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What is the legitimate Islamic ruling regarding a family's decision to remain in a non-Islamic country, such as the United States, where children can safely practice their religious rituals, or to return to a Muslim country, such as Bangladesh, where the free practice of religion is not allowed and where strife and corruption are widespread?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Emigration from non-Muslim lands is obligatory for those who cannot openly practice their religion, recommended for those who can, and not obligatory for those who are unable to emigrate.

It is permissible to emigrate to a non-Islamic country if a Muslim is being harmed in their own country and cannot emigrate to an Islamic country, provided they are safe and can openly practice their religion in the non-Islamic country.

A Muslim residing in non-Muslim lands must be secure in their faith and be able to openly practice their religious rituals without obstruction. If they cannot openly practice their religion, then emigration becomes obligatory for them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy