The Rulings on Hijrah, and on Living Among Non-Muslims

What is the ruling on hijrah? Migration is compulsory if a Muslim individual is unable to establish his basic Islamic practices in the land, such as prayer, fasting, and the like. If a Muslim is unable to establish the essential practices of Islam, then they must find somewhere else. It is permissible if a Muslim is confronted with problems that make life difficult in that land — he is permitted to leave his land for another land of Islam, seeking relief. Number three, it is forbidden if, by leaving, a Muslim neglects an Islamic duty in his land that no one can replace him in. If someone is playing a critical role, and nobody can step in and take that role, then it is forbidden for a person to leave.

What is the ruling on living among non-Muslims? And that is one topic that Muslims in the West have been avoiding talking about. We shy away from certain topics because they're controversial — we don't want to deal with them, but eventually we'll be faced with real problems that will force us to deal with these issues, and we need to have frank discussions on such matters. We can't just throw them in the closet, brush them under the carpet, and think that they'll go away. When it comes to living in a non-Muslim land, it is the consensus of Muslim scholars that this is not allowed, and the hadiths are very clear: "I have nothing to do with a Muslim who lives among the ones who associate gods besides Allah." This is one hadith of many different narrations. The scholars gave exceptions — they said if a person is propagating the message of Islam, and is practising Islam freely, then that is an excuse for them to stay. They also gave a temporary excuse for somebody who's doing business, or seeking knowledge, but this is on a temporary basis — it isn't to settle indefinitely. Therefore, it isn't allowed for us to live in non-Muslim environments unless we are fulfilling our responsibilities of daʿwah; otherwise we are accumulating sins by default. So daʿwah isn't an optional thing for us, but it is something that justifies a Muslim living in a non-Muslim society. And by daʿwah, we need to understand this in a comprehensive way — it doesn't mean that every single person needs to do the same thing. We mean daʿwah in a comprehensive way: anything that is serving the welfare of Islam, anything that serves the propagation of the message, would fall under daʿwah. It doesn't necessarily mean distributing leaflets to non-Muslims, or giving speeches to them — these are two ways, but there are many others. Relief work is a work of daʿwah, charitable work is a work of daʿwah, teaching Muslims living in the West is a work of daʿwah too. So we need to understand this concept of daʿwah in a comprehensive way.