Ruling on Residing in a Country Where Shirk and Disbelief Are Manifest
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From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the honorable brother N. M. May Allah guide him to what brings Him pleasure and increase him in knowledge and faith. Amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. As for what follows:
In reference to your letter in which you mention that you are a young Muslim residing in Italy, and that there are many young Muslims there, and that most of them have responded to the desire of the Crusaders to distance them from the religion of Islam and its noble teachings, so that most of them no longer pray, adopt bad morals, commit and consider permissible the wrongs... and so on, as you mentioned in your letter.
A: I inform you that residing in a country where shirk, disbelief, the religion of the Christians, and other disbelievers are manifest is not permissible, whether the residence is for work, trade, study, or otherwise; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:97] except for the weak among men, women, and children who are unable to find a way out or find a path. So perhaps Allah will pardon them, and Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving. [Al-Nisa: 97-99] And due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan Abi Dawud 2645.
And this residence does not come from a heart that has known the reality of Islam and faith, and has known what is obligatory of the right of Allah in Islam upon the Muslims, and has been pleased with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as Prophet and Messenger.
For acceptance of that entails a love of Allah, a preference for His pleasure, zeal for His religion, and siding with His awliya (close friends of Allah) that necessitates complete disavowal and total distance from the disbelievers and their lands. Indeed, pure faith in the Book and the Sunnah does not coexist with these abominations. It is authentically reported from Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajli (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "O Messenger of Allah, take my pledge of allegiance and set your conditions." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:Sunan an-Nasa'i 4177Sahih (Darussalam) It was narrated by Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa'i.
And it is authentically narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the aforementioned hadith, which is his saying (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him):Sunan Abi Dawud 2645 And he said (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him): from a polytheist any deed after he has become a Muslim, or he separates from the polytheists. And the meaning is until he separates from the polytheists. The scholars have explicitly stated the prohibition of that and warned against it, and the obligation of migration with the ability to do so, except for a man who has knowledge and insight, who goes there to call to Allah, to bring people out of darkness into light, and to explain the merits of Islam to them.
And the verse in Surat al-Bara'ah: [Al-Tawbah: 24] indicates that intending one of the worldly objectives is not a legal excuse; rather, its doer is an open sinner threatened with being deprived of guidance if these matters, or some of them, are more beloved to him than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in the path of Allah.
And what good remains while witnessing shirk and other wrongs and remaining silent about them? Indeed, and committing them, as happened with some of the people you mentioned who claim to be Muslims?
And if the resident among them from the Muslims claims to have worldly objectives, such as study, trade, or earning a livelihood, that only increases his contemptibility.
And in the Book of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) there is severe warning and firm threat for merely leaving migration, as in the verses of Surat al-Nisa mentioned earlier, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:97] So what about one who travels to the lands of the disbelievers and is pleased to reside in their lands? And as I mentioned earlier, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) forbade residing and coming to lands where the Muslim is unable to manifest his religion.
The ruling for the one residing for study, trade, or earning a livelihood, and the settler, and what is said about them, is the ruling of the settler, with no difference, if they are unable to manifest their religion while they are able to migrate.
As for the claim of hating them and disliking them while residing in their lands, that is not sufficient. Rather, traveling to and residing in them is forbidden for several reasons, among which are:
1- That manifesting the religion in the manner that absolves the conscience is impossible and not achieved.
2- The texts of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) and the apparent meaning of their words and explicit indications are that one who does not know his religion by its evidence and proofs, and is able to defend it and refute the doubts of the disbelievers, is not permitted to travel to them.
3- Among the conditions of traveling to their lands is safety from fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) by their coercion, their authority, their doubts, and their adornment, and safety from imitating them and being influenced by their actions.
4- That sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm) and cutting off the means leading to shirk is among the greatest principles and rules of the religion. And there is no doubt that what you mentioned in your letter regarding the young Muslims who have settled in these lands is among the fruits of their remaining in the lands of disbelief. It is obligatory upon them to stand firm on their religion and act upon it, manifest it, follow its commands, stay away from its prohibitions, and call to it, until they are able to migrate from the lands of shirk to the lands of Islam.
And Allah is the One to be asked to rectify your conditions all, and to grant you understanding in His religion and steadfastness upon it, and to help you to migrate from the lands of shirk to the lands of Islam, and to guide us and you and all Muslims to everything He loves and is pleased with, and to protect us and you and the rest of the Muslims from misleading trials and the stings of Satan, and to help us all in every good, and to support His religion and elevate His word, and to rectify the rulers of the Muslims and grant them understanding in His religion, and to guide them to implement the Shari'ah of Allah in their lands, to refer to it, to be pleased with it, and to beware of what contradicts it. He is the One who is capable of that and able to do it.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
And the Head of the Committee of Senior Scholars and the Administration of Scientific Research and Ifta
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. As for what follows:
In reference to your letter in which you mention that you are a young Muslim residing in Italy, and that there are many young Muslims there, and that most of them have responded to the desire of the Crusaders to distance them from the religion of Islam and its noble teachings, so that most of them no longer pray, adopt bad morals, commit and consider permissible the wrongs... and so on, as you mentioned in your letter.
A: I inform you that residing in a country where shirk, disbelief, the religion of the Christians, and other disbelievers are manifest is not permissible, whether the residence is for work, trade, study, or otherwise; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Indeed, those whom the angels take [in death] while wronging themselves - [the angels] will say, "In what [condition] were you?" They will say, "We were oppressed in the land." The angels will say, "Was not the earth of Allah spacious [enough] for you to emigrate therein?" For those, their refuge is Hell - and evil it is as a destination.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ قَالُوا فِيمَ كُنْتُمْ قَالُوا كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُوا فِيهَا فَأُولَئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَسَاءَتْ مَصِيرًا I am not responsible for any Muslim who stays among polytheists
أنا بريء من كل مسلم يقيم بين أظهر المشركينAnd this residence does not come from a heart that has known the reality of Islam and faith, and has known what is obligatory of the right of Allah in Islam upon the Muslims, and has been pleased with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as Prophet and Messenger.
For acceptance of that entails a love of Allah, a preference for His pleasure, zeal for His religion, and siding with His awliya (close friends of Allah) that necessitates complete disavowal and total distance from the disbelievers and their lands. Indeed, pure faith in the Book and the Sunnah does not coexist with these abominations. It is authentically reported from Jarir ibn Abdullah al-Bajli (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "O Messenger of Allah, take my pledge of allegiance and set your conditions." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:
you will worship Allah, establish Salah, pay the Zakah, be sincere toward the Muslims, and forsake the idolaters
تعبد الله، وتقيم الصلاة، وتؤتي الزكاة، وتناصح المسلمين، وتفارق المشركينAnd it is authentically narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the aforementioned hadith, which is his saying (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him):
I am not responsible for any Muslim who stays among polytheists
أنا بريء من كل مسلم يقيم بين أظهر المشركينAllah does not accept
لا يقبل الله And the verse in Surat al-Bara'ah:
Say, [O Muhammad], "If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people."
قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَAnd what good remains while witnessing shirk and other wrongs and remaining silent about them? Indeed, and committing them, as happened with some of the people you mentioned who claim to be Muslims?
And if the resident among them from the Muslims claims to have worldly objectives, such as study, trade, or earning a livelihood, that only increases his contemptibility.
And in the Book of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) there is severe warning and firm threat for merely leaving migration, as in the verses of Surat al-Nisa mentioned earlier, which is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Indeed, those whom the angels take [in death] while wronging themselves
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنْفُسِهِمْThe ruling for the one residing for study, trade, or earning a livelihood, and the settler, and what is said about them, is the ruling of the settler, with no difference, if they are unable to manifest their religion while they are able to migrate.
As for the claim of hating them and disliking them while residing in their lands, that is not sufficient. Rather, traveling to and residing in them is forbidden for several reasons, among which are:
1- That manifesting the religion in the manner that absolves the conscience is impossible and not achieved.
2- The texts of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) and the apparent meaning of their words and explicit indications are that one who does not know his religion by its evidence and proofs, and is able to defend it and refute the doubts of the disbelievers, is not permitted to travel to them.
3- Among the conditions of traveling to their lands is safety from fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) by their coercion, their authority, their doubts, and their adornment, and safety from imitating them and being influenced by their actions.
4- That sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm) and cutting off the means leading to shirk is among the greatest principles and rules of the religion. And there is no doubt that what you mentioned in your letter regarding the young Muslims who have settled in these lands is among the fruits of their remaining in the lands of disbelief. It is obligatory upon them to stand firm on their religion and act upon it, manifest it, follow its commands, stay away from its prohibitions, and call to it, until they are able to migrate from the lands of shirk to the lands of Islam.
And Allah is the One to be asked to rectify your conditions all, and to grant you understanding in His religion and steadfastness upon it, and to help you to migrate from the lands of shirk to the lands of Islam, and to guide us and you and all Muslims to everything He loves and is pleased with, and to protect us and you and the rest of the Muslims from misleading trials and the stings of Satan, and to help us all in every good, and to support His religion and elevate His word, and to rectify the rulers of the Muslims and grant them understanding in His religion, and to guide them to implement the Shari'ah of Allah in their lands, to refer to it, to be pleased with it, and to beware of what contradicts it. He is the One who is capable of that and able to do it.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
And the Head of the Committee of Senior Scholars and the Administration of Scientific Research and Ifta
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.