- “Journeys should be undertaken only to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, this mosque of mine, and al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Abu Yaʿla recorded it in his Musnad (folio 306/1): Muhammad ibn al-Minhal narrated to us; Yazid ibn Zurayʿ narrated to us; Rawḥ narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from Saʿid ibn Abi Saʿid al-Maqburi:
“Abu Basrah Jamil ibn Basrah met Abu Hurayrah as he was returning from al-Tur. He said, ‘Had I met you before you went there, you would not have gone. For I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say...’” He then cited it.
I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission; all its narrators are trustworthy. It meets the criteria of the two Shaykhs, if this Muhammad ibn al-Minhal is the memorizer al-Tamimi. Among his contemporaries was Muhammad ibn al-Minhal al-Basri al-Anmati, the brother of al-Hajjaj, who is unanimously considered trustworthy. Both narrated from Yazid ibn Zurayʿ, and Abu Yaʿla narrated from them both.
The hadith is found in the two Sahihs and elsewhere, through several chains from Abu Hurayrah, with the wording, “Do not undertake journeys.” I have documented its chains in Irwaʾ al-Ghalil (no. 951). I have cited it here only because of this addition, in which Abu Basrah censures Abu Hurayrah’s journey to al-Tur. It has other chains, which I cited there. When I came across this chain, I wished to record it here, as I had missed it previously.
This addition contains an important point: the narrator of the hadith, the eminent Companion Abu Basrah (may Allah be pleased with him), understood from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the prohibition encompasses places of merit other than the three mosques, such as al-Tur—a mountain upon which Allah spoke directly to Moses. This is why he censured Abu Hurayrah’s journey to it, saying, “Had I met you before you went there, you would not have gone.” Abu Hurayrah concurred with him on this and did not