to have moved away.” Narrated by Muslim, and al-Bukhārī related the same meaning on the authority of Anas.

[Commentary]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—states in his book Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, “Chapter: The Virtue of Walking to the Mosques.” Walking to the mosques here means going to them to perform the prayer. One may go to a mosque for many purposes—attending a lesson, reciting Qur’an, repairing something, and so on—but the person who comes for prayer is the one meant in this chapter.

In the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever goes to the mosque in the morning or in the evening, Allah prepares for him hospitality in Paradise every time he goes in the morning or in the evening.” “Ghadā” means he went in the morning; “rāḥa” means he went after midday in the late afternoon. Thus hospitality in Paradise is recorded for him every time he sets out.

We—praise be to Allah—go to the mosques morning and evening five times during every day and night, so hospitality in Paradise is written for a person, meaning a banquet awaiting him there. This is one of the merits of walking to the mosques.

Another merit is that when someone purifies himself at home and then leaves for the mosque, motivated by nothing but the prayer, the ḥadīth cited by the author here states that he does not take a single step without Allah raising him one degree, and with the next step erasing one of his sins. In another ḥadīth it states that he does not take