What is the ruling on a young Muslim remaining in a land of disbelief, having married a Christian woman and having children with her?
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The questioner : ... A young man is married in America and has children, and his situation does not allow him to return to his country. Is it permissible for him to remain in America?
The Shaykh : I think this question came late. How did he stay there for such a long period and only now ask, after the offspring have come? Perhaps he cannot leave with them, as we hear. He is between leaving his children and wife there, where they may become Christian over time, or staying there and living with those people who live in a hell of polluted air. In this case, in reality, we cannot say it is permissible for him to remain there, because the principle is that if an American or European disbeliever is guided by Allah the Exalted to Islam, he should migrate from those lands to the Islamic lands. Now, the reality is the opposite. What concerns us now is not to enter into the details of some people being forced by political aspects, but we know from many of those called immigrants that they migrated not due to political pressure, but in pursuit of wealth. If these people travel there, live, sow and plant, and have offspring, is it permissible for them to remain there after this long time? The answer is that their departure in the first place was a mistake, and what is built on a mistake is a mistake. Now, the problem is complex such that it does not justify the questioner saying he must return to his Islamic country, or that he should remain there with his family out of concern for the safety of the children's Islamic upbringing. Therefore, if this person is truly a Muslim, let him do what many people do: study the situation he is in from all angles, free from thinking about material interests, and then proceed to what our Lord the Exalted opens his chest to.
The Shaykh : I think this question came late. How did he stay there for such a long period and only now ask, after the offspring have come? Perhaps he cannot leave with them, as we hear. He is between leaving his children and wife there, where they may become Christian over time, or staying there and living with those people who live in a hell of polluted air. In this case, in reality, we cannot say it is permissible for him to remain there, because the principle is that if an American or European disbeliever is guided by Allah the Exalted to Islam, he should migrate from those lands to the Islamic lands. Now, the reality is the opposite. What concerns us now is not to enter into the details of some people being forced by political aspects, but we know from many of those called immigrants that they migrated not due to political pressure, but in pursuit of wealth. If these people travel there, live, sow and plant, and have offspring, is it permissible for them to remain there after this long time? The answer is that their departure in the first place was a mistake, and what is built on a mistake is a mistake. Now, the problem is complex such that it does not justify the questioner saying he must return to his Islamic country, or that he should remain there with his family out of concern for the safety of the children's Islamic upbringing. Therefore, if this person is truly a Muslim, let him do what many people do: study the situation he is in from all angles, free from thinking about material interests, and then proceed to what our Lord the Exalted opens his chest to.