adjure Allah by him to fulfil his needs and relieve his distress. All these are innovations that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, neither prescribed nor his Companions practised. The imams explicitly prohibited such practices, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

For this reason, none of the Companions would go specifically to visit “the grave of Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend.” Rather, they would go only to Jerusalem, in obedience to the hadith authentically transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through several chains of transmission:

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

Accordingly, the leading scholars of Islam agreed that if a person vowed to travel to visit “the grave of Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend,” “the Mount” where Allah spoke to Moses, peace be upon him, “Mount Hirā,” or similar places, he would not be obliged to fulfil his vow. Whether he must offer the expiation for an oath is a matter on which there are two views. For 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.”

Travel to these places is sinful according to the stronger of the two views. Indeed, those who hold that prayers may not be shortened on a sinful journey have explicitly stated that someone undertaking such a journey may not shorten his prayers.

If, however, a person vowed to go to the Sacred Mosque, he would be obliged to fulfil his vow, by unanimous agreement. If he vowed to go to the mosque in Medina or to Jerusalem, the scholars have two views. The stronger is that he must fulfil his vow, as held by Mālik, Ahmad, and al-Shāfiʿī in one of his two opinions. The second view