What is the ruling on opening a business in the lands of disbelief?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says: Can I open a business in the lands of disbelief?
Answer:
Residing in the lands of disbelief is not permissible for a Muslim except for one who is unable to migrate. There are two cases: first, one who is unable to migrate; he holds fast to his religion and remains until Allah facilitates migration for him. Second, one who is able to manifest his religion in the lands of disbelief by calling to Allah, forbidding what is wrong, and denouncing shirk (associating partners with Allah) and kufr (disbelief), calling to Allah and not remaining silent. This person may reside because he is able to manifest his religion. As for the one who is not able to manifest his religion, it is not permissible for him to stay; rather, it is obligatory for him to migrate if he is able, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:97] These are the ones who abandoned migration while they were able to do so. [An-Nisa 4:97-98] As for trading with disbelievers in permissible matters, there is no harm in it. We trade with them, we sell to them, and we buy from them; there is no harm in permissible items. Yes.
This questioner says: Can I open a business in the lands of disbelief?
Answer:
Residing in the lands of disbelief is not permissible for a Muslim except for one who is unable to migrate. There are two cases: first, one who is unable to migrate; he holds fast to his religion and remains until Allah facilitates migration for him. Second, one who is able to manifest his religion in the lands of disbelief by calling to Allah, forbidding what is wrong, and denouncing shirk (associating partners with Allah) and kufr (disbelief), calling to Allah and not remaining silent. This person may reside because he is able to manifest his religion. As for the one who is not able to manifest his religion, it is not permissible for him to stay; rather, it is obligatory for him to migrate if he is able, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Indeed, those whom the angels take [in death] while wronging themselves
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنفُسِهِمْ[the angels] will say, "In what [condition] were you?" They will say, "We were oppressed in the land." The angels will say, "Was not the earth of Allah spacious [enough] for you to emigrate therein?" For those, their refuge is Hell - and evil it is as a destination. (98) Except for the oppressed among men, women and children who cannot devise a plan nor are they directed to a way -
قَالُوا فِيمَ كُنتُمْ قَالُوا كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُوا فِيهَا فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَسَاءَتْ مَصِيرًا إِلَّا الْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاءِ وَالْوِلْدَانِ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ حِيلَةً وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ سَبِيلًا
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم فتح تجارة في بلاد الكفر؟ #فتاوى الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.