Assalamualaikum sheikh, I am currently residing in Bangladesh where the constitution has been recently changed from being a Muslim state to a Secular State although majority of the population is Musilm. Under such conditions am I considered to be living in a Muslim State? I have a medical condition since the last 7/8 years, i.e. dust and cold allergy where I have severe allergic attacks (sometimes 2 every week). My doctor mentioned that this is due to the climate and pollution of Bangladesh and recommended that if I move to some place cold (like UK) this will improve. There is no real cure for this through medicine. So, under the sharia'h law is it permissible for me to move to some other country like UK? I have recently started studying the deen and islam with my wife. We both want to learn more and improve ourselves. In that regards, we were looking out for options to learn more about Islam and the Quran. But unfortunately the scope of that is close to zero as there are no real resources (scholars/text/books) of islam in our country that can teach us the correct things in Islam and not Bid'ah. My wife and I were discussing that if we move to UK it will help with my medical condition and also we would be able to get in touch with scholars to learn more. Is it permissible for us to make a niyaah for migration under such circumstances? We are scared that if we move without making the correct niyaah it will be a sin for us. I hope you will be kind enough to advice us. May Allah guide you and me to make the right choice. jazakAllah

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, we ask Allaah to guide us and all Muslims in Bangladesh and everywhere. Bangladesh is still a Muslim country because Islam is predominant in it and the Muslim population there is a majority.

The Book entitled Al-Khulaasah fi Fiqh Al-Aqalliyyaat (A Brief Introduction to the Fiqh of Minorities) reads as follows in an answer to the question: “Is it permissible for a Muslim to live in a non-Muslim country, and are the Arab countries considered as Muslim states?”

Answer: “It is permissible for a Muslim to reside in a non-Muslim state which is dominated by non-Muslims if he is safe about his religion and can practice it openly without fear. The Arab and Muslim countries in general are Islamic countries whose people and population are mainly Muslim, even if there are Jews, Christians and apostates among them, and even if many of them rule by other than the Sharee'ah (Islamic Law), or rule with a mixed legal system (containing Islamic and non-Islamic laws).” [End of quote]

Therefore, we do not advise you to travel to the UK because it is a non-Muslim land. If one wants to travel to a cold country, he can travel to one of the cold Muslim countries.

Allaah Knows best.