Hijrah to Qatar

Doha

I used to not rate the UAE or Qatar as decent destinations for hijrah, but I had a long hard think about it

It took me a few months tomentally adjust to Qatar. Coming from the simplicity and poverty of Yemen, the opulence and sheer extravagant wastage of Qatar disturbed me. I forgot how people can be with too much money, too much free time and too little taqwa and basic understanding of life. However it is not all bad if I consider further.

To start with, Qatar offers the basics.

Adhan is still ala natural (no automated satellite link up adhan here). You get the adhan and the iqama nice and loud, and the Friday khutbah and prayer is broadcast all over the streets. Excellent!

You have less awra showing in Qatar than in UAE. In fact it is common to hear of people being escorted out of the malls for wearing inappropriate clothing.
Niqabi sisters in black are not harassed and are in fact the norm.
Men will not sit next to you in the bus and will vacate their seat for you if the bus is full.

If you want to go further, Qatar offers a few extras in the package such as;
- Some Islamic institutions
- Quiet, peaceful lifestyle
- Less riba than most other Muslim countries
- Womens only venues and recreational activities
- clean streets
- You can say “Israel has no right to exist” without getting into trouble

Of course I can’t get it out of my mind that Qatar has a huge US military base in it somewhere, and has approved a French base too.

As a hijrah destination, Qatar will do the job much better than many other countries could, and definitely much better than my kafir country of origin.
Sadly, to live here in a decent manner, one needs a decent job and to get a decent job you need decent qualifications or to know someone high up in some department or company.

You might live here all your life and contribute positively to the country’s development and community life, but you will never get a citizenship. Blast the visa system!


The English ex-pat social networks don't offer much to Muslim English speaking ex-pats and life can be very bland and boring. Qatar offers employment and income more than it offers an Islamic environment. It can also be difficult to get to know the locals. (See article here)

Everywhere in duniya sux to some extent, but some places suck more than other places, and as a sister trying to make a go of hijra for the sake of Allah, sometimes we need to find the best balance between a not so perfect hijrah destination and not putting oneself in an unnecessarily undignified difficult situation.