6.2.4 - Why the Greatest Shaykh Chose Damascus?

In addition to stability and security in Damascus more than other cities at the time, and being a safe haven for all scholars without fear of discrimination or persecution, there have been many narrations after the Prophet peace be upon him of the virtues of Damascus and the preference of living in it. Shaykh Muhyiddin mentioned this in his commandments, that he gave in chapter 560 of the Meccan Revelations, saying: “If you can live in the Levant do, because the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said that the Levant is the best of Allah’s land and to it He brings forth His best servants.” [Futuhat, IV.500].

It was not only Shaykh Muhyiddin who came from the Maghreb and settled in Damascus, but there were a large number of Moroccans and Andalusians who came to Damascus either for education or to live, and many of them had a prominent social status. But the Maliki doctrine, introduced by the Moroccans, may have stood as a barrier between them and the overall integration with the Damascene society, which was mostly Shafi’i.