What is the ruling on one who remains in the lands of the disbelievers to call his brothers to Islam? Is it permissible for him to stay there?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : In English.
Another questioner : He says that if he remains with his people and his work is to try to guide them and improve their Islam, does this excuse him from leaving them in order to save himself?
The Shaykh : The issue now takes on another dimension: is he responsible for himself first, or for others? This is what I pointed out earlier with the verse mentioned. If he wants to live, for example, as a monk, and that is not permissible, he must be married. Then, the default is that he should have children, unless he is barren, which is contrary to the default, and so on. I do not know his situation now; does he have his family with him or not? If the answer is yes, then he must flee with his family and not destroy his family in the path of guiding others.
The questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : I want to remind him that a Muslim who is eager to hold fast to his religion should not have a subjective and specific temporal mindset. Rather, he must look to the far, far future, or the near future. I want this word to convey that every Muslim who has some Islamic culture and eagerness to establish the Islamic society must live in a land where it is most likely, at the very least, that the establishment of the Islamic society, Islamic rule, and the Islamic state is closer to realization than in other lands, which are lands of disbelief, misguidance, open sinfulness, and lewdness. Clear.
The questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : In my opinion, no two people would differ that it is difficult at this time for a group of Muslims who are eager for what we mentioned earlier to establish the Islamic society and Islamic rule, and the like, in an Islamic land. It is certainly difficult. The matter requires what I am always going on about, and perhaps you can remind him of this issue—has it reached his ears or not?—namely, what we call purification and education. It is necessary to achieve these two pillars to attain the victory promised to Muslims. There is no doubt that this is difficult, as I said just now, but we must walk this path. However, it is even more difficult than this difficulty to think of establishing the Muslim state in lands that are originally lands of disbelief and misguidance.
The questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : And the fruit of all this speech is that he and those who are able among the eager ones should realize the saying of the Lord of the Worlds:[At-Tawbah 9:119] As for calling to Islam in those lands, the closest are the most deserving of kindness.
The questioner : ... He said it is difficult for him to
The Shaykh : What is it?
The questioner : bring people to Islam in the disbelieving lands.
The Shaykh : Ah, of course.
The questioner : In English
The Shaykh : Then there is another matter concerning themselves: the longer they stay there, the further they become from understanding Islam correctly. This relates to a word we heard recently when he mentioned the conditions of Islam, including the learning of Islam. There was some discussion on this topic that this is obligatory, but one who does not learn Islam is not a disbeliever. However, for any caller to Islam, without exception, for his call to be valid, he must be well-versed in the Arabic language and its literature so that he understands Islam correctly and does not understand it from books that have translated the Qur'an and the Prophetic hadith, in which case he falls into problems similar to the problems of[Al-Baqarah 2:187] meaning, trousers for you.
The questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : They are far away, so I will shorten my words. Ask him if he has passed by them, either in reading or hearing, some hadiths that forbid the Muslim from settling in the lands of disbelief. If they have them, is there any need for me to remind them?
Another questioner : He says that if he remains with his people and his work is to try to guide them and improve their Islam, does this excuse him from leaving them in order to save himself?
The Shaykh : The issue now takes on another dimension: is he responsible for himself first, or for others? This is what I pointed out earlier with the verse mentioned. If he wants to live, for example, as a monk, and that is not permissible, he must be married. Then, the default is that he should have children, unless he is barren, which is contrary to the default, and so on. I do not know his situation now; does he have his family with him or not? If the answer is yes, then he must flee with his family and not destroy his family in the path of guiding others.
The questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : I want to remind him that a Muslim who is eager to hold fast to his religion should not have a subjective and specific temporal mindset. Rather, he must look to the far, far future, or the near future. I want this word to convey that every Muslim who has some Islamic culture and eagerness to establish the Islamic society must live in a land where it is most likely, at the very least, that the establishment of the Islamic society, Islamic rule, and the Islamic state is closer to realization than in other lands, which are lands of disbelief, misguidance, open sinfulness, and lewdness. Clear.
The questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : In my opinion, no two people would differ that it is difficult at this time for a group of Muslims who are eager for what we mentioned earlier to establish the Islamic society and Islamic rule, and the like, in an Islamic land. It is certainly difficult. The matter requires what I am always going on about, and perhaps you can remind him of this issue—has it reached his ears or not?—namely, what we call purification and education. It is necessary to achieve these two pillars to attain the victory promised to Muslims. There is no doubt that this is difficult, as I said just now, but we must walk this path. However, it is even more difficult than this difficulty to think of establishing the Muslim state in lands that are originally lands of disbelief and misguidance.
The questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : And the fruit of all this speech is that he and those who are able among the eager ones should realize the saying of the Lord of the Worlds:
and be with those who are true.
وكونوا مع الصادقينThe questioner : ... He said it is difficult for him to
The Shaykh : What is it?
The questioner : bring people to Islam in the disbelieving lands.
The Shaykh : Ah, of course.
The questioner : In English
The Shaykh : Then there is another matter concerning themselves: the longer they stay there, the further they become from understanding Islam correctly. This relates to a word we heard recently when he mentioned the conditions of Islam, including the learning of Islam. There was some discussion on this topic that this is obligatory, but one who does not learn Islam is not a disbeliever. However, for any caller to Islam, without exception, for his call to be valid, he must be well-versed in the Arabic language and its literature so that he understands Islam correctly and does not understand it from books that have translated the Qur'an and the Prophetic hadith, in which case he falls into problems similar to the problems of
They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them.
هن لباس لكم وأنتم لباس لهنThe questioner : In English.
The Shaykh : They are far away, so I will shorten my words. Ask him if he has passed by them, either in reading or hearing, some hadiths that forbid the Muslim from settling in the lands of disbelief. If they have them, is there any need for me to remind them?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.