The virtue of praying in the mosques of Makkah other than al-Masjid al-Haram

Question : The questioner asks: Is the reward for praying in the mosques of Makkah like that of al-Masjid al-Haram?

Answer : This issue is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the scholars, and the stronger position is that it is not like praying in al-Masjid al-Haram, and that the multiplication of reward is only in al-Masjid al-Haram itself. As for the other mosques within the sacred precinct, there is no doubt that they are better than the mosques outside the precinct. For this reason, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed at al-Hudaybiyyah, part of which was in the permitted area and part in the sacred precinct, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray in the sacred precinct. So, when al-Masjid al-Haram is mentioned in a general sense, it refers to the mosque itself. Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: If the intended meaning of al-Masjid al-Haram had included the miles (of the surrounding area), it would not have been permissible for the polytheists to approach those miles; rather, they would have been required to stay away from them. It is well known that they are allowed to approach the miles, but not to enter them. Only entering the miles is prohibited for them, even though the verse says "do not approach the mosque." Therefore, the prohibition against approaching is certainly not the prohibition against entering al-Masjid al-Haram. This indicates that al-Masjid al-Haram, which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned, refers to this specific mosque itself. This is further supported by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): It is well known that if a person wanted to travel to, for example, Masjid al-Sha'b or Masjid al-Jumayzah or any other mosque, we would say that this is not permissible, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If we had permitted traveling to every mosque within the miles of the sacred precinct, people would travel to dozens or hundreds of mosques.
However, if the sacred precinct becomes filled with worshippers and people are standing so close to one another that they are praying in the market, then it is hoped that these worshippers in the market will receive the reward of those inside the mosque, because this is the extent of their ability, and they have participated with the people of the mosque in performing this act of worship.