Is it obligatory to emigrate from a country where a Muslim is unable to perform the rituals of his religion, or should he be patient and continue calling to it there?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and upon his family and companions, and whoever follows his guidance and adheres to his Sunnah with excellence until the Day of Judgment. After that:
My Shaykh, first of all, I greet you and convey to you the greetings of the brothers, the youth of the Islamic Awakening in Libya. They sent me with an important question, which is:

The Shaykh : One question or several questions?

The questioner : One question, which is:

The Shaykh : Between a group of stingy people - he laughsThe Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him) and the students.

The questioner : We have other questions as well, meaning:

The Shaykh: All right.

The questioner : Consider the situation of the youth of the Awakening in Libya. The situation of the youth is very difficult. They are fought by all means. It is forbidden to pray the five prayers in the mosque. Specifically, the Fajr prayer; one remains under surveillance. One wears Arab clothing.

The Shaykh : Is he, meaning, an employee of the state?

The questioner : No, I mean the youth in general in the mosques

The Shaykh : In general

The questioner : In general throughout Libya. Meaning, the one who prays in the mosques is monitored, and specifically the one who grows a beard, and the second one who wears Arab clothing, and specifically if they see an izar or something of that sort, signs of the Sunnah, he is considered suspicious. And any sign indicating that he is from the youth of the Awakening or the youth of the Sunnah, he is arrested and imprisoned. Currently, there are thousands of them in prison, from the shaykhs. Islamic tapes are forbidden, Islamic books are forbidden, talking about religion is forbidden, even in prayer, for example, it is forbidden. Lessons in the mosques are forbidden, only sermons in the Friday prayer. So in this situation, any suspicion on him, or even if he shaves his beard but it is known that he is from the youth of the Awakening, he is arrested immediately. And there are raids, meaning, finally, in the month of August, there was a campaign, and approximately more than fifty young men were arrested. In this situation, from this unfortunate state, many of the youth shave their beards, some of them have fallen back into sin, some of them have weakened, and he is fought, meaning, in many of his speeches, he directs war from the sides of the relatives, threatening with killing and defaming the youth, describing them as heretics. These are agents of America and agents of the Jews who want to destroy our religion and so on. He claims that he is the savior, the Muslim, the Muslim leader, in this circumstance. The youth divided into two groups:
One group said that emigration is obligatory, in this difficult circumstance, one cannot worship Allah, I cannot grow a beard, in the mosque it is forbidden, specifically standing after prayer in the mosques, this is forbidden. So they said that emigration is obligatory and cited the verse of being oppressed in the land.
The second group: said that it is necessary to remain and carry out the call, because the people need us, and specifically the family. So divisions occurred among them, much of it was verbal quarrels that led to our disconnection from prayer. So in this circumstance, we ask you to answer the question: should the youth leave the country under this circumstance, or should they remain and work with certain means?
So in any path, in a college, in the university, meaning, they find you doing free mixing with the girls, you do not do anything like a wrong. The one who gives you, for example, surely you are from the youth of the Awakening but from the Sunnah. - A word - . Heresy, transformers, meaning, temptation and difficult things, meaning.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. Based on what you described, the second group that does not support emigrating to a country where they can perform the rituals of their religion, do they agree with this description that you described? When they say: No, we see that we should remain in our country here to continue the call, and the people need us. Are they able to carry out the call? According to what you mentioned: they are not able.

The questioner : They are not able, meaning, those who said that emigration is obligatory replied to them: You cannot call your own families, yourselves, meaning: even gatherings in the houses are forbidden. When they monitor several young men who are suspicious of them, so as soon as you enter the mosque, and as soon as you grow a light beard, you are monitored.

The Shaykh : So the issue is clear as the sun at midday, that those who say that emigration is obligatory, their saying is the truth, and those who say to remain, it appears that they are leaning and inclining toward material interests, this is based on what you described. The witness sees what the absent one does not see. If the matter is as you described, then emigration is obligatory, to the extent that I say a word I have not said before: emigration is obligatory from this town to a town of disbelievers, to a state of disbelievers, like any of the other states where there is some religious freedom, or as they say today in the modern age, "democracy," because this restriction and this prohibition that you mentioned earlier in that country, which is originally Islamic, this restriction does not exist in the other countries. Therefore, it is obligatory for these Muslims who have become aware of their religion and awakened with those who awakened to emigrate first to the lands of Islam. But if we assume - and I do not see this as reality - that they do not find a way to emigrate to an Islamic country that allows them to reside in it, then their emigration to another country, as the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did in the first emigration to Abyssinia and the second, that is better for them and more lasting than their remaining in this country that prohibits these Muslims that prohibition which even the disbelievers among the rulers do not do. This is the answer to what you asked.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.