He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

About visiting “Jerusalem” and “the grave of Allah’s intimate friend, peace be upon him”; about the blessing associated with eating bread and lentils and taking this food from one land to another for blessing; and about what in these practices accords with the Sunnah and what constitutes innovation.

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. Travelling to Jerusalem to pray there, observe a devotional retreat, recite the Quran, remember Allah, or supplicate is lawful and recommended by the consensus of Muslim scholars. It is established in the two Sahīh collections, through the reports of Abū Hurayrah and Abū Sa‘īd, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Journeys should not be undertaken except to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, al-Aqsā Mosque, and this mosque of mine.”

The Sacred Mosque and the mosque of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are superior to it. It is also reported in the two Sahīh collections that he said:

“One prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousand prayers elsewhere, except in the Sacred Mosque.”

As for travelling solely to visit “the grave of Allah’s intimate friend,” or any other graves of the prophets and the righteous, their shrines, or sites associated with them, none of the leading Muslim scholars has recommended it—neither the four imams nor anyone else. Indeed, if someone vowed to do so, he would not be obliged to fulfil this