He was also asked—may Allah have mercy on him:

“What do the esteemed jurists, the leading scholars of religion, say: Is residing in al-Shām preferable to residing in other lands? Is there any text in the Quran or the hadiths concerning this, or not? Please answer us, and may you be rewarded.”

The Shaykh of Islam and the Muslims, defender of the Sunnah, Taqī al-Dīn, replied:

Praise be to Allah. Residing wherever circumstances are more conducive to obedience to Allah and His Messenger and to performing good and righteous deeds—where one has greater knowledge of these deeds, greater ability to perform them, and greater enthusiasm for them—is preferable to residing somewhere one’s obedience to Allah and His Messenger would be less. This is the overarching principle, for the most honoured of creation in Allah’s sight are those with the greatest piety.

“Piety” is as Allah Most High explains it in His words:

“But righteousness is in one who believes in Allah and the Last Day,”

through to His words:

“Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.”

Its essence is to do what Allah and His Messenger have commanded and to refrain from what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. Since this is the governing principle, its application varies according to a person’s circumstances.

Thus, a man’s residence in a land of disbelief and disobedience, with its various forms of religious innovation and wickedness, may be preferable if he is striving in Allah’s cause with his hand or his tongue, enjoining