered, “I am heading for this mosque of Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Whoever prays in it receives the reward of an ʿumrah.’”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ commented:

“This ḥadith, in all of its routes, demonstrates the permissibility of designating particular days for certain righteous deeds and of persisting in them. It also shows that the prohibition of undertaking a journey for worship to places other than the three Mosques is not an absolute ban, for the Prophet ﷺ went to the mosque of Qubāʾ at times mounted. Some have replied that his ﷺ visits to Qubāʾ were primarily to keep contact with the Anṣār, to look after their affairs, and to check on those who had stayed behind from attending Jumuʿah with him; and that this is the reason Saturday was singled out.”

I say: On that basis, his ﷺ going there on Saturday was not sought for its own sake, but rather out of regard for the aforementioned pastoral concern; accordingly, all days are the same with respect to