We were discussing in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which mosque was superior, the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or the Mosque of Bayt al-Maqdis.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "A prayer in this mosque of mine is better than four prayers in it, yet what an excellent place of prayer it is. The time is near when a piece of land the size of a horse's tether, from which a man can see Bayt al-Maqdis, will be more precious to him than the entire world," or he said, "better than the world and all that is in it."
تذاكرنا ونحن عند رسول الله ﷺ: أيهما أفضل مسجد رسول الله ﷺ أو مسجد بيت المقدس؟ فقال رسول الله ﷺ: صلاة في مسجدي هذا أفضل من أربع صلوات فيه، ولنعم المصلى، وليوشكن أن لا يكون للرجل مثل شطن فرسه من الأرض حيث يرى منه بيت المقدس خير له من الدنيا جميعا أو قال: خير من الدنيا وما فيها.
Reported by Hakim (4/509) and Tabarani in Awsat (6979), both from the hadith of Hafs bin Abdullah, who said, Ibrahim bin Tahman narrated to me, from Hajjaj bin Hajjaj, from Qatada, from Abu Khalil, from Abdullah bin Samit, from Abu Dharr, and he mentioned it. Hakim said, "Sahih in isnad." I say, its isnad is hasan because of Hafs bin Abdullah, who is Ibn Rashid Sulami, for he is hasan al-hadith and is among the narrators of the Sahih.His words, "A prayer in this masjid of mine..." to the end, mean that a prayer in Bayt al-Maqdis is equal to two hundred and fifty prayers anywhere else, except for Masjid al-Haram and the masjid of the Messenger ﷺ.As for what Ibn Majah reported (1413) from Hisham bin Ammar, who said, Abu Khattab Dimashqi narrated to us, who said, Rizq Abu Abdullah Alhani narrated to us, from Anas bin Malik, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "A man's prayer in his house counts as one prayer, his prayer in the masjid of the tribes counts as twenty-five prayers, his prayer in the masjid where the congregation gathers counts as five hundred prayers, his prayer in Masjid Aqsa counts as fifty thousand prayers, his prayer in my masjid counts as fifty thousand prayers, and his prayer in Masjid al-Haram counts as one hundred thousand prayers." This is munkar. Abu Khattab Dimashqi is majhul, and his shaykh Rizq Abu Abdullah Alhani has been criticized. Ibn Hibban said, "It is not permissible to use his report as evidence except where it agrees with other reports."Dhahabi mentioned this hadith in the biography of Abu Khattab in Mizan and said, "This is very munkar." That is because it contradicts the sahih hadiths concerning the merit of prayer in the masjids mentioned. There are other hadiths on this subject that are not authentic, and the discussion is elaborated in the Book of Masjids.