Bismillah al-Rahmani al-Raheem. I reverted to Islam some years ago and it became a core part of my life, having come from a fairly atheistic mindset to having a clear purpose – to know and worship my Creator, alone – led me to want to ensure I had a good environment.
Challenges of Practising Islam in Britain
When I started to practice my religion seriously, I quickly realised that while there are some relatively good benefits and more freedom to practice your religion in Britain (compared to other European countries) – it could easily be very uncomfortable and challenging to hold on to your religion with firmness in many places (e.g. the workplace) and times (e.g. during Christmas).
While I worked for around 7 years, as a Muslim, in Britain, I always had the intention to move to a Muslim country when the opportunity arose. As the years advanced, I started to realise there were some things you had to be constantly alert to (e.g. non-Muslim colleagues making jokes about Islam), a significant shortage of Islamic knowledge and understanding among most Muslims, the big influence of liberalism and left-wing ideologies on Muslim communities, as well as things getting bad in several areas (e.g. LGBT, living costs). Over time, I realised for many Muslims (including myself) it simply wasn’t a sensible or safe option anymore.
I do want to add, there are some great initiatives and work being done by some of the students of knowledge in Britain and if you have to remain there, you must take advantage of those while you can. But ultimately for me, I felt the overall trajectory was going downhill slowly for Muslims in most areas. Especially with young children, I didn’t want to risk them becoming like some of the other Muslims I’d seen who had essentially been stripped of their identity and understanding of the importance of Islam, Tawheed and the Sunnah.
Choosing a Destination
Now, as for choosing a location to perform Hijrah to – I’d always been keen on Saudi Arabia, but was quite open to UAE, Morocco, Kuwait and Oman.
Ultimately, though, Saudi Arabia is the land of Tawheed and a place where you can travel for Umrah and Hajj far more easily than others. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really visit and try places out before settling upon Saudi Arabia, mostly because of lack of resources and the opportunity in Saudi Arabia was too good to put on hold.
Finding Work in Saudi Arabia
I’ll mention here, if you’re looking for work in Saudi Arabia – after the help of Allah, it’s important to work on building relationships with Saudis. Don’t think your CV and flash LinkedIn profile is going to win you a job straight away. Of course, it’s different for different people, but I found it is important to nurture relationships and, in addition, make sure you have impressive educational and professional qualifications.
If you’ve not got professional accreditation, I recommend you try to obtain it to help you stand out. Certainly though, dua is a necessary – if not the most important – ingredient for success. Stand in the last part of the night and sincerely ask Allah for help and be consistent, don’t give up – show Allah you mean it.
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven when one-third of the first part of the night is over and says: I am the Lord; I am the Lord: who is there to supplicate Me so that I answer him? Who is there to beg of Me so that I grant him? Who is there to beg forgiveness from Me so that I forgive him? He continues like this till the day breaks. (Sahih Muslim 758b)
It took me six years to really find an opportunity – for others it may be shorter in sha Allah – but learn to be consistent and not give up. Use the time in Britain to upskill, prepare and if you can take some trips to explore Muslim countries.
The Journey to Saudi Arabia
I moved to Saudi Arabia just under a year ago and I’m going to be very honest in my evaluation of how my initial move went:
In terms of preparation, I was very under-prepared for the difference in culture and working style.
Tip: make sure you meet with Saudis and learn from them before you go about the different etiquettes and expectations.
I also went by myself and spent nearly three months without family and the bottom line is: it’s very difficult, I struggled a lot and there were times I felt I needed to look elsewhere.
However, I just want to say: this is normal, it will always be difficult in the first few months when moving and, in my opinion, I think it would be wise to go alone first for no more than a month before inviting or bringing your family – giving yourself some time to find a decent hotel or apartment.
Settling In
Accommodation can be expensive if you look online, I was finding places for like 90+ thousand riyals (Apx. £19,500 GBP) per year online, but if you have a local Saudi friend and you check out the local estate agents you can find decent places for less than 50% of that.
Food and laundry is fairly cheap in most areas, you can find great meals for less than £5 (equiv. 25 riyals) and transport is like mid-range. Me personally, I didn’t travel a lot in the first few months, just focusing on getting by and settled – I recommend for newcomers to consider having a light itinerary to break up the weeks and months to ensure you get to relax a little.
On the flipside, there were many fantastic people I met in my first few months, incredibly generous and supportive in finding accommodation, providing food and advice – Alhamdulillah.
The Bigger Picture
I’d also say to potential movers, remember to see the bigger picture. There are things that may pain us as Muslims to see in every country in the world from indecency to bad behaviour and I’d encourage people to think about the long-term and be realistic because every country has its shortcomings and benefits.
The key thing, in terms of religion, is to seek out good communities and brothers (sisters if you’re a sister) to support your move, eagerly seek out the opportunities to learn Arabic and study (even if it’s a few hours a week to start with).
The benefits of living in a Muslim country – like Saudi Arabia – may need some months to mature before you really see the fruits because in the first few months you’re just trying to get by, settle, get the paperwork out the way and get used to the culture.
All I can say is keep on making dua, have tawakul upon Allah, ask Allah to forgive you for your shortcomings and don’t worry, it will get easier and better in sha Allah.
Reflections After a Year
After almost one year, I’m starting to feel like Saudi Arabia is my home, I’m starting to get a lot of benefit from teachers in Arabic and in Islamic studies, growing my network of brothers, good relationships with neighbours etc. This is when (and also even before) you start to really see the clear benefits and the beauty of living in Muslim lands and now I really don’t feel like returning to the UK because I have a really lovely set-up now alhamdulillah.
Practical Tips for Hijrah
1. Keep on making dua consistently and in the meantime seek Islamic knowledge in your country (until the day Allah opens an opportunity for you)
2. Have a decent strategy in place for what you’re planning to achieve
3. Do your research on the different countries and work on polishing your professional profile (e.g. accreditation)
4. Reach out to people from the country your looking to move to for advice and work opportunities – build relationships
5. Prepare for the worst-case scenario (even though it’ll be okay in sha Allah) and always make istighfar for your shortcomings.
6. When you get there, be patient, find a couple of good brothers to support you and (if you are married) try to bring your family over once the basics have been settled.
7. Be mission-oriented and objective-driven – don’t float and drift, have targets and be happy when you achieve them and treat yourself more than you would usually.
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