acts of worship or the performance of any of them. By the consensus of the Muslims, being near to Allah is better than being far from Him. The mosque was endowed with special merit during his lifetime, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, before the grave existed; its merit was therefore not due to the grave. Neither he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, nor any of his Companions or the scholars of his community recommended that anyone reside beside a grave or remain there in devotion—whether his honoured grave or anyone else’s—or deliberately choose to live near any grave whatsoever.

Living in the Prophet’s city is preferable for someone whose obedience to Allah and His Messenger is more frequent there. Such was the case when people were commanded to emigrate to it. Emigrating to it and residing there were then better than doing so anywhere else, including Mecca. Indeed, this was obligatory, among the greatest obligations. But when Mecca was conquered, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“There is no emigration after the conquest, but jihad and intention remain.”

When someone from Mecca or elsewhere came to emigrate and settle in Medina, he would instruct him to return to his own town, rather than tell him to reside there. Likewise, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, would instruct people to return to their homelands after Hajj so that they would not crowd the people of Mecca.

During the period of emigration, the Messenger would also instruct many of his Companions to travel elsewhere, to govern a region or for other purposes. Obeying the Messenger by travelling away from Medina was better than remaining with him there even when it was the destination of emigration. How much more so, then, after that?