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Jurisprudence of Immigration
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What does
Al-ta’arrub adopting the pattern of desert Arabs after immigration
mean?
Al-ta’arrub after immigration stands for the situation in which
a true Muslim turns from a believer very well acquainted with Islam’s
rules and teachings into a person who has no conception of Islam and
diverges from its right path. The word ta’arrub derives from
the word al-a’rabi mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an under its
plural form al-a’rab. This word actually denotes the people who are
most fitted to be in ignorance of the commands of Allah. The Prophet(p.)
was reported to have said in one of his well-known traditions: Do not
convert into desert Arabs after immigration.
In the story of Muhammad Bin Sanan commenting on the opinions of
Imam Abi Al-Hassan Al-Ridda (a.s.), the latter was reported as having
said: Allah has forbidden al-ta’arrub after immigration, for it
involves renouncing religious faith and relinquishing the support of
prophets and authentic religious authorities, let alone all what this
might include from corruption to denying people’s rights… etc
Hence, if a person was fully experienced with and aware of Faith,
he won’t be allowed to keep company with the people of ignorance,
adopting their lifestyle and complying with their customs and code of
conduct. He is not allowed to live with ignorant people and then
express his fear for his Faith for; indeed, he will never know when
his knowledge abandons him and when he finds himself slipping into the
world of ignorance, going with the flow without any limit
.
In fact, this is what happens in the emigration to countries of
unbelief where the numerous forms, habits, cultural and social
deviations of the latter are widely spread alongside the lack of any
cultural and educational Islamic activity that protects the true
Muslim, with his family and children, against the negative, deviating
impacts that might lead to intellectual and behavioral aberration. For
we notice that Muslims go to these countries carrying a profound
commitment to their Faith but they cannot help but turning there into
debauched and deviant people. Therefore, the emigration to such
countries must be prohibited.
What
are the exclusions of the legal judgment in the previous issue?
These exclusions can be summed up in the pressuring conditions
subjecting the human being to intolerable oppression and harsh
sufferings forcing him consequently to leave his country. Different
reasons might push the human being to seek asylum in countries of
unbelief. Firstly, he might not find refuge in Islamic countries
granting him the chance of a decent living. Secondly, he might feel
urged to pursue an Islamic interest such as the need to proliferate
the Islamic call in these countries or to preach and enlighten the
Muslim residents there protecting them against aberration and
deviation. Thirdly, there might be some economic and political
interests imposing emigration to such countries with the absence of
any fears or perils threatening one’s beliefs and commitment to Faith.
Fourthly, the human being might have a strong immunity against
deviation, where he knows that he is capable of protecting himself
against any negative impacts that could harm his commitment to Faith.
Immigrants to these countries must make sure to fortify themselves by
establishing Islamic centers, educational schools, social and sport
clubs, and the like in order to keep the committed Islam alive in
their culture and mode of behavior and to always remember His saying
:{O ye
who believe! save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel
is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and)
severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from
Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.} (66:6)
Can
we consider the pressures of material needs as well as the need for
official and administrative instruments as legitimate justifications
for emigrating to or seeking refuge in another country?
ٌIf the said situation
puts the person in a critical position; he is allowed then to opt for
alternative solutions.
Is
it legally permitted for Muslim women, immigrant to western countries,
to comply with the official authorities’ request to be photographed
without wearing any veil or showing parts of the head?
ٌThey are allowed to
do so provided that they would be photographed by a woman. From a
legal perspective, there is no problem, with regard to the said
presumption, in submitting the photograph to the official authorities
of that country prompted by the pressure of the realistic need for
that.
Is
it lawful to disobey some of the host country’s laws; laws that go in
disagreement with our customs, traditions and Islamic values?
ٌ Yes, it is lawful
provided that disobedience is carried out in a wise and flexible way
that inflict no damage or harm on the situation and reputation of
Muslims in that country. Indeed, Muslims must keep their traditions,
values, and legal, binding dispositions everywhere if this does not
put them in critical and dangerous situations. In addition, Muslims
must make sure to promote the reputation of Islam and its adherents in
the eyes of others.
Is
there any particular legal position as regards the allocations
accorded to refugees?
ٌIt is lawful to take
and own them since the refugee is entitled to such treatment according
to the laws of that country.
What
is the legal attitude regarding leathern industrial products - dealt
with in western markets - taken from beasts that were not slaughtered
in due form? Does the wet hand touching them become impure? And what
should be done if the origin of these products was suspected?
ٌ If the country, from
which these products are bought, is known to embrace a group of
Muslims handling the job of slaughtering, or to export them from
Islamic countries, and if the purchased leather is expected to be
taken from an animal that has been duly slaughtered; in this case the
product is deemed pure and praying in it is permissible. On the other
hand, if this product is known to be deriving from animals that have
not been slaughtered in the ritual way prescribed by Islamic law, it
would be regarded as impure, the wet hand that has touched it becomes
consequently impure, and no prayer in it is allowed because it
originates from the dead meat that cannot be used in prayers.
What
is the legal standpoint as concerns consuming the food that might
contain swine meat or grease; the kind of food that overwhelms western
markets?
ٌIf the fact that the
production of these goods involves swine meat or grease or dead meat
remains doubtful and was never conclusively proved; their consumption
becomes permissible and they are deemed lawful.
Am
I legally allowed to work in a supermarket one of its sections deals
with the selling of wine, if no other job opportunities were
available? And what if I had to work in this very section?
ٌ As long as one’s
work does not involve selling what’s unlawful, working in these stores
situated in the countries of immigration, is allowed even if they
actually sold unlawful products. As for when one’s job turns into
selling unlawful products or offering them to people, the job becomes
prohibited in principle. Nevertheless, if by abstaining from
performing this particular job, the human being finds himself in a
difficult situation for by staying jobless, he and his family would
fall into destitution to the extent of degrading themselves by
imploring others for their basic needs; in this case, it becomes
permissible that he accepts this job based on His saying :
{And has imposed
no difficulties on you in religion} (The Pilgrimage; 22: 78)
In
a temporary marriage from a western woman, can we consider the woman’s
reciting of the contract’s content without understanding its meaning
enough for the validity of the contract? Can we say that the mutual
agreement, without reading the form decided in the contract, is
sufficient for its validity?
ٌPermanent or
temporary, a marriage is not deemed legal unless both parties, the man
and the woman, expressed their willful intent to establish the act of
marriage between them in the contract regardless of whether the woman
joined in marriage is Muslim or one of the People of the Book that
does not require the verbalization of any special term. Nay, the
marriage cannot be established with the utterance of any term
indicating or suggesting its establishment in common usage and the
mutual agreement is never enough without the verbal form.
Is
it permissible to shake hands with a western woman in case of extreme
embarrassment or in ordinary situations?
Shaking hands with a foreign woman is not allowed but in extremely
delicate and inconvenient situations. Moreover, the believer must be
very precise in judging the delicacy of a certain situation so that he
won’t be driven by this permission to become lenient or indulgent as
regards his religious commitment. For Allah said: { Even
though he were to put up his excuses.}
Some
western countries’ markets retail stolen goods and commodities; is it
lawful for the Muslim refugee to buy these products while he is aware
of such fact?
No, it is not lawful. It is not allowable to purchase stolen money
from a Muslim or an unbeliever. However, if the owner of this money is
unknown; in such case, the judgment of the unknown owner should be
applied. Nonetheless, one should pay attention not to buy anything
from thieves, even if the owner of their products is unknown, for this
might encourage them to proceed with their steeling.
What
is the legal authoritative standpoint regarding the encroachment upon
public or private properties such as steeling phones and robbing
supermarkets which are taking place in some of the western countries
of immigration.
This is deemed unlawful whether from the perspective of ethical
standards or from the perspective that the encroachment on public
properties represents a violation of public order.
Does
the fact of frequenting churches every then and now to learn about
Christian rites and rituals embrace any legal unlawfulness?
It is allowed for the said purpose, if there were no other unlawful
secondary considerations. |