06-27-2003, 01:40 PM
Salam alikom
First of all there should be a legitimate reason for any Muslim to settle in a country of the non-believers, and one of those reasons can be Dawah. However there are points to consider and conditions to be met before taking Dawah as a reason. The first point is the intention as the prophet (pbuh) said in a hadith that all actions are based on intentions, if the intention of the Muslim is to live there permanently then the Muslim should not go there because that is like making Hijrah (immigration) to the land of the non-believers, but rather the Muslim should have the intention of staying there temporarily. The second point is that the country chosen should be one that allows Muslims to practice their religion without being oppressed or prevented from practicing the rituals of Islam (prayer in congregation for men, Hijab for the Muslim women, etc). The third point is on the Muslim himself, there is no doubt that a Muslim who goes to the country of the non-believers and lives among them will be exposed to their environments (which are corrupt and immoral), ways of living, their laws, etc, thus a Muslim who goes there should be one who can protect and maintain all his religious commitment with no exceptions and also that of his family (especially the children). For any country in which the rules of Allah(swt) are rejected and Muslims are not able to practice the rituals of Islam is a land of Kuffar and it will pose a great threat on the Muslim who is not secure on his commitment (especially at our present time), and even for those secure they will be in a state of stress and mental pressure. Furthermore there is a very important point many Muslims when they live among non-believers they start to befriend them, to feel love towards them which is a great mistake for in the Quran it says (meaning):
[b:7b5e54eb25]“You (O Muhammad) will not find any people who believe in Allaah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad), even though they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred (people)”[/b:7b5e54eb25] Surah Almujaddalah verse 22.
[i:7b5e54eb25]By the name of Allah how can a Muslim love the enemies of Allah (swt)[/i:7b5e54eb25]??. Moreover the prophet (pbuh) said in a hadith that whoever loves a group of people [b:7b5e54eb25]IS ONE OF THEM[/b:7b5e54eb25].
I just want to add before going so far as to consider doing Dawah on the non-believers in their own countries we should first look at ourselves and our own families and relatives, for we are entrusted towards those. Also we must not forget that Dawah is not needed in countries of the non-believers only but Dawah also is needed in Muslim countries first, today Muslims themselves are weak in faith and their creed has been corrupted or else this would not have been the sate of our Ummah or would it????, moreover in our present time the non-believers themselves are so many in Muslim countries :cry: . Furthermore there is an etiquette for doing Dawah and since Dawah is a duty on every Muslim ,we all should know the etiquette of Dawah ,for sometimes taking actions when the person is in a state of ignorance about a matter does more harm than good.
This is my personal opinion on this issue I don't think it's appropriate for any Muslim who is not in need to go there.
Salam