Is staying in lands of sins and open sinfulness for the purpose of da'wah and clarifying the truth for them better, or going to jihad in the path of Allah?

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace.

The questioner : My Shaykh, I am a messenger from the young men of the people of Baghdad. There is a question that is on their minds, and they find no answer for it among the scholars of Baghdad. The question is: Is it preferable and better to stay in lands of sin, or open sinfulness, or disbelief—if that is the correct term to call them lands of disbelief? Is staying in these lands preferable and better, while spreading the da'wah to Allah the Exalted, explaining the Sunnah, applying the Sunnah, and teaching people matters of the religion? Is this better, or is migrating to jihad in the path of Allah the Exalted and fighting with the people of the religion better? Which of the two is better, I mean?

The Shaykh : This is a question that is repeated, whether it relates to Iraq or its like, Syria or Libya or the like. First, in your question, there is something that needs to be clarified, and before that, I must point something out to you, because some of our brothers begin their question with "Peace be upon you." We do not know this beginning in the Sunnah, because you are sitting with us; you have not left us to come to us and greet us as is the Sunnah. You are with us and sitting among us. Therefore, we do not know in the Sunnah that any of the Salaf, from the Companions or others, when they asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) or others a question, preceded the question with "Peace be upon you." I say to you "Peace be upon you" as well, but this is not the place for it. And by the way, I say that today, as we were going to the mosque for the Friday prayer, we were listening to the Friday sermon from the Sacred Mosque, and the honorable and respected preacher cited a verse and said, "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan," and then he mentioned the verse. This is also one of the common errors, whether among scholars or among reciters, when they want to cite a verse, they begin it by seeking refuge in Allah. They think that this is their application of the saying of Allah the Exalted: This is a verse with no doubt in it. And here the importance of the da'wah that we are discussing becomes apparent. Recently, we were in some gatherings in the evening, and we discussed a long research, the conclusion of which is that it is obligatory for us to receive the interpretation of the Qur'an according to the methodology of the righteous Salaf. The Qur'an is interpreted by the Sunnah, and the Sunnah is interpreted by the application of the righteous Salaf to it. The Qur'an now commands seeking refuge in Allah before recitation. Do you think that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whenever he took a verse and used it as evidence in an occasion, began it by seeking refuge in Allah? No. The seeking of refuge commanded in the previous verse is when you sit to recite the Qur'an; then you must seek refuge in Allah, and it may be that you must also say the Basmalah, but the Basmalah is not always required. If you begin the surah from its beginning and it is not Surat al-Tawbah, you begin the recitation with seeking refuge in Allah and the Basmalah. But if you begin reading from the middle of the surah or from its end, you begin the recitation with seeking refuge in Allah only, without the Basmalah. But if you want to cite a verse, do not say "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan." Many of the guides and preachers do not make this error that contradicts the Sunnah, which is to seek refuge in Allah before the verse cited as evidence, but they add to that a very serious error, but praise be to Allah, it is a verbal error and not a heart error. What does one of them say? He says, "Allah Mighty and Majestic said, after 'I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan.'" This is a lie. Allah said, "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan" He did not say it this way. He says, "Allah said after" or "Allah says, 'I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan,'" and then he recites the verse. This is a lie about Allah. All of this is negligence of the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and of his Sunnah. I return after this introduction, and even if it was a little long, it is not devoid of benefit that should be mentioned. Your question, I said, needs clarification in some of it, because it was hesitating between two opinions: should he migrate or stay where he is, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, spreading the Sunnah and calling to it, and so on. I say, if there is religious freedom, as they say today, and he is able to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and spread the Sunnah without obstacles being placed in his path, and without being imprisoned and tortured and prevented from what he intended of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, while in another country he is able to do that, then we say he must migrate. But if there is complete freedom and he is able to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, and call to the Sunnah, and fight bid'ah, at least with his tongue, then we say to him: "The nearest are more entitled to kindness." Beware that it comes to the mind of any of the present that this is a verse, because many people imagine that when they say this phrase, "The nearest are more entitled to kindness," that it is a verse, and it is not a verse. But the meaning of this phrase is a correct meaning. So your country and the people of your country are more entitled to your advice and your knowledge, if you are able to do so. But is the matter in Iraq like that?

The questioner : No, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : So here, migration is obligatory. And if it were necessary for you not to raise the question, it might be like this and like that, but the one who raised this question did a benefit for the present, because it compelled us to say: if it is such, then the answer is such, and if it is such, then the answer is such. What we know is that suppression is dominant, whether in Iraq or in Syria or in Libya, or perhaps in other countries we know or do not know, we mention them or do not mention them.
Al-Halabi : My Shaykh, perhaps in Libya they will declare the Islamic Caliphate.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.
Al-Halabi : It would be good if there were a brief comment on this second Fatimid state.

The Shaykh : Abu 'Abdullah, now it is time for prayer, so we ask for permission to leave.
Abu 'Abdullah: May Allah welcome you, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : And we depart, and may Allah reward you with good, and may it be blessed for you all, if Allah wills. May Allah preserve you.
Abu Layla : May Allah reward you with good, O our Shaykh.