Some young men marry in their Islamic countries, then travel to study in those disbelieving lands, and they are in a one-hundred-percent Islamic environment because they reside in
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The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. What is happening now is that many of the brothers marry here and go in the field of study, in the field of knowledge, and as soon as they arrive in America, the field is opened to them for work, and they live in an Islamic environment... So is it possible for the brother to stay there as long as the opportunity is open to him for work and employment, and also in the field of da'wah?
The Shaykh : By Allah, if it is known among the scholars that the fatwa is according to the text, then if the text is as you stated it in your words, the answer is yes. But do you think the question accepts discussion or not? I mean, for example, you just said that it is a one-hundred-percent Islamic environment. That cannot be the case.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How is that?
Al-Halabi: Approximately, I mean.
The questioner : ... because many of the brothers, when they go to America...
The Shaykh : It is nothing, my brother, but do these residents in this mosque, do they live by the Islamic rulings one hundred percent, one hundred percent? No, say fifty percent, may Allah reward them... This doctor, I know him, because it is not possible for me to say there is exaggeration in it!
Another questioner: ... the same situation.
The Shaykh : Yes, but Lebanon, this doctor, the one whose writing you presented, what Allah willed, meaning a noble Salafi man, but you cannot testify that he is a Muslim if you do not know him personally. What is the reason? Even, may Allah be glorified, after he left me, it occurred to me that if he were to call me on the phone, I would advise him with this advice: he has a magnificent, great beard, and he is a handsome young man, white-skinned and black-haired, bare-headed, and wearing a tie. The environment he lives in there, we used to suggest to him that he wear a white cap, similar to this Shaykh Ahmad that you saw!
Another questioner: A tie.
The Shaykh : A tie, because it has become a sign for the Muslim that distinguishes him from the society in which he lives. So it is very difficult for a person, when he leaves an Islamic environment and lives there on Islamic traditions, it is difficult. The difficulty comes from two aspects: an academic aspect, meaning the issue requires people from the scholars who are well-versed in Islam from all its angles, and they are the ones who undertake guiding this group with a complete and correct Islamic guidance. This is the first difficulty. And the second difficulty is from the educational aspect. This becomes very difficult for the Muslims themselves if they have not accustomed themselves to this lifestyle in their own homeland and in the Islamic countries. It was granted to me, about ten years ago, to travel to Britain, and we toured some of the lands around London, and the time was Ramadan, so we invited one of the Islamic da'iyah there in a town, I forget, by Allah, what its name is. I understood later that he was from the group of Shaykh Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi (may Allah have mercy on him). He invited us to break our fast with him in Ramadan, so we went to him, and the man received us with a good reception, and we found in him soundness. The man was bearded, wearing a suit, of course a European suit, a jacket and trousers, and wearing a tie. From the soundness that I found in him, it made me hopeful that we would speak with him regarding Islam and the dress of Muslims and not imitating the disbelievers. And I said to him frankly... So leaving the beard is obligatory and shaving it is a sin, because it involves contradicting many authentic texts from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So you, may Allah protect you from this, and you have grown this beard, but in my opinion you are aware, because he is a student of knowledge, I felt... you are aware that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the Muslim to imitate the disbelievers, and especially since you live in the land of disbelief, so whoever looks at you hardly knows that you are a Muslim. And the greatest dress that represents disbelief is the tie, because for a person to wear a jacket, a jacket means it protects him from the heat and cold... so there is no benefit from it except wasting time in tightening it and in the way that suits the place and imitating the disbelievers. And from the goodness of this man's heart, and we were at the iftar table in Ramadan, he immediately untied it like that and threw it on the ground. So he was quick to respond. But what upset me after he had pleased me greatly with what he did, he said to me, the truth is that we wear the knot or the tie because the British here look at the Palestinians with a look of insult and contempt, because they leave their shirt like that, unbuttoned and without what? A tie. I said to him, may Allah forgive you, you... these disbelievers are [doing this] to your Muslim brothers because of their not dressing in the dress of the disbelievers. So this is, as it is said, an excuse worse than a sin. The point is that this good man could not help but be affected by that environment. So this requires solid knowledge and correct upbringing. So the Muslim can never, in the land of disbelief, live an Islamic life. And the matter is very clear that the lands that have lived for fourteen centuries in the application of Islam cannot be equated with a country in which Islam has settled for a quarter of a century or half a century. The issue requires a very long time. And so, in truth, we do not advise a Muslim to travel to those lands to reside. Rather, if he travels for trade, for example, on the condition that he returns after a week, two weeks, a month, two months, or the like, we have no objection, on the condition that he is protected. And I mean by protection that he is raised with a correct Islamic upbringing, and that he is also married, the required lawful marriage, so that he is not tempted there by the dispensations that exist in selling honor by every means. So the answer to the previous question is that we cannot say he returns or he does not return, because each of them has a problem. It is the questioner or the one responsible for him who estimates the matter.
The Shaykh : By Allah, if it is known among the scholars that the fatwa is according to the text, then if the text is as you stated it in your words, the answer is yes. But do you think the question accepts discussion or not? I mean, for example, you just said that it is a one-hundred-percent Islamic environment. That cannot be the case.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How is that?
Al-Halabi: Approximately, I mean.
The questioner : ... because many of the brothers, when they go to America...
The Shaykh : It is nothing, my brother, but do these residents in this mosque, do they live by the Islamic rulings one hundred percent, one hundred percent? No, say fifty percent, may Allah reward them... This doctor, I know him, because it is not possible for me to say there is exaggeration in it!
Another questioner: ... the same situation.
The Shaykh : Yes, but Lebanon, this doctor, the one whose writing you presented, what Allah willed, meaning a noble Salafi man, but you cannot testify that he is a Muslim if you do not know him personally. What is the reason? Even, may Allah be glorified, after he left me, it occurred to me that if he were to call me on the phone, I would advise him with this advice: he has a magnificent, great beard, and he is a handsome young man, white-skinned and black-haired, bare-headed, and wearing a tie. The environment he lives in there, we used to suggest to him that he wear a white cap, similar to this Shaykh Ahmad that you saw!
Another questioner: A tie.
The Shaykh : A tie, because it has become a sign for the Muslim that distinguishes him from the society in which he lives. So it is very difficult for a person, when he leaves an Islamic environment and lives there on Islamic traditions, it is difficult. The difficulty comes from two aspects: an academic aspect, meaning the issue requires people from the scholars who are well-versed in Islam from all its angles, and they are the ones who undertake guiding this group with a complete and correct Islamic guidance. This is the first difficulty. And the second difficulty is from the educational aspect. This becomes very difficult for the Muslims themselves if they have not accustomed themselves to this lifestyle in their own homeland and in the Islamic countries. It was granted to me, about ten years ago, to travel to Britain, and we toured some of the lands around London, and the time was Ramadan, so we invited one of the Islamic da'iyah there in a town, I forget, by Allah, what its name is. I understood later that he was from the group of Shaykh Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi (may Allah have mercy on him). He invited us to break our fast with him in Ramadan, so we went to him, and the man received us with a good reception, and we found in him soundness. The man was bearded, wearing a suit, of course a European suit, a jacket and trousers, and wearing a tie. From the soundness that I found in him, it made me hopeful that we would speak with him regarding Islam and the dress of Muslims and not imitating the disbelievers. And I said to him frankly... So leaving the beard is obligatory and shaving it is a sin, because it involves contradicting many authentic texts from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So you, may Allah protect you from this, and you have grown this beard, but in my opinion you are aware, because he is a student of knowledge, I felt... you are aware that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the Muslim to imitate the disbelievers, and especially since you live in the land of disbelief, so whoever looks at you hardly knows that you are a Muslim. And the greatest dress that represents disbelief is the tie, because for a person to wear a jacket, a jacket means it protects him from the heat and cold... so there is no benefit from it except wasting time in tightening it and in the way that suits the place and imitating the disbelievers. And from the goodness of this man's heart, and we were at the iftar table in Ramadan, he immediately untied it like that and threw it on the ground. So he was quick to respond. But what upset me after he had pleased me greatly with what he did, he said to me, the truth is that we wear the knot or the tie because the British here look at the Palestinians with a look of insult and contempt, because they leave their shirt like that, unbuttoned and without what? A tie. I said to him, may Allah forgive you, you... these disbelievers are [doing this] to your Muslim brothers because of their not dressing in the dress of the disbelievers. So this is, as it is said, an excuse worse than a sin. The point is that this good man could not help but be affected by that environment. So this requires solid knowledge and correct upbringing. So the Muslim can never, in the land of disbelief, live an Islamic life. And the matter is very clear that the lands that have lived for fourteen centuries in the application of Islam cannot be equated with a country in which Islam has settled for a quarter of a century or half a century. The issue requires a very long time. And so, in truth, we do not advise a Muslim to travel to those lands to reside. Rather, if he travels for trade, for example, on the condition that he returns after a week, two weeks, a month, two months, or the like, we have no objection, on the condition that he is protected. And I mean by protection that he is raised with a correct Islamic upbringing, and that he is also married, the required lawful marriage, so that he is not tempted there by the dispensations that exist in selling honor by every means. So the answer to the previous question is that we cannot say he returns or he does not return, because each of them has a problem. It is the questioner or the one responsible for him who estimates the matter.