The Ruling on Traveling and Associating with Disbelievers for the Purpose of Study
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Question:
Sometimes a Muslim is compelled to travel to non-Muslim countries in order to learn from them and gain skills and experience. Consequently, he must mix with them. What are the Shari'ah guidelines that he should adhere to so that he does not fall into what is forbidden?
Answer:
First, he should not travel to their countries. Rather, it is obligatory for him to learn those sciences he desires within his own country, as it is generally the case that they are available, especially among us. By the praise of Allah, we now have multiple universities—seven universities—that contain great good and beneficial sciences sufficient for the student. It is sufficient for him to learn in them and graduate from them, praise be to Allah. If something rare is not found there, someone else can undertake it. He should not be lenient in risking his religion by traveling to Europe, America, or elsewhere to acquire knowledge that may be rarely needed or very little needed, while risking his religion and morals in his journey. This is except if he possesses a scientific background, insight, and experience regarding the falsehood and conspiracies they are upon, and if he has the age and seniority that also help him to be cautious of their evil and serve as a cause for his independence and not being deceived by those enemies. In that case, such travel may be permissible for him due to these factors, along with caution during his stay there as well.
So my advice to every student is to be cautious of traveling to their countries, no matter what, and to strive to acquire sciences in his Muslim country where there are those who perform what is necessary and from whom he can learn the knowledge he desires. The fact that he risks his religion and his morals is not an easy matter. Therefore, he should be content with the sciences found in his country and be satisfied with what he has obtained there and what he has taken here from those scholars and righteous people, so that he becomes self-sufficient and does not need to travel to the countries of the enemies of Allah. The one who travels there must have a distinction and specific qualities that serve as a cause for his distance from danger.
Sometimes a Muslim is compelled to travel to non-Muslim countries in order to learn from them and gain skills and experience. Consequently, he must mix with them. What are the Shari'ah guidelines that he should adhere to so that he does not fall into what is forbidden?
Answer:
First, he should not travel to their countries. Rather, it is obligatory for him to learn those sciences he desires within his own country, as it is generally the case that they are available, especially among us. By the praise of Allah, we now have multiple universities—seven universities—that contain great good and beneficial sciences sufficient for the student. It is sufficient for him to learn in them and graduate from them, praise be to Allah. If something rare is not found there, someone else can undertake it. He should not be lenient in risking his religion by traveling to Europe, America, or elsewhere to acquire knowledge that may be rarely needed or very little needed, while risking his religion and morals in his journey. This is except if he possesses a scientific background, insight, and experience regarding the falsehood and conspiracies they are upon, and if he has the age and seniority that also help him to be cautious of their evil and serve as a cause for his independence and not being deceived by those enemies. In that case, such travel may be permissible for him due to these factors, along with caution during his stay there as well.
So my advice to every student is to be cautious of traveling to their countries, no matter what, and to strive to acquire sciences in his Muslim country where there are those who perform what is necessary and from whom he can learn the knowledge he desires. The fact that he risks his religion and his morals is not an easy matter. Therefore, he should be content with the sciences found in his country and be satisfied with what he has obtained there and what he has taken here from those scholars and righteous people, so that he becomes self-sufficient and does not need to travel to the countries of the enemies of Allah. The one who travels there must have a distinction and specific qualities that serve as a cause for his distance from danger.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.