Point 3: Hijrah from Dar al-Kufr to Dar al-Islam

Clarification of the judgment regarding emigration from the Land of Disbelief to the Land of Islam, from the Land of Innovation to the Land of the Sunna, and from the Land of Rebellion to the Land of Obedience.

I say, and success is by Allah, that emigration from the land of disbelief, innovation and rebellion is obligatory by consensus. There is no further clarification needed than the words of Allah, “And those whom the angels take while they are wronging themselves, the angels will say, ‘What were your circumstances?’ They will say, ‘Was not Allah’s earth wide that you might have emigrated in it?’ Those, their refuge will be Jahannum, an evil homecoming! – except for the men, women and children who are abased.” (4:97-98)

Al-Badawi said, “This ayat contains proof of the obligation to emigrate from a place where a man cannot establish his deen.” Jalalu’d-din as-Suyuti said in the Takmila that “they are wronging themselves” by residing with the unbelievers and not emigrating. Ahmad ibn Sa’id said in The Summary of the Ikmal al-Akmal by al-Ubbi, “There is no disagreement that it is obligatory for the Muslims to depose their Imam if he is corrupted by disbelief and also when he ceases to establish the prayer and have it called or any other command of the Shari’a. They must actively oppose the unbelievers if they imagine that they will be able to do so. If they are certain they will not be able to do so, it is not obligatory for them to oppose them and then the Muslim must emigrate from his land to another.”

In the Shu’ab al-Iman, Mu’awiya said that the Messenger of Allah, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Emigration will not cease until the sun rises in the West.” Abu Dawud mentioned midst of the idolworshippers if obligatory for every fearful – he must emigrate from it to the wide spaces of Allah’s earth.

Al-Jazuli said in his commentary on the Risala, “If a man fears for himself, his deen and his property, he must flee to a place where he does not fear for any of these things. It is the same if he is in a land where he sees objectionable (munkar) things – bloodshed, theft of property and the haram – he must emigrate to a place where these things were happening were the best of places – such as Makka or Madina.”

Ibn ‘Abdu’s-Salaam said that emigration is just as obligatory at the end of time as it was at the beginning. Muhammad ibn Juzayy said in the Qawanin al-Ahkam ash-Shari’iyya wa Masa’il al-Furu’ al-Fiqhiya, “Flight is leaving the abode of disbelief for the abode of the Sunna and leaving the land in which the haram dominates and flight from injury to body, family and property.”

Al-Qurtubi said in the Tadhkira, “If civil unrest prevails, all is destroyed. That is when of rebellion appear and the objectionable spreads and there is no change. Then it is obligatory for the believers who object to that with their hearts to emigrate from that land and flee from it. The same judgment applied to the communities before us, as in the case of the people of the Sabbath who left the rebels behind and said, ‘We will not live with you.’ This is also what the right-acting people of the first generations of Islam said.

Ibn Wahb related that Malik said, ‘Leave any land in which the objectionable is done openly.’ Then Abu ‘Amr said that Ash-hab ibn ‘Abdu’l-‘Aziz said that Malik said, ‘One must not reside in a land where the truth is flaunted and where the early Muslims are cursed.’ Abu ‘Amr said, ‘What Malik means is if another land exists where people usually act according to the truth.’”

An-Nafrawi said in his Fawakih ad-Dawani, which is a commentary on the Risala, “The author did not clarify the judgment regarding the harbiyyun (people of the abode of war) who become Muslim, and whether they are allowed to remain in the Abode of War or whether they should emigrate from it to the land of Islam. Someone else made that clear when he said, ‘If people who are unbelievers become Muslim and they are subject to the laws of the unbelievers, then they must depart from there. If they do not leave, then they rebel against Allah and His Messenger. However, their Islam is sound because emigration was only necessary for the soundness of a person’s Islam before the conquest of Makka.’” It is said that emigration was obligatory before the conquest of Makka due to the fear that the unbelievers would corrupt the deen of those who had become Muslims.

You should know the laws of the Shari’a and its judgments and fight the unbelievers. In the Sahih of al-Bukhari, ‘Ata’ ibn Rabah said, “I visited ‘A’isha with ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr al-Laythi and asked her about emigration. She said, ‘There is no emigration today. The believers used to flee with their deen to Allah and His Messenger fearing that they would become corrupted. Today Allah has made Islam dominant and the believer worships his Lord as he likes. But jiad remains obligatory.’”Al-Qastallani said in al-Irshad, commenting on this hadith, “Yes, as long as there is an Abode of Disbelief (Dar al-Kufr) in this world, emigration from it is obligatory for whoever becomes Muslim and fears for his deen or that he will not learn the laws of the Shari’a there. The judgment applies wherever the proper circumstances exist.”

Al-Mawardi said, “When the deen can be victorious in any of the lands of disbelief, thus making it become the land of islam, residing there is better than travelling from it since it is hoped that other people will become Muslim.”

This is enough to provide clarification of the third point.

O Allah! Show us the true as true and make us follow it! Show us the false as false and make us avoid it!

Intro and Summary