Migrating to non-muslim lands

Did our parents get it all wrong?


Ruling on working in the West; does paying taxes come under the heading of taking them as friends?
My question is about living and working in the west. I want to know is it permissible to work in the west where you will have to pay tax to the government, where the tax is spent on many things including their armies who are waging war with the Muslims. Dose this come under the ayat about helping the kuffar and being their awliya. Also can we live amongst the kuffar and if not where can we go as there is no Islamic state today?.

Praise be to Allaah.

It is not permissible for a Muslim to settle in the kaafir lands for the sake of work, because work is not one of the Islamically-acceptable excuses which make it permissible to settle there.

The Islamically-acceptable excuses which make it permissible to stay in those lands are: medical treatment that is not available in a Muslim country, knowledge which the ummah needs and which is not available in their countries, permissible trade and calling people to Allaah. In all these cases it is permissible for a Muslim to stay in a kaafir land, on the condition that he be strong enough to resist specious arguments and whims and desires, and on the condition that he ends his stay when the reason for which he went to stay among them is no longer applicable.

The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:

Is it permissible to migrate to a kaafir land in order to work there?

They replied:

If you want to work and seek provision, then you should travel to a Muslim land for that purpose and not to a kaafir land, because of the danger to one’s ‘aqeedah, religious commitment and morals that is posed by travelling to a kaafir land. End quote.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal al-Shaykh, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ghadyaan, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (12/58).

The earth is spacious and the Muslim lands are vast, so the Muslim has no excuse for staying and settling among the kuffaar when he knows the saheeh report from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which forbids that and everyone can clearly see the corruption of morals and religious commitment that is prevalent among them.

Shaykh Muhammad al-Ameen al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his commentary on the verse (interpretation of the meaning): “O My slaves who believe! Certainly, spacious is My earth. Therefore worship Me” (Alone)” [al-‘Ankaboot 29:56]:

Here Allaah calls out to His believing slaves and confirms to them that His earth is spacious, and He enjoins them to worship Him alone to the exclusion of others.

What this means is that if they are in a land where they are not able to establish their religion, or where they are harmed by the kuffaar, then the earth of their Lord is spacious, so they should migrate to a part of it where they will be able to establish their religion and be safe from the harm of the kuffaar, as the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the Muslims did.

The meaning that is indicated by this verse also appears in other verses, where Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they are wronging themselves (as they stayed among the disbelievers even though emigration was obligatory for them), they (angels) say (to them): ‘In what (condition) were you?’ They reply: ‘We were weak and oppressed on the earth.’ They (angels) say: ‘Was not the earth of Allaah spacious enough for you to emigrate therein?’”

[al-Nisa’ 4:97]

“and Allaah’s earth is spacious (so if you cannot worship Allaah at a place, then go to another)! Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning”

[al-Zumar 39:10].

End quote. Adwa’ al-Bayaan (6/241).

The kuffaar are now putting pressure on the Muslims to make them give up the outward symbols of Islam, so that the Muslim is no longer be able to manifest those symbols openly, such as the adhaan or call to prayer and hijab of women, let alone showing loyalty and friendship to the Muslims and disavowal and enmity towards the kuffaar who are occupying and plundering their lands. Hence we do not think that the Muslim should live among them. The one who lives in those lands and pays taxes to them is playing a part in strengthening their economies and helping them to wage war against Islam and the Muslims, so he definitely comes under the heading of helping them in falsehood, sin, kufr and enmity, and these are among the most prominent ways of showing friendship and loyalty to the kaafirs.

But if a person is excused and has no choice but to stay there, then cases of necessity come under special rulings. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you, except under compulsion of necessity”

[al-An’aam 6:119].

See also the answer to question no. 13363, 83912 and 27211.

See also the answer to question no. 111564 – important.

Your comment that there is no Islamic state today is not correct.

Despite the evil and corruption that exists in many Muslim lands, there is undoubtedly less evil and corruption there than in kaafir lands.
And Allaah knows best.


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