Hadith 2486

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ التَّنُوخِيُّ أَبُو الْجَمَاهِرِ ، حَدَّثَنَا الْهَيْثَمُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ ، أَخْبَرَنِي الْعَلَاءُ بْنُ الْحَارِثِ ، عَنْ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ ، عَنْ أَبِي أُمَامَةَ أَنَّ رَجُلًا قَالَ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ائْذَنْ لِي فِي السِّيَاحَةِ ، قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : " إِنَّ سِيَاحَةَ أُمَّتِي الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى " .
Narrated Abu Umamah: A man said: Messenger of Allah, allow tourism for me. The Prophet ﷺ said: The tourism of my people is striving in the path of Allah, the Exalted.
Hadith Reference سنن ابي داود / كتاب الجهاد / 2486
Hadith Grading الألبانی: حسن  |  زبیر علی زئی: إسناده حسن, مشكوة المصابيح (724)
Hadith Takhrij « تفرد بہ أبو داود، (تحفة الأشراف: 4901) (حسن) »
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
Benefits and Issues:

In its common customary sense, travel and tourism have no status in the Shari‘ah, such as when affluent, carefree people wander from country to country without any significant purpose.
This generally involves extravagance of wealth,
and also a waste of time.
The Shari‘ah does not permit this.
Whereas a Muslim’s entire life is spent in purposeful actions.
In Islam, its substitute is jihad.
And in the Noble Qur’an, the command at several places (سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ)
is for the purpose of knowledge and reflection upon the self and the horizons.
There is no harm in traveling with this intention.
And the travel for jihad encompasses all these objectives.


There is no justification in the Shari‘ah for the travel of the Sufis except if it is for the purpose of teaching and learning.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 2486