Anas ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم said:
“O Allah! Bestow on Madinah twice the blessings You bestowed on Mecca.”
{Sahih Bukhari, Book #30, Hadith #109}
Anas narrated that whenever the Prophet returned from a journey and observed the walls of Madinah, he would make his Mount go fast, and if he was on an animal {i.e. a horse}, he would make it gallop because of his love for Madinah.
{Sahih Bukhari, Book #30, Hadith #110}
Imam ash-Shafi’i narrated that he saw beside the door of Imam Malik gifts of horses from Khurasan and Egyptian mules.
He said to Imam Malik “These are great horses and mules”.
Imam Malik said “ They are for you, take them all”.
Imam ash-Shafi’i then said “would not you keep some of them for yourself to ride?” Imam Malik replied “I am ashamed from Allah, Almighty, to step, by a hoof of a ride, on a land that contains the Messenger of Allah.
Qadi Iyad رحمه الله reports that Imam Malik رحمه الله would never ride an animal or mount in Madinah and he’d say,
“ I am too shy before Allah to trample with an animal’s hoof on the earth where the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم is buried. “
{Kitab ash-Shifa bi ta’rif ‘Huquq Al-Mustapha, The Antidote in knowing the rights of the Chosen Prophet, Volume 2, pg. 63}
