If you say that emigrating from the occupied territories is obligatory, they will remain in the hands of the disbelievers, just as happened to the early Muslims in Andalus

The questioner: Professor, if you allow me regarding this specific topic, if the Muslims emigrate from their homeland in this manner, the land of Allah is vast, yes, but if we let the rope go in this way, we see that the ruling is that the Muslims emigrated from Andalus, they abandoned Russia, and they abandoned many Islamic lands, and they scattered across the lands; so in the end, if... our brothers the Palestinians in the occupied territories and our Muslim brothers in Afghanistan emigrate from their lands, and they go to Islamic lands, we notice that we will ultimately leave the lands to the colonizer, and the colonizer will be more and more greedy toward us; so this is one point. The second point.

The Shaykh: No, stick to the first point.

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh: ... upon it, so the other may fall automatically, as they say.
First: I want to draw your attention to the fact that you are not criticizing me, and I wish your words were criticizing me; in that case, you are in reality criticizing the Shari'ah ruling, and it is true that you affirmed by saying: Yes ; so you are criticizing—may Allah reward you—this verse, unless you have a specific understanding of this verse; in that case, we will discuss our understandings of this verse; either my understanding is the stronger position, in which case your question is invalid, or your understanding of the verse is correct.

The questioner: If you please, a simple interjection only regarding this verse; the context of this verse.

The Shaykh: Keep your question, and perhaps some of the brothers here who memorize the Qur'an more than I do will bring it up.
So the point is: and I do not think we differ on the meaning of the verse; is that not so? Meaning, you do not have an opinion that contradicts our opinion and our evidence, if that is the case. Now, let us assume that the matter is as it appears to me that it is more likely in your view; which is that Muslims should not emigrate from the land that the disbelievers have taken control of, and you gave the example of Andalus, that the Muslims left it, what do you imagine if the Muslims had remained in Andalus? Because it is easy, as we know in academic discussions, for a critic to criticize a certain opinion, but he does not think about the consequence of his own opinion, which is much worse than the opinion he criticized, what does a rational person imagine if the Muslims had remained in Andalus, and they were humiliated, and they were Christianized, and so on; what would be the outcome of these Muslims in your opinion and imagination? Do you imagine that they can band together and gather in a place, and they are surrounded from every side, such that they can revolt against that new controller and the disbeliever ruler, and it becomes easier for them at that time to expel the enemy from their land; do you imagine this? Or does the historical reality confirm to you the opposite of what you imagine.

Another questioner: The Inquisition.

The Shaykh: Yes.

Another questioner: The Inquisition in the history of Andalus.

The Shaykh: Ah, do you not know from Islamic history that many of the Muslims who remained, as it seems from your question, did not emigrate, and the outcome of their affair was that they and their children were Christianized, and even as I read in some newspapers in the modern era that some of the...