all—is clear beyond dispute and manifest beyond concealment. Indeed, it is clearer than the sun and moon, and more evident than daybreak to anyone with eyes to see.

The principal basis in this matter is the hadith whose authenticity is agreed upon. The disagreement among the scholars arises from the two possible meanings of its wording.

The Prophet’s words—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—

“Journeys are not undertaken”

admit two interpretations: a statement of negation or a prohibition.

If understood as a negation, they negate the merit and recommended status of undertaking journeys and riding mounts to places other than the three mosques. For, supposing that these acts do occur, their occurrence cannot be denied. The negation must therefore concern their merit and recommended status, not the acts themselves. This applies generally to every destination to which travelling and riding mounts are believed to be acts of devotion and merit: mosques, visits to the graves of the righteous, and similar purposes. Indeed, its scope is broader still.

This is established by the necessity of affirming, for what follows “except,” the predicate implicitly negated at the beginning of the sentence. Otherwise, the ruling would not differ between what precedes “except” and what follows it, whereas it does differ. In that case, denying merit and recommended status does not entail denying permissibility. This is the reasoning relied upon by those who consider such travel permissible: they understand this wording as a negation and, on that basis, allow the shortening of prayers.

If, however, the wording is understood as a prohibition, it means that he forbade riding mounts and undertaking journeys to places other than the three mosques. For the generally accepted principle among scholars of legal theory is that a prohibition entails that an act is either forbidden or reprehensible, according to what the evidence requires.