to purify themselves, and Allah loves those who purify themselves.”

Besides performing ablution and ritual bathing, the people of Qubā’ used water to cleanse themselves after relieving themselves. They had learned this from their Jewish neighbours; the Arabs had not practised it. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—therefore wished to prevent anyone from supposing that the mosque founded on piety was that mosque alone, to the exclusion of his own. He explained that his mosque had a greater claim to being the mosque founded on piety. Thus, His words:

“A mosque founded on piety”

include both his mosque and the mosque of Qubā’, as well as every mosque founded on piety, unlike mosques built to cause harm. For this reason, the early Muslims disliked praying in mosques resembling the latter and considered an older mosque superior to a newer one. An older mosque is less likely to have been built to cause harm than a newer one, concerning which such fears may arise. A mosque’s antiquity is one of its praiseworthy qualities. Hence Allah said:

“Then their place of sacrifice is at the Ancient House.”

And He said:

“Indeed, the first House established for mankind was the one at Bakkah.”

Its antiquity also implies that more worship has been performed there, which further increases its merit. For this reason, apart from the mosque of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—the early scholars of Medina and elsewhere did not recommend deliberately visiting any of the mosques or visitation sites in and around Medina except the mosque of Qubā’. This was because it was the only particular mosque that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—deliberately went out to visit. There were many mosques in Medina, with each tribe of the Ansār having its own mosque, but there is no special merit in choosing to visit any one of them rather than others like it. The mosque of Qubā’ is different, for it was the first mosque built in Medina