Abu Umama said that a Jewish doctor asked the Prophet what places were best, but he did not answer his question, saying, “I shall say nothing till Gabriel comes.” So he remained silent, and when Gabriel came he asked him, but he replied, “The one who is asked knows no more than the one who asks, but I shall ask my Lord.” Later Gabriel said, “Muhammad, I approached my Lord nearer than I have ever come before.” When Muhammad asked about that, he replied, “Between Him and me there were seventy thousand veils of light, and He said that the worst places were their markets and the best their mosques.”*
*The source of the tradition is not given in the text. The editor of the Damascus edition says it comes rightly from Ibn Hibban from Ibn ‘Umar.
