and Abū al-Dardāʾ wrote to Salmān: "Come to the sacred land!" Salmān wrote back to him: "The land does not sanctify anyone; rather, a person's deeds sanctify him." The Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) had established a bond of brotherhood between Salmān and Abū al-Dardāʾ. Salmān had deeper understanding than Abū al-Dardāʾ in certain matters, including this one. Allāh said to Mūsá: "I will show you the abode of the transgressors," which was the land inhabited by those giants, and later became the abode of the believers. This is the land referred to in the Quran as the sacred land, and the land of Egypt which Allāh bequeathed to the Children of Israel. Thus, the conditions of lands are like the conditions of people; a person may be a Muslim at one time and a disbeliever at another, a believer at one time and a hypocrite at another, pious and righteous at one time and a transgressor at another, and wicked and miserable at another. Likewise, dwellings are according to their inhabitants. A person's migration from a place of disbelief and sins to a place of faith and obedience is like his repentance and transition from disbelief and sin to faith and obedience, and this matter continues until the Day of Judgment. Allāh said: "And those who believed [after] and emigrated and strove hard with you, they are of you" (al-Anfāl, 75). A group from the predecessors said: This includes those who believe, emigrate, and strive until the Day of Judgment. Similarly, His saying: "Then indeed your Lord, for those who emigrated after they were put to trial and then strove hard and were patient, indeed your Lord thereafter is Forgiving, Merciful" (al-Naḥl, 110) (1) includes in its meaning everyone whom Satan tempted away from his religion or led into sin, then abandoned evil deeds, strove against himself and others among the enemies, and strove against the hypocrites by enjoining good and forbidding evil, and other such actions, and was patient with what befell him in word or deed. And Allāh knows best."