Is it permissible to say regarding the city: "Upon its inhabitants is the best of prayers and peace"?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. He says: We hear some people, or we read in the newspapers, the phrase "the city, upon its inhabitants is prayer and peace." Is this permissible?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible. A general term can be intended to mean a specific meaning. If someone says "upon its inhabitants is the best," what does he intend? He intends the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and he does not intend, nor does he intend, everyone who resided in it. Intending a specific meaning with a general term is common in the language of the Arabs. Among this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: The one who said it was one person, or was it all the people? It was one person. And those who gathered were a group of people, the Quraysh, who were not all the people. But this is from the category of using a general term while intending a specific one. Yes.