What is the ruling on traveling to the lands of the disbelievers for the sake of seeking a livelihood and then returning to the country?

The questioner : We ask a simple question. Some of our brothers want to travel to Europe for about two years, meaning for their work there. They do not want to settle permanently, but for a period of two years they will work there and then return to their country. Is this sojourn in the lands of the disbelievers permissible for him, given that he is a committed man?

The Shaykh : -- Praise be to Allah, in the name of Allah, but... --
Meaning, he leaves the lands of Islam and goes to the lands of disbelief and tyranny. Many texts have come that prevent the Muslim from settling in the lands of disbelief. The truth is that among the misfortunes of the Muslims is that, either out of ignorance or neglect of the rulings of their religion, they have reversed the Sharia rulings. A disbeliever who guides himself to Islam is, by the Sharia, obligated to migrate from the lands of disbelief to the lands of Islam. So, glory be to Allah; the issue has been completely reversed for both groups. The Muslims who convert from the disbelievers do not migrate to the lands of Islam, even though this is obligatory: . And conversely, Muslims leave their lands and migrate to where? To the lands of disbelief! And more astonishing than this astonishment is that they know that the lands of disbelief are afflicted with a plague greater than all plagues. If a Muslim knew that the disbeliever’s country he wants to travel to for trade or profession has the plague or cholera, he would naturally not travel; he would fear what? For his health! So let me ask! Why does the Muslim not fear, especially if he is young, especially if he is single, especially if he is married but his wife is not with him? How does he not fear for himself that he will be infected by one of those immoral germs? Knowing that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), to emphasize the obligation of migrating from the lands of disbelief to the lands of Islam, said to those Muslims who had embraced Islam in the lands of disbelief: Flee from those lands. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . What does mean? It means the Muslim should not have his residence near the residence of a disbeliever, such that, in the old Bedouin way, this one lights a fire here and that one lights a fire there, and because of the proximity, the two fires see each other. That is: the people of the fires. The Sharia tells him: Keep your distance such that your fires are not visible to each other. ; meaning, it is not permissible for the Muslim to be a neighbor to a disbeliever, not to be his neighbor even in the lands of Islam. So how can he go and drown himself in the lands of disbelief?
The hadiths on this matter are many; among them are: , . The reason is clear; why? Because nature is a thief. When a Muslim associates with a people, he acquires their character, whether their character is good or bad. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gave a wonderful example in this matter and said: , meaning: he gives it to you for free, , meaning: you are in any case a gainer; by your companionship with the righteous companion, you are a gainer; because he is like the owner of musk; either he gives it to you for free, and that is the greatest gain, or he facilitates for you the fragrance to buy from him for a price, or you are content with the scent you smell from him. He likened the righteous companion to . And from this, the poet took his saying:
"Do not ask about the man, but ask about his companion *** For every companion imitates the one he is with"
Therefore, it was said in the proverbs: "The companion is a drag-along." This was taken from this hadith, the example of the righteous companion and the example of the bad companion. If this companion might be a Muslim, if he is of bad character, he harms you; so what will be your state if you mix with the impure disbelievers, impure in appearance and in reality? As for the appearance, do not be deceived by these formal appearances they pay attention to, but what is underneath is pitch!
Perhaps you have heard of the problems of some Muslims in some hotels when they stay there; the toilet has no water, sometimes not even the toilet paper they call it. When the Muslim guest stays there for a month or two on a Friday, the one who cleans finds the trace of water on the floor, and he raises a commotion, because this is a Muslim who used water; they do not purify themselves! Like the Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, they did not know purity. Therefore, when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): ; this verse was revealed in the Mosque of Quba, the mosque of the Ansar. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the Ansar: . They said: By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, we have neighbors from the Jews who purify themselves and use water when relieving themselves, so we purify ourselves with water. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So this cleanliness that the disbelievers do not see, they do not pay attention to it, but their attire and appearance morning and evening are afflicted with changing the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) by shaving it. Once it came out of me, and it may not be permissible, but it is permissible for them, the one who shaves from the top, it comes out from the bottom for them, because they do not have circumcision. Do you know circumcision?

The questioner : I know it.

The Shaykh : They do not have circumcision, where is the circumcision? From the top, instead of it being from the bottom, meaning.
The point: When a Muslim lives with the disbelievers and mixes with them, he steals from their customs and natures. Therefore, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the Muslim with the strongest prohibition from residing among the disbelievers; because he will be influenced by their traditions and customs. And I have experiences with some people; I found them in those lands when I was written to travel to them in the path of da'wah. The best thing I can mention for you is a hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that is better than my story which I witnessed with my own eyes. The hadith is in "the two Sahihs" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning, to a righteous man, a worshipper, not a scholar. So he went to him and presented the case that my story is that I killed ninety-nine souls, and now I want to repent; do I have a repentance? He said: You killed ninety-nine souls and you ask: Do you have a repentance? You have no repentance. So he completed the number of a hundred for him. But the man was truly intending to repent with sincerity and from the heart. So after he killed the monk, he set out to ask for the most knowledgeable person on earth (his luck was good this time); so he was directed to a scholar. He went to him and said: O so-and-so, I killed a hundred souls without right; do I have a repentance? He said: And who prevents you from repentance? But you are in a bad land (here is the point); so leave the town you are in and go to such-and-such a village whose people are righteous. He left the town and set out to the village. On the way, death came to him, and the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him, each claiming that it was his right. It was clear in the angels of punishment that he had lived his whole life in misery in killing the innocent, so we must take charge of extracting his soul. The angels of mercy said: No, this was, and now he has repented and turned back. So Allah sent to them an angel to judge between them. He proposed to them to resolve the dispute by measuring the distance between him and each of the two villages; to whichever he was closer, he should be assigned to its people. They found him closer to the village whose people were righteous, so the angels of mercy took charge of his soul.
Where is the point? The word of this scholar who saved him from this immorality and misguidance. He said to him: You have a repentance, but you are in a bad land; all of them are shedders of blood, so you learned from them. Leave this village and go to such-and-such a village whose people are righteous. So it is not permissible for the Muslim ever to leave the lands of Islam, especially in the path of seeking a livelihood. Glory be to Allah! Did all the lands of Islam not accommodate the Muslim in the path of seeking a livelihood, and he did not find it except in the lands of disbelief and misguidance? This is the trial of wealth in this time, this trial about which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .