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.

Hijrah to Jordan

Sent in by Muwahida in Jordan

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله و الصلاة و السلام على رسول الله

I am a muhajirah currently residing in Jordan, I have been living here for the last 2years. Here is some basic information about Jordan for muhajireen.

Study visa’s are easy to obtain here in Jordan but as for work it is scarce and unlike some other Arab countries qualifications are very important for teaching or work in other departments but tutoring English privately can be an option for income.

Life in Jordan is expensive but in outer lying areas rent is cheaper than other areas. A normal apartment is about US$300 a month that’s not including electricity or water.

There are Islamic schools in Salt and a few good schools in Amman, but when I say good I don’t mean perfectly Islamic but as in better than any western school.
There are many good kindergartens as well mashaAllah and all pick the students by bus and bring them home.

For a low budget family I don’t advise Jordan as a place of hijrah but for those who want to implement the hadith of the Sham and be around the very small community of muwahideen, who are very hard to find these days, then Jordan is an ideal place.
Jordan is not picture perfect as say Yemen for example. Here there are a lot of women who do not cover and westernised areas especially in Amman. Some muhajreen live in Salt which is more or less conservative.

Jordan is one of the Al-Sham countries that the Prophet s.a.w told us to go to in the last days (akhir zaman) and for those who cannot then they were told to go to Yemen.

What I love about Jordan is the strong community of muwahideen here and the ability to show your true Islamic identity. My son has really adapted to the people here and has discovered his Islamic identity. He doesn’t have to hide who he is Alhamdulillah, which is a very big help in his tarbiyah. He is free to wear his Islamic dress whether it be Afghani style or Arabian style and head wear and not have to hide every aspect of his belief. This is something you cannot do in many Arab countries like the rest of the Sham countries (Syria and Lebanon) or countries like Egypt. The fact is that you can build yourself decent Islamic environment. The number of muhajireen here are scarce but Allah willing hopefully it will grow.

It is possible for single woman to live here alone. I for one am without husband and alhamdulilah the community is very helpful mashaAllah and Salt is the safest area to live in as it is still very tribal and protected by culture.

The thing is there is no perfect dawla yet and inshaALlah our aim of hijrah is to please Allah swt and we do it because it is wajib upon us so may Allah swt open the way for us and assist us in gaining or goal. Amin