the defiantly disobedient, because such people inhabited them at that time. Then, when the righteous inhabited them, they became the abode of the righteous. This is a principle that must be understood. A town may be praised or condemned at a particular time because of the condition of its inhabitants. Their condition may then change, and the judgment concerning them changes accordingly. For praise and blame, reward and punishment, depend solely on faith and righteous deeds, or their opposites: unbelief, wickedness, and disobedience.

Allah Most High said:

“O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul, created from it its mate, and spread from the two of them many men and women. And fear Allah, in whose name you appeal to one another, and honor the ties of kinship.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab; neither a white person over a black person, nor a black person over a white person, except through piety. All people are children of Adam, and Adam was created from dust.”

Abū al-Dardā’ wrote to Salmān al-Fārisī, “Come to the Holy Land.” The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had established a bond of brotherhood between them when he established brotherhood between the Emigrants and the Helpers. Abū al-Dardā’ was in Syria, while Salmān was in Iraq as a deputy of Umar ibn al-Khattāb.

Salmān wrote back to him:

“The land sanctifies no one; it is a man’s deeds that sanctify him.”