Blessing in the Mudd and Sa' of Madinah, and the Virtues of Lands and Their People البركة في مد المدينة وصاعها، وفضائل البلدان وأهلها

Questioner: May Allah pardon you, O Shaykh: al-Madinah al-Nabawiyyah [the Prophet's City] — some people call it "al-Madinah al-Munawwarah" [the Illuminated City].

Questioner: And also, may Allah pardon you, the supplication of the Prophet ﷺ: "O Allah, bless them in their mudd and their sa'" — is the supplication for blessing in the mudd and the sa' [only], or is it general, covering trade, seeking knowledge, remembrance, and worship?

[The transcript does not record an answer to the first part, about the name "al-Madinah al-Munawwarah."]

The hadith came regarding the mudd and the sa'. Ibrahim, the Friend [of Allah] — upon him and upon our Prophet be the best of blessings and peace — supplicated for the people of Makkah, and the Prophet ﷺ supplicated for the people of Madinah for blessing in the mudd and the sa'. Generalising this — saying it is general in everything — may be difficult. But it may be said that it is general in food; this is possible: yes, in all food. As for it being general in buying and selling, dwellings, and the like, this is questionable.

But overall, there is goodness in Madinah, because of his saying ﷺ: "And Madinah is better for them, if only they knew." The hadiths on the virtue of Madinah are many. But if you reflect on the evidences from the Prophet ﷺ on virtues, you find them in two categories — and this is an important matter, my brothers, that a person should take note of. The hadiths that came on virtues are of two categories:

• A category relating to the land.
• A category relating to the people of the land.

And this must have a benefit. For example, the virtues of the people of Yemen: remarkably, the virtues did not come regarding the land; the virtues came regarding the persons and individuals.

And the virtues of Madinah: there is no virtue for persons; the virtue is for the land.

Likewise Makkah: there are no virtues in it for persons; the virtue is for the land.

Likewise Egypt: the Prophet ﷺ said, "Treat the people of Egypt well, for they have a covenant of protection and ties of kinship." The virtue here is for the persons.

But if you look at al-Sham, for example, the virtues came regarding both the persons and the land. The only land that combined the two is the land of al-Sham: it combined the persons and individuals with the land. It is a blessed land by the text of the Book and the Sunnah, and virtues came regarding its people, such as the hadith "When the people of al-Sham become corrupt, there is no good in you," and as when [someone] said to the Prophet ﷺ, "Choose for me," and he said, "Here and here," gesturing with his hand towards al-Sham.

And as in the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn Hawalah, when the Prophet ﷺ said: "You will be formed into armies: an army in al-Sham, an army in Yemen, and an army in Iraq." 'Abd al-Rahman said: "Choose for me, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "Take to al-Sham, for it is Allah's chosen land of His earth; He gathers to it the chosen ones of His servants." I said: "And if not?" He said: "Then take to Yemen, and draw water from your pools." Someone might say: this indicates [a virtue of] the land, not the persons. Here there is no explicit indication from the Prophet, because he said, "and draw water from your pools"; he did not mention a virtue for the land. Unlike the virtue of al-Sham, which is explicit — what did he say? "For it is Allah's chosen land of His earth; He gathers to it the chosen ones of His servants." He combined the two.

And as Allah says: "…to the land which We had blessed for the worlds" [al-Anbiya': 71], and "a place of settlement and flowing water" [al-Mu'minun: 50], as Allah said concerning 'Isa — and that land is the land of al-Sham. That is why 'Isa ibn Maryam — where will he descend? He will descend in al-Sham, in Damascus. And the great battle (al-malhamah) — where will it be? It will be in al-Sham.

So al-Sham is the land that combined the virtue of the land and the virtue of its people. But it does not follow that everyone who lives in al-Sham is a righteous man; that is far from the case. We know that since long ago there has been deviation among many of its people, and the Nusayris have dominated; but the virtue remains, and it remains that Islam will return to al-Sham, and its standing in the hearts of the Muslims remains preserved.

That is why Imam Ahmad and 'Ali ibn al-Madini held that the Victorious Group (al-ta'ifah al-mansurah) is in al-Sham, while others besides these two imams held that the Victorious Group may be dispersed: it may be in the Hijaz, in Najd, in Yemen, in Iraq, in Egypt, in al-Sham, and in other lands.

النص العربي الأصلي