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 ibn Malik also narrated that whenever the Prophet صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم 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 رحمه الله narrated that he saw beside the door of Imam Malik رحمه الله gifts of horses from Khurasan and Egyptian mules.
He said to Imam Malik = “These are great horses and mules”.
Imam Malik رحمه الله said “ They are for you, take them all”.
Imam ash-Shafi’i رحمه الله then said “would not you keep some of them for yourself to ride?”
Imam Malik رحمه الله 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}
