[Info-phone]

so pakistan is not generally a place of hijra then?

Well, it's generally just so difficult for your average American. They end up coming back broken and disillusioned rather than getting any benefit. There are multiple issues:

1) Security- if you are too obviously American and you don't have friends/relatives to tell you where not to go, there is a real possibility of serious threat
2) Culture shock- it's not easy to adjust to living with hours of no electricity daily, possibility of no water, general dirt and pollution, the different behavior of the government, the different behavior of people, not being able to cross the street alive, not being able to drive a car, acrobatic feats necessary to ride a bus, etc. It's very different.
3) Illusions about Muslim country- people often go expecting to find the Sahaabas of Madinah in the marketplace and then they're depressed by the cheating, lying, open haraam, etc. in the society
4) Difficulty finding the people and areas of benefit- There are people of really, really great benefit, but they are the gems hidden in the mud of a country full of charlatans and deviant sects all peddling their wares to the unsuspecting visitor.


Actually, we recently had a visit in California of an American revert from the '70's who has been teaching in Karachi for 30 years and raised a family there:
Shaikh Hashim Ahmad

A former musician by profession, he grew up in Los Angeles California and spent his teenage years there during the 1960's, in pursuit of his musical career. During the same era the urge to acquire spiritual development and perfection continued to become more and more predominant until he realized that therein alone lay the secret of true success for man. He therefore left America in 1970 in pursuit of the true and pure path towards spiritual development and the real meaning and way of life as prescribed by the Creator of the universe in its original form. After extensive travel and search he finally accepted Islam in Ethiopia in the 1971.

He eventually entered Jamia Ummul Qura Makkah Al Mukarramah where he completed a Degree from the Faculty of Da'wah wa Usooluddeen with specialization in the Sciences of Quran and Hadith. He thereafter was deputed by Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz, Chief Mufti, Saudi Arabia, as a teacher to Jamiatul Uloom Al Islamiah, Binnori Town, Karachi.
He served at the Jamiatul Uloom Al Islamiah teaching various Islamic subjects in the Arabic medium from 1985-1992. From 1992 onward he taught at Madrasah Aisha Siddiqa for girls, Karachi, and later its branch: Madrasah Mariam.

In 1997 he began to develop a company known as Al Khair Creative Quality Ware, based on Islamic and professional excellence which specializes in “Beneficial products aligned with a healthy, meaningful lifestyle�. The Al Khair business model has evolved into an entire Islamic business system known as “the Ubudiyyah Business Model. Hashim now heads a team comprising of Ulama and professionals who are involved in the R&D of the model and devotes a large portion of his time in further developing, presenting and sharing the UBM Model to the business community and others.
Presently, Hashim lectures and presents on Islamic related issues at diverse venues, along with directing “Al Khair� as the CEO of the company. He also facilitates educational and commercial organizations in assisting them in visioning, strategic planning and time management.