Is traveling to open a new mosque considered a violation of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) hadith, “Do not travel for…”?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) hadith says, “Do not travel for…” Does traveling to open a new mosque count as a violation of this hadith? The intention is not prayer; the intention is to open the mosque, take possession of it, and inspect it—checking its construction and whether it is suitable or lacking.
Answer:
That is the intention: to inspect the mosque and its construction. This is the usual reason people go; it is not for praying in it. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) hadith says, “Do not travel for…” Does traveling to open a new mosque count as a violation of this hadith? The intention is not prayer; the intention is to open the mosque, take possession of it, and inspect it—checking its construction and whether it is suitable or lacking.
Answer:
That is the intention: to inspect the mosque and its construction. This is the usual reason people go; it is not for praying in it. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [641 /1350] هل السفر للافتتاح مسجد جديد يعد مخالفة لحديث النبي ﷺ «لا تشد الرحال»؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.