Living in America vs living in a Muslim country

[seeker_ikb]

It is not due to a lack of spirituality. It is a huge social phenomen even prevailent amongst some people of taswuff. It would require indepth analysis. The best means of countering this on a large scale in my humble opinion is 1 of 2 things. 1. Revert shaykhs coming to gulf. 2. Revert brothers joining tabligh work and showing practically that we muslims are 1.

I think the best solution would be some grandscale tabligh jamaat effort. This is the only way of eradicating the problem in my opinion.

Shaykh Nuh Keller (DB), the American revert Sufi shaykh, lives in Jordan. Does he visit Gulf countries ? Have you met any of his mureeds in UAE ?

[seeker_ikb]

....sorry am asking it on this thread, does UAE in general discriminate on the beard when it comes to jobs??

I think, it may depends on the type of beard. So, to get an accurate answer, you should mention clearly the shape of the beard !!!

[London786]

in the UAE most of the police force and army personnel are forced to shave their beards and keep something close to stubble. I think the police force in Dubai maybe is exempted from this but for sure this is the policy in Abu dhabi having spoken to some police officers and army personnel. One police officer told me his superior told him that if he does not cut his beard then the superior shall have his neck cut by his superiors. Generally in the UAE it is very very rare to find a proper bearded person though most locals have some sort of stubble emulating their rulers. The bearded brothers with proper sunnah beard are usually salafi. With regards to getting a job it all depends who you work for etc. I know a brother who works for Aramex whose manager is lebenese who was forced to shave his beard off. Etihad airways does not allow its staff to grow a beard. However many jobs do allow people to grow beards...so it is a case by case basis. The 'other' lighter skinned arabs are mostly clean shaven and many of them (lebanese) resent bearded people as they see it as some sign of backwardness. The local arabs (emiratis) generally have no problem with bearded people and respect them a lot. So anyway it all depends on where you work, who you work for, managers etc. You are more likely to be accepted for growing a beard if the company is owned/managed by indopak people (though this also depends) and emiratis. You are likely to face discrimination for growing a beard by the lighter skinned arabs as in their lands they are mostly clean shaven or their definition of a beard is small stubble.

But let me say 1 thing. As a Muslim we should never worry about what people think. Whenever I have met such fools who look at the beard with disgust then I have never bowed to them and felt inferior. I feel proud of the sunnah regardless of who likes it and dislikes it. I urge my arab brothers to grow a beard. How sad I was when I went to a Muslim arab country once and never saw 1 person with a sunnah beard. I was thinking in the land of the non-muslims I see more sunnah of the beard. There are definitely more sunnah bearded people in london then there are in all the cities of the UAE.

[London786]

shaykh keller does come UAE but his influence is very limited. In UAE taswuff is very very weak. The habaib have some influence as habib ali lives here but his influence is mostly limited to the ruling elite and the hadrami settlers. The only person/group which works on a massive scale and on a grassroots level is tabligh jamaat. This is the only place where I've seen people of every colour and denomination together for the sake of ALLAH. Nothing can come close to the effort of tabligh jamaat in this regard.

[ysfsuleman]

Assalaamu Alaikum Brother,

Im am from South Africa. South Africa is really great to Muslims, we have mosques everywhere etc. I have 3 mosques that are all walking distance from my home. I have a beard and work for a Multnational Company. Most of the Big Comapanies here, Banks, Siemens, IBM and all universities have Musallahs etc.



Jazakallah

['Abdullaah]

I am against the idea of exclusive prayer place for any faith group at work place. there ought to be a common facility. UK should bann these exclusive facilities. Ohh! i forgot it started already.

How come?

[umar_italy]

I am against the idea of exclusive prayer place for any faith group at work place. there ought to be a common facility. UK should bann these exclusive facilities. Ohh! i forgot it started already.

What?

Do you prefer a "multi-religious" shirki "place of worship" open to everyone where Haqq and Batil get mixed and one can make sajdah in front of some idols?

[Smile Without Teeth]

Better go to South Africa. Many forum members are from south africa here. Ask them.

Lots of people have been talking about hijrah to South Africa. Why? I've never been there, so it's an honest question.

What little I know about S. Africa makes it seem like it's just like every other Westernized country in the world, with loads of crime, drugs, racism, zina, disease, and what seems to be a never-ending stream of the strangest hip hop on Earth.

I'd appreciate any insight from South Africans on why people recommend making hijrah from the US/UK to S. Africa.

[ibn Mikael]

Isn't crime a huge huge problem in South Africa? I heard it has one of the highest rates of rape and murder in the world.

[Smile Without Teeth]

Reading that second article, I've decided to stay in America

Brother, your comment above made me laugh. Not sure if you meant it that way but I do appreciate it.

I studied in Yemen two years ago, and though I wasn't imprisoned, al-hamdulillah, I was forced to pay all kinds of bribes. This is just the way a lot of 'developing' countries are, especially when they see a 'white-looking' foreigner. For example, I had to pay three people just to get an exit visa. One immigration official made me take a taxi to his home so you could get the proper rubber stamp to stamp my passport, then he demanded even more money. This is an example of how things function in Yemen.

And don't get me started about coming back into the US. Homeland Security is not an enjoyable experience after returning from Yemen.

As I understand it, hijrah is obligatory when the practice of Islam is not permitted by the powers that be. I understand it to mean that we do not necessarily have to cross national borders, but can move within a country if it means we can then fulfill the tenets of Islam.

While it may be beneficial in many ways to live in a Muslim-majority country, we can also improve ourselves here in the US. We're in the belly of the beast, so we have an amazing opportunity to change things and to be a first line of defense for our beloved brothers and sisters in the rest of the world. And there are strong Muslim communities in the US, so we can protect ourselves somewhat and be shielded from the kuffar way of life.