into armies: an army in al-Shām, an army in Yemen, and an army in Iraq. Al-Khawālī said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, choose for me.’ He replied, ‘Go to al-Shām, for it is Allah’s chosen land, to which He draws His chosen servants. Whoever refuses should go to Yemen and beware of its treachery, for Allah has pledged to me to care for al-Shām and its people.’”
Al-Khawālī used to say: “Whoever is under Allah’s care will not be forsaken.” This hadith thus mentions its merits, including that it is Allah’s chosen land.
There is also the hadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, who reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“There will be a migration after a migration. The best people on earth will be those who remain most firmly in the land to which Abraham migrated. The worst people will remain elsewhere on earth: their lands will cast them out, and the Most Merciful Himself will loathe them. The fire will gather them together with apes and swine, spending the night with them wherever they spend the night, and resting at midday with them wherever they rest at midday.”
He thus stated that the best people on earth are those who remain most firmly in the land to which Abraham migrated, unlike those who come to it or leave it. The land to which Abraham migrated is al-Shām.
This hadith brings glad tidings to our companions who migrated from Harrān and elsewhere to the land of Abraham’s migration and followed Abraham’s faith and the religion of their Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him abundant peace. It also explains that theirs is a migration after the migration of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to Medina. For migration is to the place of the Messenger and the enduring traces of his legacy. For us, the land of Abraham’s migration has been made equivalent to the land of our Prophet’s migration, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, since migration to the latter came to an end with the conquest of Mecca.
Another of its merits is the Prophet’s instruction to go there, in the hadith recorded by al-Tirmidhī.