Guest post from Bint Kashmir.
The electricity had cut out, and while fanning myself with my hand, I said:
“It’s really hot and the lizards have made an appearance!”
My aunt scrunches up her face at the very mention of the creatures and responds:
“Come back and live here then!”
I shake my head in disagreement and reply, while feeling very content:
“I much prefer to live here with the lizards rather than stepping foot back into that country!”
For many, taking a trip back to your country of origin is sometimes dreaded, and for others it’s two weeks in the sunlight, away from school or work. But for those few who go without ever intending to return, it’s a decision that they’re constantly forced to defend.
Many are simply unable to comprehend why a person who grew up in the West would gladly give up its comfort and modernity in exchange for a place where cows and goats roam about freely on the roads; where various ‘luxuries’ are either unattainable or very hard to come by.
Just to be clear, we are not by any means living out in the wilderness. People here go to school, they work and they shop, just as they would have done in the ‘developed’ world. But often perhaps, it’s the unbearable heat and the disorder present within some Muslim majority countries that has people wishing to cut their visit short.
Many Muslims belittle the need to leave the lands of the kuffar (Dar al-Kufr) and migrate to Muslim lands (Dar al-Islam). They do not see the Iman of their beloved family deteriorating right before their very eyes. Parents send their children to public schools, proud and hopeful that they will receive some form of qualifications. This will then enable them to get a high-paying job, make lots of money and contribute endlessly towards the funding of these non-Muslim governments.
The recent LGBT agenda, which has forced its way into school curriculums, has parents dealing with some of the unfortunate side-effects that come along with residing in the West. Children are coming home ‘confused’ about their gender. Many are gravitating towards and committing grave sins such as zina (fornication), alcohol consumption, drug use, etc., and some even end up apostatising and becoming atheists.
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All of this is a direct consequence of Muslims making it their number one priority to go and make money in these countries.
I personally always felt like I was an unwanted guest in someone else’s house. They provide you with a room, but they also make you feel really uncomfortable about it.
I’ve never experienced a single thing that made me want to flee. Everyone at school, both Muslim and non-Muslim, got along well together. It was like having a really big extended family.
Imagine being in a country where it makes you feel like you have to hide your identity as a Muslim and carefully blend into the crowd; where you have to assimilate and abandon your most precious beliefs and principles, your Islam, everything that makes you who you are.
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Just pondering upon this reality led me to conclude that this is not somewhere I should be staying.
Of course there will be certain inconveniences such as the electricity cutting out unexpectedly, language barriers, missing Bonne Bouche (my favorite patisserie/bakery), etc., but all of this becomes insignificant due to the priceless contentment and tranquility that Allah (Mighty and Majestic is He) places within your heart.
There will always be difficulties wherever you reside. But, I’d much rather be in a Muslim land where the Adhan (call for prayer) is called aloud publicly for the daily prayers. Why would I instead choose to be amongst people who are irreligious and doing their utmost to make us and our children faithless?
One significant hurdle I have faced while living in a Muslim country is marriage. Finding someone who shares the same worldview as me, someone who is willing to settle and start a family in a not-so developed environment, is an almost impossible feat.
Those residing in the West wish to stay there forever, and those who are yet to experience its glittering thorns, dream only getting a visa to relocate there.
What entices some people towards migrating to the West is the idea of being unknown and free to play around, far away from the judgmental interventions of a close-knit community. For others, it’s all about education and earning money.
As for those whose souls the angels take while they are wronging themselves [in the midst of disbelief, the angels] will say to them: “In what [state of faith] were you [in life]?” They will say: “We were [utterly] helpless in the land.” [The angels] will say: “Was Allah’s earth not spacious [enough] for you to migrate therein, [away from disbelief]?” It is these, then, whose [final] abode shall be Hell—and what an evil destination it is! (Qur’an, 4:97)
Under the explanation of the above Qur’anic verse, Imam Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions:
This verse was revealed generally about everyone living in the midst of idolaters while able to migrate and unable to establish his Din. He has wronged himself and committed haram by consensus based on the explicit pronouncement of this verse. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 4:228)
Furthermore, while explaining the above-mentioned verse, Mufti Muhammad ‘Ashiq Ilahi al-Muhajir al-Madani (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions:
Those Living in Europe and America Should Be Concerned About Their Belief (Iman)
Nowadays, many people have reversed the order of things. They leave havens where their Din (religion) of Islam is secure and, for worldly gains, opt to live in the dens of vice and immorality, i.e., the Western countries. They are then robbed of their Din (religion) and cause the same to be lost to generations after them. They weaken in their faith and thereafter their children supersede them in irreligiousness.
(Tafsir Anwar al-Bayan (Illuminating Discourses on the Noble Qur’an), vol.1, p. 627)
Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions:
Question: “What do you think of a Muslim man who enters a hostile land (ard al-harb) with amnesty (aman)—can he marry a woman from the hostile people (ahl al-harb) when they are from the ahl al-kitab (Jews and Christians)?”
Answer: “This would be [prohibitively] disliked/discouraged [and sinful].”
Question: “If he did marry [them], will it be valid?”
Answer: “Yes.”
Question: “So why then do you deem it to be [prohibitively] disliked/discouraged [and sinful]?”
Answer: “Because it is [prohibitively] disliked/discouraged for his children to be in a hostile land (ard al-harb), and it is [prohibitively] disliked/discouraged [and sinful] for a person to take up permanent residence therein.“
(Kitab al-Asl, vol.7, pp.487-489)
Why is it that the issue of making Hijrah to Muslim lands is not being discussed more often by our scholars today? Instead, what we see is people constantly brushing the idea of Hijrah to Muslim lands under the carpet and portraying as something unrealistic and unattainable.
Unfortunately the poison that is plaguing the West is also slowly making its way into the Muslim world. Through social media, television programs, etc., people are being brainwashed into thinking that the West really is the best.
No place on this earth will be perfect. We are not in Jannah. But Muslim lands are always going to be better for you and your Iman. The believer has a very important choice to make. Will you sacrifice your Akhirah (hereafter) for just a few ‘luxuries’ in this Dunya?
The town I live in Mumbai is predominantly Muslim.
If true Muslim migrate they can resist it
“Unfortunately the poison that is plaguing the West is also slowly making its way into the Muslim world. Through social media, television programs, etc., people are being brainwashed into thinking that the West really is the best.”The words of satanyahu ring in my ears:(I paraphrase:)’If you want revolution in Iran, beam your TV programs to Iranian TV dishes.’
Subhanallah, can you expand on this please. I am eager to make Hijrah this year inshAllah and Alhamdullilah I have my motherland as my main location and my income (for now) is my remote work that I am working with my HR to approve my transition from the West to there. However, is there any key practical advice you can give that can help with the transition?
Anecdote: after a couple of decades in ard-al-harb, I visited a Muslim country. My immediate reaction: This place … I can feel it has soul; the people therein: I feel their souls. I have spent all this time in a soul-less land. I’ve visited many other since. I felt strange comfort and people it seemed, have living healthy souls.What to do? Br. Shahzad below has good advice. Intention. Intend to migrate, and, 1st of all, pray to Allah to make it possible.
You could argue Muslim migration is the biggest problem we face. Firstly, the Muslim country loses talent. Secondly, instead of sending zakat back home, they make masjids. Imams here say it is acceptable to give your zakat for building masjids. There’s only so much money one has, and the imams extract that for building and expanding masjids (despite shutting down during covid, only to open with social distancing). Muslims back home become poorer and the Muslims in the West become liberal.
I have done Hijrah to my hometown and gathering people to form our own Muslim village soon In Sha Allah
I live in India
like everywhere, muslim’s are lack of courage, strong psychology and realistic plan to do hijrah. I know, bunch of Christian moved from Germany & Austria, to South America (recently). And they established everything there, German school, medicine, bakery. Professionals moved from their established environment and built own place to live. I personally don’t know existence of muslim group. However, I sometime do check this, makehijrah.com
Is our sister bint kashmir kashmiri? If so i am very glad to see sisters of our area who advocate emaan ,haya and chastity…
One of the main reasons why most migrants never return is because they don’t want to return to states with high levels of corruption, nepotism and cronyism, tax “hells”, a corrupt judicial system, injustice, non-existent healthcare system, insecurity, tyrannical governments etc ; to have their quality of life drastically reduced and put their children in danger? And this includes muslim migrants(and their offspring) in the West. Most so called muslim states are failed states with awful economy
Pick the one which has strongest muslim community. Away from islamophobes and LGTV+ community. Not every muslim country filled with carpet bomb landmine and firaun
Brother; what you are saying is very generic and inaccurate. Are you making these claims against malaysia, indonesia, brunei, oman, qatar, and turkey? Please be more thoughtful as you may be asked about deceiving muslims particularly when lying about an important subject. I recommend you delete this, think, then post something after better research if necessary. Allah ihdeena.
so when they would visit other clients or partner companies they could mingle and drink . on top of that people from asia basically got half of what the whites got. most not all locals where very lazy or aloof they didn’t want to work they will take a leave go enjoy whenever they want and the work was thrown at the migrants and they were expected to do it and if they complained their job would be in jeopardy . yes you did get more than what would would back home india / pak .
My comment was not about Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Oman, Qatar or the UAE. This Muslim countries seem good places to move to, with stability and future perspective, but I would not put Turkie among them(unless your income from outside of Turkie comes) because they are currently in a difficult recession with skyrocketing inflation. All the other muslim countries(maybe some are good and escape my knowledge) have huge economic problems that badly affect their populations.
But even moving to those muslim countries, that are good, is very difficult because of the nationalist laws in place. Unless you have a lot of resources they will treat you worse than a second class citizen and good luck with their “justice” system(not talking about South east Asian countries). Also people forget how unfortunately in muslim majority countries alcohol, zina, etc is growing among the youth(in some its almost like in the west) , all thanks to secular laws and lack of sharia.
Try to compare apples to apples. Immigration is challenging no matter the destination. Muslim cab drivers aren’t living the western dream; they accept the challenge because they are filling themselves with hope for material gains. Allah swt is ArRazzaq everywhere. Even if gaza is a horrible situation, no one recommends hijrah to israel. If your country is not safe, you can put in the same effort required to immigrate to a western country and immigrate to any of the countries I listed.
bro 3/6 countries that you mentioned provide nationality which is a good number tbh but having the surety that you will be able to live in the country when you have no job or you have become old is necessary for peace of mind qatar(have lived in qatar ) , oman does not provide that surety plus if your brown skinned be ready to be treated unfairly and not equally . iam not sure about indonesia, brunei i think Indonesia provides citizenship or PR . Malaysia and turkey is pretty good but
recent years turkey has become a expensive option i would really consider Malaysia again not every one has the means of the type of career that would allow them to move to a different country and settle and i really do agree with the brother that more muslim nations should open their gates to Muslims even if its pay to get a PR i wouldnt mind but as an indian muslim looking to move permanently away from india where the conditions are becoming bad for muslims their are very few permanent option
again i wouldn’t agree with all his statments but lot of people in postions of power in muslims states are absolety greedy let me give you an example like i said i lived in Qatar . my father worked in company called qatalum you wouldnt belive that people use to bring alcohol bottles to bribe their bosses (many of whom happen to be Qataris) for promotions all the good postings went to mainly whites . any post that involved travel was also given to non muslims as they could drink
Bro what you describe is already happening in the West. In the West, the corruption doesn’t surface domestically, but occurs at the international level. Think about the corruption needed to pull off the 9/11 hoax and the Iraq war. What comes around goes around, the West will eventually become a hell hole. When that happens, Muslim countries will be a better place to live from a material perspective as well inshallah.
The reason that Muslims don’t migrate to other muslim states with a decent economy is because of the nationalist laws that prevent migration. For example the offspring of Palestinian refugees don’t have Lebanese, Jordanian or Syrian citizenship despite being a 4th generation refugee? When Andalusian muslims fled to the Maghreb they blended and intermarried with the local people and after 100 years they became maghrebis.Not even refugees are accepted as full citizens with their basic rights.
I migrated from the US about 7 years ago and it’s all about intention. Before I left, I was doing really well there, materialistically speaking. When I decided to change my life, I prayed to Allah and he paved the way for me to get out. One little ‘miracle’ after another and I was out and settled in a Muslim country. There are always challenges but that is life. May Allah reward us for our efforts and give us victory in this life and the next.
Yes, do it Haqiqatjou ( he won’t lol).
Because he wants you to go to Muslim lands by becoming Muslim.😂
Nah, no matter what they say most people love living in the West, I don’t blame them
“no matter what they say” seriously?, that’s an absolute statement, and I feel you know that already, but then again, it’s easy to get over the conversation this way lol
Why? Most of the dudes who complain constantly about the West aren’t exactly running away from it lol
Most of them, actually “can’t” run away from it, due to not one but many obvious reasons stated by folks in the comment section.PS: lol
It would be better if immigrants emigrate out of western countries.Atleast there won’t be clash of cultures.Also constant racist riots.And also far right blaming immigrants,while far left defending immigrants.which leads to division of society. White people will be happy,non white will be happy.Multiculturalism does not work in real life.we can see from aliyah made by jews from goyim nation to israel.