Was your migration to Damascus a result of persecution in Albania, or was it for another reason?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Okay, so the story of your entering Damascus, Syria, with your father—was it a result of persecution, for example, or not?
The Shaykh : There was no persecution at all, but there were signs in the air of this Ahmed Zogu taking control of the country. As soon as he had consolidated his power, he began imposing Western secular laws on the people, and he began harassing women regarding their hijab, and he imposed the cap on the police and the army. This was, in my father’s view—may Allah have mercy on him—a sign of evil. Therefore, he decided to migrate with his family to Damascus, to the Levant in general, and to Damascus in particular, because of the many hadiths he read regarding the virtues of the Levant in general and Damascus in particular. As is known, or as became known to us later, these hadiths include authentic ones, good ones, weak ones, and fabricated ones. However, the general idea is correct, and it was dominant in his mind—may Allah have mercy on him. Therefore, he decided to migrate when he saw those signs. This was the reason for the migration, and there was no direct pressure.
The Shaykh : There was no persecution at all, but there were signs in the air of this Ahmed Zogu taking control of the country. As soon as he had consolidated his power, he began imposing Western secular laws on the people, and he began harassing women regarding their hijab, and he imposed the cap on the police and the army. This was, in my father’s view—may Allah have mercy on him—a sign of evil. Therefore, he decided to migrate with his family to Damascus, to the Levant in general, and to Damascus in particular, because of the many hadiths he read regarding the virtues of the Levant in general and Damascus in particular. As is known, or as became known to us later, these hadiths include authentic ones, good ones, weak ones, and fabricated ones. However, the general idea is correct, and it was dominant in his mind—may Allah have mercy on him. Therefore, he decided to migrate when he saw those signs. This was the reason for the migration, and there was no direct pressure.