Explanation of Abu al-Darda's saying: "Come to the land of Sham, the sacred land"

The Shaykh : But I want to mention that report so that the people of Sham do not be deceived by their sacred, blessed homeland. I am referring to the report narrated by Imam Malik in his Muwatta, may Allah have mercy on him, that Abu al-Darda, who had settled in Sham in the last part of his life, wrote to Salman al-Farisi, who had been driven by the days to the land of Iraq. Abu al-Darda wrote to Salman: "Come to the land of Sham, the sacred land." Salman wrote this blessed, good word, which we need to embody and remember always and forever, so that we are not among those who are deceived by their land and do not fulfill the obligation of this land by acting according to what came in the Book of Allah and in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and upon the methodology of our righteous predecessors. What was Salman's answer? He said: "As for what follows, the sacred land does not sanctify anyone; rather, it is a person's work that sanctifies him." This is the intended meaning of this word: "The sacred land does not sanctify anyone; rather, it is a person's work that sanctifies him." This is a reality that we should not overlook. And of course, my intention is not to diminish the value of the virtue of the land of Sham that you have heard about. How could I do so when I have a message in which I narrated hadiths about the virtues of Sham? How could I do so when I am a son of Sham, as you just heard? But I want for myself, and I want for my brothers what I want for myself, which is that we do not be deceived by lineage, whether this lineage is human lineage or national lineage, if this expression is correct. I do not want this word to diminish the value of the righteous place, for the righteous place is like a healthy environment from a medical perspective. Just as a healthy environment helps in maintaining physical health from a material perspective, so too the righteous place or country helps its residents and people to be upright in obedience to Allah and in obedience to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
And there is no harm, and as they say, the matter has many threads, in mentioning a hadith or more regarding the fact that a righteous place influences its people with righteousness, and the opposite is the opposite.