Jurisprudence of Immigration *                                                                                                                  

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.     * Taken from: www.bayynat.org

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