And it has also been reported that he, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Do not undertake a journey except to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, this mosque of mine, and al-Aqsā Mosque.”

Give us your ruling—may you be rewarded, and may Allah have mercy on you.

He replied:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. As for someone who travels solely to visit the graves of the prophets and the righteous, may he shorten his prayers? There are two well-known opinions on this:

The first is that shortening the prayers during such a journey is not permissible, because it is a prohibited journey. This is the view of earlier scholars who do not permit shortening the prayers on a sinful journey, such as Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Batta, Abū al-Wafā’ ibn ‘Aqīl, and many groups of earlier scholars. The position of Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī, and Ahmad is that prayers may not be shortened during a journey prohibited by Islamic law.

The second opinion is that he may shorten his prayers. This is held by those who permit shortening the prayers during a forbidden journey, such as Abū Hanīfa. It is also held by some later followers of al-Shāfi‘ī