and the original site became a market for date sellers. Thus, the site became a market after having been a mosque. This is the clearest possible example of replacing an endowment for the sake of a greater benefit. Moreover, it is established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, permitted replacing what one had vowed to do with something better.
In Ahmad’s Musnad and the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd, Abū Dāwūd said:
Mūsā ibn Ismā‘īl narrated to us: Hammād—meaning Ibn Salamah—narrated to us: Habīb al-Mu‘allim informed us, from ‘Atā ibn Abī Rabāh, from Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh:
“A man stood up on the day of the conquest and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I vowed that if Allah, Mighty and Majestic, granted you the conquest of Mecca, I would pray in Jerusalem.’ Abū Salamah once specified: ‘Two units of prayer.’ He replied, ‘Pray here.’ The man repeated his request, and he replied, ‘Pray here.’ The man repeated his request again, so he said, ‘Then do as you wish.’”
Abū Dāwūd said: “Something similar was also narrated from ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”
There is a third chain for this report in the Sunan, transmitted by Ahmad and Abū Dāwūd from a group of the Prophet’s Companions, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Abū Dāwūd said:
(1) ibn Khālid narrated to us: Abū ‘Āsim narrated to us. And ‘Abbās al-‘Anbarī narrated to us: Rawh narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj: Yūsuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abī Sufyān informed us that he heard Hafs ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf narrate this report from men among the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, adding that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“By Him who sent Muhammad with the truth, had you prayed here, it would have sufficed you in place of prayer in Jerusalem.”
Abū Dāwūd said: “The Ansār narrated it from Ibn Jurayj.” Hafs ibn ‘Umar ibn Hinnah said; and ‘Umar said: “They both informed him, from ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf, from men among the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”