Lesson 157 [Arabic 00:00] Respected listeners, in the previous lesson last week, we hadith number 619 and

with that we came to the end of Kitaab ut Tahajjud and Kitaab ut Tattawoh, the Book of the Tahajjud prayer and the Book of Optional Prayers. We now move onto the next book and chapter and hadith. The next book after the Book of Tahajjud is [Arabic 01:53] The Book of Prayer in the masjid of Makkah and the masjid of Madinah You will recall that we are proceeding through the Book of Prayers after the fard prayers, we ve covered jum a, the Eid salah, the prayer of istisqa, supplicating for rain, prayer of the eclipse, other prayers including tahajjud and other optional prayers. This is a continuation of the same topic of prayers but this is just to do with the reward and virtue of praying in specific masjids. So the book title is [Arabic 02:55] The Book of Prayer in the masjid of Makkah and Madinah The first chapter and hadith of this book from the wider book of Imam Zainuddeen Azzabidi Attajweed us Sarih, which itself is a compendium and an abridgment of Imam Bukhari famous work Asahih. The first chapter of this book is [Arabic 03:27] Chapter of the virtue of prayer in the masjid of Makkah and Madinah: Hadith number 620 [Arabic 03:42] It is related from Abu Hurairah [Arabic 03:53] Prophet said saddles should not be fastened except to three masjids; Al Masjid ul Haraam, the Masjid of the Messenger and Masjid ul Aqsa. The hadith is very clear and very famous but it does require some understanding. Prophet has said [Arabic 04:39] from the Prophet that he said

Saddles, rehaal is the plural of rah which means saddle and specifically this means a saddle which is fastened to camels. The saddle which is fastened to horses is normally given a different name but it refers to the same thing, a saddle. So rehaal is a word that refers to those saddles that are tied to camels when intending to travel. So the Prophet says saddles should not be fastened i.e. a journey should not be made, one should not make a journey. One should not travel after fastening one s saddles to one s mount and camel except to three masjids. And then the Prophet designates those masjids: Al Masjid ul Haraam which refers to the holy masjid in Makkah, the masjid of the Prophet and Masjid ul Aqsa. Masjid ul Haraam, the reason it s called haraam, something which is forbidden is also called haraam and the masjid itself is also called Al Masjid ul Haraam. Why does it share the name as something which is forbidden? Simply because the term haraam here refers to something which is being made sacred and in fact, one of the meanings of haraam, why is something called haraam? To drink, to imbibe alcohol is haraam, to commit shirk is haraam, not because its sacred but simply because the law which prevents you from doing that, the law which marks the line between able to do something and not being able to do something, that border, that demarcating point between what s permissible and what s not permissible, that border, that boundary, that limit, that line is actually sacred itself. That line is sacred, that boundary, that border is sacred because that s the border set by Allah. It s His [], it s His perimeter, it s His boundary, it s His border, so since this border and boundary belongs to Allah, they are sacred in themselves. To cross that boundary, to cross that shield, to cross that border means violating the sanctity of Allah s limits. That s why something is called haraam, not because of the sanctity of itself. So the term haraam actually comes from sanctity, from being sacred and Al Masjid ul Haraam is referred to as being Al Masjid ul Haraam because it s being sanctified, it s been made sacred. The second one is Masjid ur Rasool , the Masjid of the Prophet in Madinah, everybody knows Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah, the Prophet in Madinah and the third masjid which the Prophet designates here is Masjid ul Aqsa. Here the wording is Masjid ul Aqsa, not Al Masjid ul Aqsa and there is a slight different. Some people may question what s the correct term- is it Al Masjid ul Aqsa or is it Masjid ul Aqsa. Truth is, both terms are correct, in the Quran Allah says Al Masjid ul Aqsa and in the hadith, we find both; Al Masjid ul Aqsa similar to the Quran. In that case it means the furthest masjid. So Al Aqsa would be an attribute of the masjid, that the farthest masjid. Masjid ul Aqsa, without the alif laam in the beginning as is mentioned in this particular narration of the hadith, it means Masjid ul Makaanil Aqsa, meaning the masjid of the farthest region, the masjid of the farthest region and the farthest region is Shaam, Quds, Bait ul Maqdes, Jerusalem- that is referred to as the farthest region. Not necessarily because it was very distant during the time of the Prophet , , its ironical, in one verse of the Quran in which Allah refers to that region in Surah tu Room, Allah says

[Arabic 10:09] The romans have been defeated [Arabic 10:21] In a land close by, in the closer part of the land And Allah is again referring to Jerusalem, so in that verse, Allah refers to Jerusalem as being [Arabic 10:33] The closer part of the earth And yet in many ahadith that region is referred to as the farthest part or the farthest region and Masjid ul Aqsa simply means the masjid of the farthest region. That s if you say Masjid ul Aqsa but if you use the term Al Masjid ul Aqsa which is also correct, then that would mean not the masjid of the farthest region or the farthest place but the farthest masjid. Farthest would therefore an attribute, not of the region but rather of the masjid and Al Masjid ul Aqsa is what s mentioned in the Holy Quran. Now everybody knows Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah, the Masjid of the Prophet in Madinah and Al Masjid ul Aqsa which is referred to as the farthest masjid or the masjid of the farthest area is the third holiest site in Islam. Unfortunately, many people do not know much- some people don t know anything, others don t know enough and yet others don t know much about the third holiest site in Islam Masjid ul Aqsa. It s in Jerusalem, Al Masjid ul Aqsa is the masjid itself, Jerusalem is the city and it has many names and the masjid is blessed, Jerusalem city is blessed and the whole region is blessed. Jerusalem is referred to by many names. The term Jerusalem is not new; it s actually a slight distortion of the original name [Arabic 12:20] Which simply means Darussalam, the city of peace Baghdad is called Darussalam. One of the titles of Baghdad originally was Darussalam, the abode or the city of peace. In one of the African countries, we have Darussalam even now. Again the term Darussalam, the Arabic term means the city of peace. It s ironic that Baitul Maqdes, Jerusalem should be called or has always been called the city of peace. So urr originally means city. Syedna Ibrahim , he descended from a city that itself is called urr and urr traditionally was the name of any city. Urr i.e. city of, city of city of, so the term urr means city. [Arabic 13:11] All of it just means the city of peace

Jerusalem is derived from that. Baitul Maqdes is an Arabic name. In the Arabic names, you ve got Aelia. In fact, Prophet himself used the word Aelia. Aelia was a roman name. The Jews would refer to Jerusalem as Jerusalem urr shalom or the city of peace. The roman often referred to it as simply as Aelia and the Prophet has also referred to it as Aelia in the ahadith. So Aelia was a roman name, again referring to Jerusalem and the Arabic name; you have Quds, just the term Quds, Baitul Maqdes, as well as Al Baitul Muqaddas. Its incorrect to say, well you can say Baitul Muqqadas, you can say Al Baitul Muqqadas and you can also say Baitul Maqdes and its also known simply as Al Quds. It s also known simply as Al Quds. So these are the different name, all of them refer to the famous city of Jerusalem as we know it. The masjid is on the highest peak of Jerusalem, at peak of the mountain, the most famous mountain there and Jerusalem as a city derives its blessings from this holy spot of the masjid. It s a very vast area, Al Masjid ul Aqsa contrary to its common perception and belief is not the silver domed masjid or even just the golden dome of the rock. People like to engage in this discussion that the golden Dome of The Rock is not the masjid but it s the silver domed building further to the south of the golden Dome of The Rock which is actually the masjid. Truth is both, whether it s the silver domed building, the golden domed building, golden Dome of The Rock or other domed buildings in that area or the non-domed buildings, other structures. Within a certain limit, one-sixth of the old city, all of these buildings are simply buildings within the masjid itself, so all of them are part of the masjid. In fact the open areas without any cover, without any roof, without any structure are also part of the masjid and all of them are referred to as being part of the Al Masjid ul Aqsa. This is the third holiest site in Islam and the Prophet himself has placed it third in this order of preference, privilege and reward and virtue. It s by sheer coincidence but it s not a good coincidence, today is the eighth, Friday the eighth of June 2007. We ve been going through the book of Attajweed us Sarih for the past five years with a break of about 2 years in between but we ve been continuously studying and only last week and wallah there was no such plan, only last week we completed hadith number 619 from Kitaab ut Tahajjud. Today, on the eighth of June 2007, in succession and continuing with this serialized and systematic method of studying, we ve come to hadith number 620 which is about Masjid ul Aqsa and today is, two days ago, on Wednesday the sixth of June was the fortieth anniversary of the illegal occupation of Masjid ul Aqsa. So its coincidence, it s not a very good coincidence, there we have it, there we are, just two days ago was the fortieth anniversary of the occupation of Masjid ul Aqsa and it remains under illegal occupation subjected to threats of demolition, random attacks, threats of destruction, arson attacks and under constant threats. I m sure most people are aware of what s happening in and around Masjid ul Aqsa and as I said earlier, unfortunately we either don t know enough, we need to know about masjid ul Aqsa and its true position in Islam. We need to constantly remind ourselves, educate ourselves, educate other about the significance of Masjid ul Aqsa and its important position in Islam and this hadith simply demonstrates that.

After Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah, after the Prophet s masjid in Madinah, there is no holiest site in the whole of Islam on Allah s earth and these three masjids are linked. I don t wish to dwell for too long on this topic because we ve got other hadith to study and I ve spoken at length on the topic of Masjid ul Aqsa in the past. I ll try to mention here what normally isn t mentioned in this regard. First of all, Allah and His Rasool themselves have connected these three masjids. Allah connects Al Masjid ul Haraam with Al Masjid ul Aqsa in the Holy Quran. In fact Al Masjid ul Aqsa is the only masjid mentioned by name in the whole Quran apart from the holy masjid in Makkah. Other than Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah, Masjid ul Aqsa is the only masjid mentioned by name in the Quran. In Surah tul Israh, Allah says [Arabic 19:44] Hallowed be he who carried his servant by night, a portion of the night from Al Masjid ul Haraam to Al Masjid ul Aqsa, from the sacred masjid to the farthest masjid who s [.] and surroundings we have blessed so that we may show him of our signs. Verily, he, Allah is all hearing, all seeing. Allah, in this verse refers to that famous and miraculous journey of Israh which formed the first part of the journey and that was followed by mir aaj, the ascension to the heavens. Allah, if He wished, He could ve taken the Prophet directly from Makkah to the heavens and brought him back directly but Allah in His wisdom chose to take him from Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah, first of all to a transitory stop in Baitul Maqdes, in Jerusalem to Masjid ul Aqsa, from there to the heavens, back to Al Masjid ul Aqsa and from there back to al Makkah tul Mukkarama. So Allah Himself has connected Al Masjid ul Haraam with Al Masjid ul Aqsa. Why should we disconnect the two, why should we draw a distinction between the two? Prophet has also in various ahadith connected Al Masjid ul Haraam with Al Masjid ul Aqsa. One is this famous hadith which insha I will elaborate on further later after just mentioning a few more things about Al Masjid ul Aqsa but in another hadith related by Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal in his Musnad and by other authors from Ummul Mominin Ummo Salamah . She relates that the Prophet said [Arabic 21:41] Whoever puts on the ehraam from Al Masjid ul Aqsa either for hajj or from umrah and then performs the hajj or the umrah, Allah will forgive them all their past sins And in one narration of the same hadith, the wording is [Arabic 22:12] Jannah becomes obligatory for him And that s not for the sake of umrah and hajj but for the reward for putting on the ehraam from Al Masjid ul Aqsa. So again, Allah and His Prophet connects Al Masjid ul Haraam, the holy

site of Makkah and the holy rights and rituals of hajj and umrah, the Prophet connects these places and these rights with Al Masjid ul Aqsa. There is a deep connection between the two, again why should we draw a distinction between them when Allah and His Rasool have connected them so firmly. Furth more, Prophet [Arabic 23:05] Saddles should not be fastened except to three masjids; Al Masjid ul Haraam, the Masjid of the Prophet and Al Masjid ul Aqsa Now what s the meaning of saddles should not be fastened. Obviously the meaning of the wording saddles should not be fastened is simply that one should not make an exclusive journey to any masjid other than these three masjids but what s the meaning of that? Truth is many of the ulema of Islam have understood from this in the past that this actually refers to making a journey of pilgrimage when one has made a vow. So if for instance, someone says that I vow that I will pray two rakat salah in the masjid of London for instance or the masjid of Qurtaba or in the masjid of Delhi. Now this person has made a vow to pray salah in a specific masjid. All the ulema of Islam agree that this vow is not binding in the sense that although one has made a vow and made an undertaking upon themselves to pray salah in a specific and a particular masjid, if they go to their local masjid and pray two rakat, that is sufficient for them. In fact they shouldn t travel to any masjid to fulfill their vow and that s what the Prophet is referring to here that the vow should only be fulfilled in three masjids. So if someone makes a vow to pray salah in Al Masjid ul Haraam, then that should be fulfilled. A person should make an exclusive journey to fulfill that vow, to fulfill that nadhar in Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah or the masjid in Madinah or the masjid in Jerusalem, Baitul Maqdes. However, the ulema also agree, some of the ulema say you have to fulfill that vow such as Imam Maalik says that these three, you must travel there. The remaining ulema say that no, you don t even have to travel to these three but you can still fulfill your vow in any masjid. So what s the difference? The difference is that for the other masjids, you shouldn t undertake a journey, an exclusive journey to fulfill your vow but only three masjids to which its permissible but not necessary, only necessary according to some ulema like Imam Maalik but according to the others, the only masjid to which its permissible to exclusively travel in order to fulfill your vow are these three masjids: Al Masjid ul Haraam, the Masjid of the Prophet and Al Masjid ul Aqsa. So this is one standing which many ulema of the past had regarding this hadith but what does the hadith mean [Arabic 26:51] says in this hadith which we ve just read that

That saddles should not be fastened i.e. a journey should not be made to any masjid except these three masjids What s the meaning of that hadith? Some ulema have said that the meaning, traditional and classical ulema of hadith and, the great imams of the past, they ve said that this hadith refers to nadhar i.e. making a vow and fulfilling that vow that one should not travel to any masjid in order to fulfill one s vow for praying in that masjid exclusively except these three masjids. Another understanding that many ulema had was that this hadith actually refers to etikaaf that one should not travel to do etikaaf and to perform sunnah seclusion in the masjid in the month of Ramadan or at any other time to any masjid except for these three masjids and that was the view of some ulema in the past, some. And then there was the third explanation which I will mention shortly. Now why is there a need for these explanations? Simply because you cannot take the hadith literally in that one cannot travel to any masjid other than these masjids. Does that mean that you cannot travel anywhere else for anything; how about travelling to a distant masjid even in another city to attend a religious gathering, to seek knowledge, to do other pious deeds, to engage in other pious and religious activities, in other masjids in other cities? One obviously travels. Is that impermissible? No, nobody suggests that, in fact well some people do. Sometime ago I heard a certain scholar rebuking certain people in his city since they had created a fuss and some fitnah by going around preventing people from attending circles of knowledge and learning based on this hadith. Their argument was that you cannot pray salah except in your local masjid closest to your house and if you go to any masjid further than your local masjid, then you will be committing a sin because of this hadith. For any reason, you cannot travel to any other masjid for any reason including to seek knowledge and to attend gatherings of learning and they base their understanding on the literal reading of this hadith. This is the danger, so you cannot take the literal meaning of the hadith that you can t travel to any masjid other than these three masjids. This is why the ulema have had to resort to other explanations such as the one about etikaaf or the one about nadhar. This is what the hadith actually refers to but the best explanation is that which is provided by a hadith itself which means that one should not travel to any masjid with the exclusive intention of performing salah therein in the hope of receiving an increased reward and seeking prayers specifically in that masjid with the hope of receiving a multiplied reward except for these three masjids. Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal relates a hadith in his Musnad from Syedna Abu Syedul Khudri who says that the Prophet said [Arabic 30:55] It is not appropriate and it can also means it s not permissible that saddles should be fastened upon any mount or transport to travel to any masjid [Arabic 31:26]

From those masjids in which salah, prayer is exclusively sought out That s the meaning of the hadith. That narration explains this hadith itself that the meaning of it is not permissible or one should not make an exclusive journey to any masjid means one should not make an exclusive journey to any masjid with the specific intention of praying salah therein since salah is actually sought in that location because of its increased and multiplied reward and we all know that there is no masjid where there is a multiplied reward for performing any one salah i.e. a masjid, one salah performed here is one salah, another salah performed elsewhere is another salah but there are three locations on earth where performing one single salah multiplies the reward of that prayer over and above any other prayer performed in any masjid and those three masjids are the masjid of the Prophet , Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah and the Masjid of Al Aqsa and insha we will learn more about that in the next hadith. So this is what s been referred to in this hadith. I wanted to say much more about Al Masjid ul Aqsa but I will suffice with this one now because we don t have time and I wish to actually complete the few remaining hadith in this book. So just to repeat again, the Prophet said saddles should not be fastened except for three masjids: Al Masjid ul Haraam, the Masjid of the Prophet and Al Masjid ul Aqsa and that means with the specific intention of traveling exclusively to that masjid to pray salah therein in the hope of receiving a multiplied reward. That is only permissible to three masjids. One can travel to see other masjids, to visit other masjids for a noble cause, for religious gatherings, for learning, for gaining knowledge. In fact it would even be permissible to travel to another masjid just to see it but there is no promised rewarded of increased, there is no promise of increased and multiplied reward in any masjid on earth except for these three masjids, in the manner which I will describe in the next hadith. Hadith number 621 [Arabic 33:51] And it is related from him Abu Hurairah [Arabic 33:55] That the Prophet [Arabic 34:00] One prayer in this masjid of mine [Arabic 34:06] Is better than a thousand prayers [Arabic 34:12] In any other masjid besides this masjid said

[Arabic 34:16] Except for Al Masjid ul Haraam Now very simply, the Prophet , this is just one narration, there are many many narrations of the virtues of salah, many many narrations and I ll just summarize them for you. If we consider all the narrations, truth is praying one single salah, one single prayer in the masjid of RasoolAllah is equivalent, in fact better, not just equivalent but better than praying a thousand salah in any other masjid. And then the Prophet also adds in this same hadith according to the narration of many other authors and we also learn from other ahadith that a single prayer in Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah is a hundred times better and more virtuous and rewarding than a prayer in the masjid of RasoolAllah , better and more virtuous and more rewarding than a prayer in the masjid of RasoolAllah . So that means one prayer in Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah is a hundred thousand times better than a single salah elsewhere, a hundred thousand times. Finally, the Masjid of the Prophet , one prayer is a thousand times better than any prayer performed in any other masjid. One prayer in Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah is a hundred thousand times better than any prayer performed in any other masjid. What about Al Masjid ul Aqsa? Again we have different narrations. One narration suggests two hundred and fifty; that term is not mentioned but in one hadith the Prophet says one prayer in my masjid is four times better, is better than four prayers in Al Masjid ul Aqsa. So since one prayer in the Masjid of RasoolAllah is a thousand times better, if you divide that by four; that means one prayer in Al Masjid ul Aqsa is two hundred and fifty times better than any other prayer in any other masjid; that s according to one narration. So the term, the number; two hundred and fifty is not mentioned but this is the calculation. In another hadith, it s mentioned, Imam Tabrani, Imam Bizza, both relate a hadith that Al Masjid ul Aqsa, one prayer performed therein is better than five hundred prayers performed elsewhere in any other masjid, obviously apart from Prophet s masjid and the masjid in Makkah. And then finally we have one hadith, again related by Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal in his Musnad in which the Prophet mentions a thousand prayers that one prayer performed in Al Masjid ul Aqsa is better than a thousand prayers performed elsewhere. And that s a very beautiful hadith because again it speaks about the virtue of Al Masjid ul Aqsa. Just returning to that topic of Masjid ul Aqsa, it s sad that we have disassociated ourselves from the masjid; we have detached the masjid, the third holiest site from the other two masjids. It s very sad, when Allah and His Rasool have joined and connected them, have mentioned their virtues collectively and together, when it is the third holiest site in Islam, when all other prophets of Allah prayed salah in this masjid behind the Prophet on the night of Israh and ascension. Even that didn t happen in Makkah or Madinah, only in Al Masjid ul Aqsa.

Allah and His Rasool have joined the two masjids. In fact Allah joined the two masjids a long long time ago. It s the second masjid on earth, the first Imam Bukhari himself relates a hadith in his Sahih from Abu Zar Al Ghaffari . Syedna Abu Zar says I asked the Prophet ya RasoolAllah which was the first masjid established upon the earth? Prophet said Al Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah. Abu Zar said that which one ya RasoolAllah? The Prophet said Al Masjid ul Aqsa, that was the second masjid established upon the earth. So Abu Zar said [Arabic 39:01] What was the time difference between the establishing of the first masjid and the second masjid; the first masjid and Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah and the second masjid; Al Masjid ul Aqsa in Jerusalem. Prophet said forty years. Now what does that mean? One meaning of the hadith is that the angels built both; Al Masjid ul Haraam and Al Masjid ul Aqsa but the more apparent meaning of this hadith is that Allah instructed Syedna Adam to build the Ka ba on the foundations laid by the angels and then Allah instructed him after the construction of the Ka ba to proceed to Jerusalem that, although it wasn t known as a city but to that area and Allah instructed him to construct Al Masjid ul Aqsa, forty years after Al Masjid ul Haraam. But later, his children and the Prophets from the creation; Syedn Ibrahim, Syedna Ismail, Syedna Suleman, Syedna Daud and the other Prophets of Allah. They all worked on the Ka ba and Al Masjid ul Aqsa and the other masjids of Jerusalem respectively. Otherwise, originally the construction referred to in this hadith with the time difference of forty years in between them is a construction of Syedna Adam . So it s the second masjids on earth, Allah has connected these two in that way also and some of the virtues of Al Masjid ul Aqsa are very sublime as mentioned in the hadith. There is one sahaabi , very beautiful hadith, he was known as Zul [], Syedna Zul [] relates a hadith recorded by Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal in his Musnad. He said to the Prophet

[Arabic 41:00] The words are beautiful: he said oh Prophet of Allah [Arabic 41:11] If we are tested by Allah and thrown into tribulation by surviving after you, For them, life after the Prophet [Arabic 41:28] If we are tested by Allah and thrown into trial and tribulation by remaining alive after your departure, ya RasoolAllah what will we do? Where shall we go? was a trial and tribulation

[Arabic 41:43] Where do you instruct us to go? Prophet [Arabic 41:49] Go to Jerusalem Go to Jerusalem [Arabic 42:00] For there is hope that Allah will bless you with children after you who will frequent the masjid morning and evening i.e. they will frequent the masjid of Allah Al Aqsa morning and evening If tell you to go anywhere after me, in your bewilderment, in your bewilderment, in your trial, in your confusion, if you are asking me where should you go [Arabic 42:37] Go to Jerusalem And alaik, the term doesn t simply mean that go to Baitul Maqdes. He said [Arabic 42:45] Stick to Jerusalem, adhere to Jerusalem, cling onto Jerusalem, take hold of Jerusalem [Arabic 42:55] Cling onto Jerusalem For there is hope Allah will bless you with children who will travel to the masjid, who will visit the masjid morning and evening This is a hadith related by Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal in his Musnad. And speaking about the virtue of Al Masjid ul Aqsa, I ll mention one final hadith, again related by Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal in his Musnad from Memoona bint Sa ad , not the wife of the Prophet but another Memoona , one of the companions. She says I said to the Prophet [Arabic 43:35] Oh Prophet of Allah, instruct us and inform us about Jerusalem [Arabic 43:51] said

The Prophet [Arabic 44:02]

replied by saying Jerusalem is the land of reckoning and resurrection

Travel to Jerusalem and pray therein [Arabic 44:13] For one prayer therein is like a thousand prayers elsewhere [Arabic 44:23] Oh Prophet of Allah, what do you say of someone who is unable to travel to Jerusalem to Masjid ul Aqsa or even be carried there, what should he or she do? Prophet [Arabic 44:57] Prophet said the least a person should do if they cannot travel to Al Masjid ul Aqsa or even be carried there, what they should do is [Arabic 45:13] They should donate oil that would be burnt in the lamps of Masjid ul Aqsa, for he who gives a gift of oil to the masjid or he who gives any gift to Masjid ul Aqsa will be like one who has prayed salah therein And the Prophet never mentioned that even for Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah or even for his own masjid but he mentions it for Masjid ul Aqsa and a unique thing, its ironical, think of this; oil is to be found, unlike Makkah where there is no produce and to some degree less, Madinah where there is produce because it s an oasis but it s certainly isn t like the lush green and fertile land of Jerusalem and its surroundings. Oil is again is imported and probably it used to be made from tallow and animals and hide and other things but unlike Makkah and Madinah, oil is to be found in abundance in Masjid ul Aqsa in Jerusalem. One of the most famous produces of Jerusalem is olives. Allah says in Surah tu Teen: [Arabic 46:44] By the fig and the olive and by Mount Sinai [Arabic 46:57] And by the secure city i.e. Makkah So in the third verse Allah swears by Makkah, in the second verse Allah swears by Mount Sinai, in the first verse Allah swears by the fig and the olive. Allah is actually referring to Jerusalem who is most famous by, Allah defines Jerusalem by the fig and the olive. So olives, there is a whole mountain right said

next to the masjid known as the mount of olives and in fact within Masjid ul Aqsa, like I said even the open areas, it s all Masjid ul Aqsa, there are olive trees all around Masjid ul Aqsa, inside Masjid ul Aqsa. I have a bottle of oil extracted purely from the olives within Masjid ul Aqsa itself. I was sent it as a gift, I ve travelled to Masjid ul Aqsa twice and Alhamdulillah I have the honor of actually leading fajr salah in the masjid when I went for the first time in 1998. So I actually led the fajr salah in the masjid, so they sent me a bottle of olive oil but oil is pure, it s extracted from the olives within the [.] and the compound of the masjid itself. So oil is to be found in abundance in Masjid ul Aqsa, not just in the vicinity but in the grounds of the masjid and yet still the Prophet says give a gift of oil that would be burnt in the masjid, why? The masjid is not in any need, nor does it suffer a shortage of oil but the idea is that if we cannot pray salah therein because we cannot travel, there is an obstruction and we cannot even be carried to the masjid, then let us register any share of ours in that masjid of Allah, even if that means giving a gift of oil which will be burnt in the masjid even though oil is to be found in abundance. The idea is let my oil be burnt in the masjid of Allah and which masjid? Not any old masjid but Masjid ul Aqsa. That s the hadith recording by Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal in his Musnad from Memoona . Now SubhanAllah these are the virtues of Masjid ul Aqsa, this is the significance of Masjid ul Aqsa, this is the importance of Masjid ul Aqsa. As Muslims, we have a responsibility to be concerned about the welfare of this masjid which sadly till this day remains under illegal occupation. We concern ourselves with so many other things, why do we draw this distinction between and why do we differentiate between the three masjids of Allah ? I pray that Allah grants us the tawfeeq to understand. Moving onto the next chapter [Arabic 49:54] Chapter: So what s the final thing; the meaning of these two hadith? One salah in Masjid ul Haraam in Makkah is better than a hundred thousand salah elsewhere. One salah in the Masjid of the Prophet is better than a thousand salah elsewhere. One prayer in Masjid ul Aqsa is better than, according to one narration two hundred and fifty, according to another five hundred, according to this hadith which I ve just mentioned one thousand and in fact the most authentic hadith out of these three is that related by Imam Ahmed Ibn Hambal in his Musnad, out of these three; that one and the one related by Imam Bizza and Tabrani of five hundred hadith. But in any case we can safely say that a hundred thousand prayers in Masjid ul Haraam, one thousand in the Masjid of the Prophet and one thousand in Masjid ul Aqsa but the prayer in the Masjid of the Prophet is still better than the prayer in Masjid ul Aqsa and this could also be in terms of difference of sincerity and piety. So those who lack their sincerity, well not those who lack sincerity but those who are sincere will get two fifty but those who are even more sincere; five hundred,

those who are more devout, pious, sincere and who Allah chooses based on the power and the intensity of their prayer, Allah may reward them with a thousand prayers in lieu of one prayer Masjid ul Aqsa. May Allah grant every one of us the tawfeeq and the ability and the opportunity to repeatedly pray salah in Masjid ul Aqsa. [Arabic 51:35] And this is the meaing of the first hadith that one should not travel exclusively to any masjid with the intention of praying salah specifically therein for a multiplied reward other than these three masjids. Next chapter and hadith: [Arabic 51:50] Chapter of the Masjid of Quba: Quba is, before I continue I d just like to mention, you may have noticed that Imam Bukhari does not actually say Masjid ul Aqsa in the chapter heading. The chapter heading is [Arabic 52:09] Chapter of the virtue of prayer in the masjid of Makkah and Madinah: And although the Masjid ul Aqsa is mentioned in the hadith, it s not mentioned in the chapter heading, why? The reason is this an abridgement, in the original of Sahih of Imam Bukhari, you ve got this chapter which includes this hadith which mentions Al Masjid ul Aqsa but then Imam Bukhari has devoted an exclusive chapter only to Masjid ul Aqsa again but obviously because it s a repetition, Imam Zainuddeen Azzabidi does not include it here. In any case [Arabic 52:43] Chapter of the Masjid of Quba: Quba is an area in the city of Madinah. Today it s obviously part of the city and let mention something to you and this is important to understand. Madinah traditionally, during the time of the Prophet was not a large sprawling city with different neighborhoods. Madinah was an Oasis and Madinah was a city which was actually a collection of settlements. So you had the settlement of Banu Salemah, you had the settlement of Banu Quraizah, the settlement of this tribe, the settlement of that tribe, the settlement of that clan and these settlements which were close to each other but were also separate from each other actually made up the city of Madinah. That s why it was like a city of state. Quba was another settlement and today, then as well, today as well, do you know where it is? It s actually approximately two miles south of the Masjid of RasoolAllah , two miles to the south of the masjid of the Prophet .

When the Prophet did hijrah and he emigrated from Makkah to Madinah, he first arrived at Quba because it was on the way and he actually stayed there for a good few days. According to some narrations, approximately twenty days and there the Prophet stayed, he was received by the people with great hospitality and he lived there for a few days, approximately twenty and the Prophet attended to many of his affairs in Quba; The first settlement before he traveled to the center of the city of Madinah or to Madinah proper and there the Prophet also established the first masjid known as the Masjid of Quba. The Masjid of Quba was established before the Masjid of the Prophet in Madinah. So the Masjid of Quba was the first masjid in Islam actually, that was the first masjid in Islam even before the Masjid of RasoolAllah and Allah refers to the Masjid of Quba in glowing terms. In Surah tul Baqarah Allah says [Arabic 55:33] A masjid which has been established upon taqwah is better and more deserving that you stand therein. Therein in this masjid there are men who love to be pure and Allah loves those who are pure. So the inhabitants of Quba, the Masjid of Quba, those who frequented the Masjid of Quba, the people of that, the Muslims of that neighborhood and region and that masjid itself were all praised by Allah exclusively in the Quran and the Prophet was instructed by Allah to stand therein that that masjid deserves you standing in it rather than a masjid built by the hypocrites. And I ve explained this in thorough detail on previous occasions. We don t have time to go into that now. So this was the Masjid of Quba. As a result, the Prophet had a great attachment to that masjid; it was his first masjid, the first masjid that he built, the first masjid where he prayed salah. He established jum a salah there; he remained there for a good few days before he moved onto Madinah. That was his first stop after hijrah, that was where he rested after the hijrah, after the eight days. So there the Prophet , he had a great attachment to that masjid. As a result, he would do what we will learn now; [Arabic 57:15] Chapter of the Masjid of Quba: Hadith number 622 [Arabic 57:19] It is related from Abdullah Ibn Umar [Arabic 57:23] It is related from Abdullah Ibn Umar days that he would not pray at midmorning except on two

[Arabic 57:41] On the day he would arrive in Makkah [Arabic 57:45] For he would arrive in Makkah at the time of midmorning, he would then circumambulate around the Ka ba, perform the tawaaf around the Ka ba. Then he would pray two rakat behind the stand i.e. the stand of Ibrahim [Arabic 58:08] And on the day, meaning he would only pray, on the day he would come to the Masjid of Quba [Arabic 58:19] For he would come to the Masjid of Quba every Saturday [Arabic 58:26] Thus when he would enter the masjid [Arabic 58:30] He would disapprove of leaving the masjid until he had prayed therein [Arabic 58:39] And he would relate [Arabic 58:40] That Allah s Messenger [Arabic 58:53] And Syedna Abdullah Ibn Umar [Arabic 59:05] That I only do what I have seen my companions do [Arabic 59:11] And I do not prevent anyone [Arabic 59:16] That he should pray at any hour of the day that he wishes, or night would say to him i.e. the narrator would visit Masjide Quba, both riding and walking

[Arabic 59:26] Sorry [Arabic 59:33] Other than that you should not seek the rising of the sun, nor its setting This is the literal translation. The hadith contains a lot but we really don t have time to go into it and I don t wish to complete it today. I ve actually discussed some of these issues and the other ones that will come up in the other various chapters; I will mention them later in detail. Syedna Abdullah Ibn Umar , the narrator says that he would not pray salah at midmorning on any occasion except on two days. In fact what I ll do, if I start explaining the hadith, I will delay it, so I will end here, insha I will cover these two hadith next week and in more detail, well I ll be leaving it for later, so I end here. The main lesson we ve learnt is about the virtues and the rewards of the three masjids. I pray that Allah [Arabic 01:00:46] grants us the tawfeeq to appreciate and understand what we ve learnt.