Umar ibn al-Khattāb used to forbid. This is established through an authentic chain of transmission in the report narrated by Shuʿba from Sulaymān al-Taymī, from al-Maʿrūr (1) ibn Suwayd, who said:

“Umar ibn al-Khattāb was travelling. He offered the dawn prayer, then passed a place which people began visiting, saying, ‘The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed here.’ Umar said, ‘The People of the Book perished because they sought out the sites associated with their prophets and turned them into churches and monasteries. Whoever happens to be there when prayer is due should pray; otherwise, he should continue on his way.’”

Since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had not intended to single out that place for prayer, but had prayed there because it was where he had stopped, Umar considered that reproducing the outward form of his action without sharing his intention did not constitute following him. Rather, singling out that place for prayer was among the innovations of the People of the Book that brought about their ruin. He therefore forbade Muslims to imitate them in this regard. Whoever does so resembles the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in outward form, but resembles the Jews and Christians in intention, which is an act of the heart.

This is the fundamental principle: following the Sunnah is more important than reproducing the outward form of an action. Thus, when many scholars were uncertain whether he had performed the sitting for rest because it was recommended or because of a temporary need, they differed over it. Likewise, they differed over his stopping at al-Muhassab when leaving Minā, because it was unclear whether he had done so because it made his departure easier or because it was a Sunnah.

Other examples include Ibn Umar’s placing his hand on the seat of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the observance of the Day of Arafat through supplication and remembrance by Ibn Abbās in Basra and by Amr ibn Zādhān in Kufa. For, since this was not