Thus, if travel to such a place is prohibited, as is travel to Mount Sinai mentioned in the Quran, the same applies—as Mālik mentioned—to places not built for the five daily prayers; indeed, taking them as places of worship is prohibited. It is established in both Sahīh collections that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said during his final illness:

“May Allah curse the Jews and Christians: they took the sites associated with their prophets as places of worship.”

He was warning against what they had done. ‘Ā’ishah said: “Were it not for that, his grave would have been left in the open, but it was deemed undesirable that it be made a place of worship.”

In Sahīh Muslim and elsewhere, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have said:

“Those before you used to take graves as places of worship. Beware! Do not take graves as places of worship, for I forbid you to do so.”

For this reason, the Companions did not travel to any of the shrines associated with the prophets—not the shrine of Abraham, Allah’s close friend, peace be upon him, nor any other. On the night of his ascension, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prayed two units of prayer in Jerusalem, as established in the authentic hadith, and did not pray anywhere else. As for the accounts of the ascension narrated by some people, stating that “he prayed in Medina, prayed at the grave of Moses, peace be upon him, and prayed at the grave of Allah’s close friend,” all these reports are false and fabricated.

Some later scholars permitted travel to shrines, but they neither transmitted this position from any of the imams nor supported it with any evidence from Islamic revelation.