Are there conditions for hijrah that require the government of the country one is migrating to agree to your entry?

The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner asks: Is it a condition for hijrah that the country a person wants to migrate to agrees to his staying there?

The Shaykh:
Agrees.

The questioner:
To staying there.

The Shaykh:
How does it agree on his behalf?

The questioner:
He means the country being migrated to.

The Shaykh:
What?

The questioner:
He asks: Is it a condition that the country agrees to his staying there?

The Shaykh:
If the government of the country does not agree to your entry and settlement there, it is impossible for you. But if they allow you, hijrah is fleeing with one’s religion from a land of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and a land of kufr (disbelief). If one is unable to manifest his religion, he migrates to a land where he can manifest his religion, even if it is not a Muslim land, provided his people do not prevent him from manifesting his religion there. He migrates to it because the Companions migrated to Abyssinia, which was a land of Christians, because there was a king there who did not oppress anyone, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. This is if he does not find a Muslim land that receives him. But if he finds a Muslim land that receives him, he does not go to a land of kufr; he goes to a land of Islam. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you. Your Eminence, the father says:

The Shaykh:
To Abyssinia, because at that time there was no Muslim land that received them. When they found the Muslim land that received them, which was al-Madinah, they migrated to it. Yes.