prescribed or commanded, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“No journey should be undertaken except to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, this mosque of mine and al-Aqsā Mosque.”

For this reason, scholars have not stated that someone who vows to undertake such a journey must fulfil that vow. This contrasts with travelling to the three mosques—not for prayer and devotional retreat in them—for scholars have stated that fulfilling such a vow is obligatory in the case of one of them—the Sacred Mosque—while disagreeing concerning the other two.

The majority, including Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad, hold that such a vow must also be fulfilled concerning the other two mosques, since travelling to the more virtuous mosque does not dispense with travelling to the less virtuous one. Abū Hanīfah holds that only a vow to travel to the Sacred Mosque must be fulfilled. This rests on his view that a vow makes an act obligatory only if acts of its kind are already obligatory under Islamic law. The majority, however, hold that every vow to perform an act of obedience must be fulfilled, on the basis of the report in Sahīh al-Bukhārī from ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him.”

Indeed, a number of scholars, including Ibn ʿAqīl and others, have explicitly stated that someone travelling to visit the graves of the prophets, peace be upon them, or other graves may not shorten the prayers on that journey. This is because the journey is sinful: he believes it to be an act of obedience when it is not, and seeking nearness to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, through something that is not an act of obedience is itself sinful. Moreover, the Prophet forbade this, and a prohibition entails that the act is unlawful. Some later scholars, however, permitted travelling to visit graves, as mentioned by Abū