[Allorneadesee]

If you aren't thinking of Saudi then UAE is a nice country to visit or stay for Muslims who grew up in the West as it is a wealthy modern Muslim country and there are people from many countries there.

It is far from being a perfect Muslim country, but its a nice place where there are many, many masjids and it is nice to be somewhere where you hear the adhaan from many masjids if you have grown up without it.

Abu Dhabi is very beautiful city to stay but in Sharjah (above Dubai a little) people are nicer and it is a little more religious and if you ever want anything in Dubai it is just down the road.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________

although if you want somewhere more authentic why not Morocco?

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________

Anyway if you wait a little, InshaAllah Syria will be ruled by the Sunnis again soon and it may become the best Muslim country then InshaAllah.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________

lol if you are looking somewhere to hide from Dajjal tell me when you find it and I will come too

until tell (and after) then you can recite first and last ten ayat of Surah Kahf every day and think about their meaning, it protects from the trickery of Dajjal InshaAllah

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________


Question:
In these uncertain days for the Muslims we must prepare ourselves for the fitna of the Dajjal. I have heard that you are to memorise the last ten ayats of Surat al-Kahf but some websites have said that it is the first ten. Can you please clarify whether it is the last or the first ten that should be memorised?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalamu alaikum,

The recommendation of reciting both the beginning and ending ten verses of Surat al-Kahf (the 18th sura of the Qur�an) has been transmitted from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). It is also recommended to recite the entire sura on Fridays. [see below]

Imam Mundhiri (Allah have mercy on him) devoted a chapter of his al-Targhib wa�l Tarhib (�Encouragement and Warning�) to this,

� Encouraging reciting Surat Kahf, or Ten Verses from its Beginning or Ten from its End

Abu al-Darda� (Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, �Whoever commits ten verses from the beginning Surat al-Kahf will be protected from the Dajjal.� [Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasa�i, and others; the wording is Muslim�s]�

In a narration in Muslim and Abu Dawud it states, �From the end of Surat al-Kahf.� Tirmidhi related is with the words, �Whoever recites three verses from the beginning of al-Kahf will be protected from the tribulations of the Dajjal.� [Mundhiri, al-Targhib wa�l Tarhib, #2172-2173]

Imam Shafi`i (Allah have mercy on him) said in his Umm,

�It has reached us that whoever recites Surat al-Kahf on Fridays will be protected from the Dajjal.� [Shafi`i, al-Umm, 1.239]

It is recommended to recite Surat al-Kahf completely the night before Friday, and it is also recommended to do so Friday itself, before Maghrib time. Ibn Abidin said, �And it is best to do so early on Friday, in order to rush to the good and to avoid forgetting.� [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, �Bab al-Jumu`ah�]

The evidence for it being recommended includes the hadith related by Hakim and Bayhaqi, from Abu Sa`id (Allah be pleased with him), �Whoever recites Surat al-Kahf on Friday, light shall shine forth for him between the two Fridays.� [Ibn Hajar, Talkhis al-Habīr]

The wisdom behind it, as mentioned by hadith commentators such as Nawawi, Qurtubi, Qari, and others, is that:

a) There are tremendous signs and portents mentioned in these verses. However reads these regularly and ponders on their meanings with not be led astray by the Dajjal;

b) The surah as a whole has stories of the struggle between true belief in Allah and the realities of faith, and materialism. Reflecting on any of these

c) It is a secret whose knowledge Allah alone posses, and we have follow it because of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)�s guidance, with full certainty.

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani

for your great post.

[boanuatiguali]

From what I understand, the brother is just looking for places to visit... not live. Every country, even our fairly large 'bird cage' Canada, has something that will be of benefit.

Sometimes I think travel (to the degree it is promoted these days) is over-rated. Why do you feel caged in brother? Do a cross-country tour, visit various mosques across Canada. Or, do a continental tour, visit various mosques across North America. Dip into South America to see how Islam is progressing there. [edit: Besides, you can go on a cross-cultural tour just by visiting various mosques in a single Canadian city. In one major city here, there is a mosque with a congregation that is predominantly Somalian, another that is predominantly Arab and yet another that is predominantly Indo-Pakistani... I would think you could find mosques in places like Montreal and Toronto with predominantly Turkish congregations too... just think, a tour around the world without ever leaving the 'bird cage']

Otherwise, I would also recommend Turkey for a visit.

[Allorneadesee]

Most people on this thread have so far given some very wrong advice in my opinion apart from a few exceptions like brother refai. Now let me start. Those who are suggesting Turkey....come on you guys are off your head. A country which until today praises mustafa kamal ata kufr....How do you expect to get a job with a beard. The same with Malaysia. As brother refai has mentioned most of the muslims are very lax and proper islam. There is also severe discrimination in Malaysia and is not just limited to saudi arabia. The hindu malaysians and chinese are ever increasing and it looks like one day non-muslims will rule the place. A sister who posts on this forum is from Malaysia. It is very hard to find a good job and inflation is very high. You will be working long hours and will get hardly any leave. The islam is some modernist islam some twisted ideology first initiated by mahatir and then consolidated by his successor.

Then brother abdul has mentioned UAE. UAE has many good points but I will write about UAE in a few weeks after I leave the country (you can guess why). By the way brother Abdul the azaan in abu dhabi is only recited live in the shaykh zayd road and the rest of the masjids transmit the same azaan..............now you tell me....UAE is a non-muslim majority country with philipinos and mushriks the majority. I better stop for now (wait a few weeks)

Thats what i was thinking about Turkey. Sad to know that malaysia might lose power to the kuffar and the there are so many mushrikeen in UAE. thanks for putting your head on the line for me

[Allorneadesee]

It wasn't always like that with the adhaan

and I checked on the demographics and it is still about 76% Muslim

Maybe the more urban areas of Dubai have a higher amount of kaffirs (though not majority)

[Allorneadesee]

From what I understand, the brother is just looking for places to visit... not live. Every country, even our fairly large 'bird cage' Canada, has something that will be of benefit.

Sometimes I think travel (to the degree it is promoted these days) is over-rated. Why do you feel caged in brother? Do a cross-country tour, visit various mosques across Canada. Or, do a continental tour, visit various mosques across North America. Dip into South America to see how Islam is progressing there.

Otherwise, I would also recommend Turkey for a visit.

I feel this way because everything here is fake and with kuffr. What im looking for is places to visit/learn/live and just be with muslims. I also have a problem praying in masjids due to the fact that they pray northeast (dont attack me, there are much better reasons islamically to pray southeast from what i know) and just the many salafis preaching distortions and corrupt aqeedah. Had allah not protected me with the good fortune of an ahlesunnah teacher and family, with an exception (one of my uncles has become super defensive of wahabis to the point him and another uncle barely even speak),I may have become absorbed by them. I also just have an inclination to experience, even if a little, what the salaf did in an islamic world where they prospered.

[markoiutrfffdsa]

I also have a problem praying in masjids due to the fact that they pray northeast (dont attack me, there are much better reasons islamically to pray southeast from what i know)

Are you serious? I thought the Northeast/Southeast thing was a closed case?
Do you pray South-east at home? Do you believe that 99.99% of the Muslims in Canada are not praying in the correction direction?!

[boanuatiguali]

I feel this way because everything here is fake and with kuffr. What im looking for is places to visit/learn/live and just be with muslims. I also have a problem praying in masjids due to the fact that they pray northeast (dont attack me, there are much better reasons islamically to pray southeast from what i know) and just the many salafis preaching distortions and corrupt aqeedah. Had allah not protected me with the good fortune of an ahlesunnah teacher and family, with an exception (one of my uncles has become super defensive of wahabis to the point him and another uncle barely even speak),I may have become absorbed by them. I also just have an inclination to experience, even if a little, what the salaf did in an islamic world where they prospered.

Insha'Allah you can find such a place.

[dodsCooggipsedebt]

The same with Malaysia. As brother refai has mentioned most of the muslims are very lax and proper islam. There is also severe discrimination in Malaysia and is not just limited to saudi arabia. The hindu malaysians and chinese are ever increasing and it looks like one day non-muslims will rule the place. A sister who posts on this forum is from Malaysia. It is very hard to find a good job and inflation is very high. You will be working long hours and will get hardly any leave. The islam is some modernist islam some twisted ideology first initiated by mahatir and then consolidated by his successor.

I'll just comment about Malaysia as I found that a few of your statements are incorrect.

I don't think that Malaysia will lose power to the kuffar just yet. Don't know what excatly that means anyway. Would be beneficial if it can be explained further, .

Malaysia is still a developing Islamic country with the idealogy wars are mainly fought between the nationalist group and Islamist group. Islamist group is led by the Malaysian Islamic Party (locally known as PAS). There are a few other branches but most of them are basically consolidated under PAS. 'Western cultures" are mostly very visible in big cities. But even then, Islam's influence is gaining traction. Historically, Islam has a much better atmosphere in Malaysia now than it was some 20 or more years ago.

There are a few states, namely Kelantan, Kedah, Trengganu and to some extend certain parts of Johore and Pahang which are still practicing traditional Islam very seriously. These states are closely related to the Southern Thailand where a group of Muslims are waging jihad to reclaim the land of the Muslims there (most of the people from around the area are relatives by the way with the Muslims from the Southern Thailand). The states with large number of non-Muslims Chinese or Indians are basically incline more towards the nationalist group, basically to counter the Islamists influence.

Discrimination is actually very rare. In the PAS led government (the states that I mentioned), discriminations played no rule as high posts are usually given to those who are Islamically sound background irrespective of race (you can find some Malaysians preachers who are giving da'wah irrespective of ethinicity on youtube. Actually a few of the more famous da'wah preachers are Chinese and Indians). As for the nationalists, cronyism issue still is a serious matter as they try to retain their influences.

In most cases, I wouldn't term any ugly encounters as discriminations, it's more like the clash of cultures than anything else. This sometimes happens between the Malays, Chinese and Indians. Also between some foreigners and the locals, but mostly that happens because of cultural clash (like the foreigners organize some drinking party and cause some fights with the locals after that). The issue is usually contained almost immediately by the police.

Almost every area in Malaysia at least has a two level crime prevention mechanism. Locals volunteer to patrol the area, and the patrolling police as the next level should any matter be escalated.

Local sharia law is gradually implemented and expanded, with the jurisdiction will be expanded towards criminal cases hopefully in the future. Aside from what has been implemented, the technicality of the law and the process, (providing good defense lawyer who are well verse with the law, the trial documentation process, proper and thorough trials and so forth) are still being developed. These are mainly possible after technocrates who are well verse in the Islamic laws are graduated from the few Islamic universities around the country. Those universities were setup in the 80's (International Islamic University, Islamic Academy University of Malaya, etc), I guess, to realize the dream of having a full and complete shariah governance .

Inflation is not as bad as some people say. I would say that inflation yearly is more or less around 5%.

As per working long hours, a few laws are still in the amendment process. Malaysia is just about to enforce minimum wage scheme sometime this year.

The most important part I think is about the Islamic awareness and practice by the locals. Islamic awareness has gained very significant development in the recent years. If anyone remembers, I posted about the cases of the missing Quranic verses from the mashafs that happened in various places in Malaysia in the 1980's and 1990's in this forum sometime last year. Just several years back you wouldn't find any radio or tv channels that are 100% dedicated to Islamic contents, but now there are a few of those. it'll get better.

[avitalporatova]

brother faizal jazakallah khairan for your clarification. What you are saying makes me very happy. May ALLAH bless the people even more. One day inshallah I shall visit malaysia again because my stay was limited to KL really and I hated KL. There were hardly any masjids in the area I was staying in, seeing so many dodgy looking people wearing reveealing clothes I did not think I was in a muslim country. My experience is based on those people and those I spoke to who spoke of their desire to do hijrah to the arab world, the modernist islam being propagated by the government etc. With regards to the areas surrounding southern thailand and the qital of our brothers there I have heard that the most practicing muslims of that region are the thai muslims mashallah. May ALLAH increase them. One day I want to go there inshallah as well. Brother please post more on malaysia, islam, tabligh in malaysia, scholars, average daily life etc. May ALLAH bless our brothers in all parts of the world and give freedom to our thai brethren ameen.

[dodsCooggipsedebt]

brother faizal jazakallah khairan for your clarification. What you are saying makes me very happy. May ALLAH bless the people even more. One day inshallah I shall visit malaysia again because my stay was limited to KL really and I hated KL. There were hardly any masjids in the area I was staying in, seeing so many dodgy looking people wearing reveealing clothes I did not think I was in a muslim country. My experience is based on those people and those I spoke to who spoke of their desire to do hijrah to the arab world, the modernist islam being propagated by the government etc. With regards to the areas surrounding southern thailand and the qital of our brothers there I have heard that the most practicing muslims of that region are the thai muslims mashallah. May ALLAH increase them. One day I want to go there inshallah as well. Brother please post more on malaysia, islam, tabligh in malaysia, scholars, average daily life etc. May ALLAH bless our brothers in all parts of the world and give freedom to our thai brethren ameen.

Modernist Islam are usually being propagated by some government ministers who don't know much about Islam, and people know about their background anyway and most people will distance themselves from those kind of propaganda. Basically they know the said minister who talks about islam with no Islamic knowledge, so they won't pay attention to the propaganda.

There are some hiccups still in increasing Islamic awareness among the locals. Some Malays with basic upbringing most probably tend to be "Malay" first then "Muslim" afterwards. Also the materialism temptations and such.

But then that several major steps are being prepared by the government of Kelantan State for example. They are currently training some more than 20 thousand Muslim youths using traditional kitabs in the state sponsored schools with in-depth fiqh as well as aqeedah. And due to the recent events in the Arabic countries, some of the State officials are actually looking at the events very seriously. I even had the opportunity to ask one of them a hypothetical question "what would you do if some 7 years from now dajjal LaknatuLLah would come to the State?" and they do take that question very seriously.

State of Kelantan also reintroduce dinar and dirham in their dealings. Elsewhere in Malaysia, a few mosques that use Chinese language during the khutbah were built around the country. Madrassa are being reorganized, not the syllabus, but the learning methodology, basic infrastructure, qualified teachers and such. Tahfiz madrassa are being built around the country and so on. Public gatherings to listen to da'wa are becoming popular in certain areas (there are various youtube uploads of the events).

Tabligh jemaat are still as usual, they are very active and I know a few of them who went to Bangladesh last year.

There are still some major isues that the Muslims have to face. The changes are there towards the better Islamic environment though still many more issues have to be tackled and still a long way to go, but people that I know, they are very istiqamah in doing the da'wa to raise the Islamic awareness. Let's all make dua that Muslims everywhere will be guided towards the straight path, ameen.

[TritteTouff]

yes, but i would like to make sure my children/grandchildren dont lose their iman or become victims. Turkey? i thought its very secular and hijab is banned in public

Who told u that hijab is banned in Turkey in public places. I have many of my friends there.

[boanuatiguali]

Who told u that hijab is banned in Turkey in public places. I have many of my friends there.

The ban is not on public places but rather public institutions (government work, military and university). There was also a ban on beards (not sure if either are still in effect/enforced).

[treawittelf]

Assalamu Alaikum, I think things are changing in the right direction with the new Government they have now which is Pro Islam. Previously for many years it was very hard for Muslims to be like Muslims.

I could be wrong.

We better keep on the Topic.

[Blahhhshsh]

Know what i think? its definitely great to live in an islaamic country BUT sometimes people who live in non-islaamic countries have a wider, broader, clearer understanding of the true deen/islaam. Just take the example of the beard and hijaab. In so many muslim countries people just don't wear it... and in some of them its even banned. Also in muslim countries usually people don't find it necessary to follow the sunnah and shariah coz they feel very out of place. I dunno how to explain it but its just like Everyone is muslim. Everyone does it. Everyone can't be doing wrong. So why must we be different? and so, sadly even the leaders and scholars do what... Everyone is doing!!!


Now in a non-muslim country if your'e a practicing muslim and you see everyone doing wrong, you will have to think: I'm a muslim. I'm different.

There's no mixing islaam with the law of the land, cultures and traditions.

And..... sorry if this post doesn't exactly fit in with the topic!

[treawittelf]

Salams, your post fits perfectly with the Topic, now tell us where you would like to live?? That's the most important thing.

[bitymnmictada]

State of Kelantan also reintroduce dinar and dirham in their dealings. Elsewhere in Malaysia, a few mosques that use Chinese language during the khutbah were built around the country. Madrassa are being reorganized, not the syllabus, but the learning methodology, basic infrastructure, qualified teachers and such. Tahfiz madrassa are being built around the country and so on. Public gatherings to listen to da'wa are becoming popular in certain areas (there are various youtube uploads of the events).

Tabligh jemaat are still as usual, they are very active and I know a few of them who went to Bangladesh last year.

.

Before settling in any Muslim country , one should check the following issues

1. Corruption in government offices
2.Attitude of locals to the foreigners -- How pervasive is Racism and nepotism ? Is meritocracy promoted ?
3.Communication and power infra-structure
4. Attitude of locals to the visible sign of religiosity- hijab , niqab ,beard and sunnah dress etc
5. Healthcare infra-structure
6.job opportunity
7. investment or business-friendly environment
8. educational infrastructure
9. General law and order

How good is Malaysia in all the above sectors ?

From my professional perspective , Malaysia is good in electronics and high tech field.

Out of all the countries in South Asia and South East Asia, I think, only Malaysia seems to be an emerging tiger. The rest are just sinking ships.
Pakistan is almost broken , Afganistan is at the bottom of the ocean and Bangladesh is very corrupt.

[dodsCooggipsedebt]

There are still many areas that need to be developed and refined further. Malaysia still is far from being an ideal Muslim country. We are still learning from the brothers and sisters from other Islamic countries and there are much much more room of improvement can be done.

Hope some of the information I provide here can be helpful. Also it helps to get information from others as well.
Before settling in any Muslim country , one should check the following issues
1. Corruption in government offices This can be divided into two levels; a)at the policymakers level, b)at the implementation level.
a) Nepotism still is a big problem in Malaysia. Some of them operate as an insider trader, using inside information to gain some advantage over other parties.
- Awareness on accountability is high on Malaysia, however there's still no protection for whistle blowers. A new set of laws are about to be tabled that will include necessary protections for whistle blowers. Also there's a plan with the draft of the amendment has already been made public to abolish a colonial Internal Security Act which allows for indefinite detention of a person under pretext of national security. The same law is actually used by the Singaporean government to silence the opposition figures and as far as I know, there's no plan in Singapore to abolish the same colonial law.
- The top people are still corrupt, however the check and balance factors are more transparent now compared to just 10 years ago. Nowadays some of the worst corruptions together with some documents are often leaked out to the public using anonymous blogs. It has huge impact politically, however the task to prosecute the perpetrators are still very challenging because of the stringent evidence accaptance level used in the court of law. A few of the big cases are already on trial.

b) Corruptions among officers in various departments.
- Corruption standard in Malaysia has improved a lot after the Anti Corruption Department is made into its own agency and has their own prosecution teams. Anti Corruption Agency officers are active in surveillance, evidence gathering and so forth by planting informants, and sometimes their own officers are active as undercover agents within various government departments. The corruption rate has gone down tremendeously compared to some eight years ago. Now the campaigns are widened to include not just the public sectors, but the private sectors as well. Basically the Malaysian's Anti Corruption Agency learnt a lot from Hong Kong anti corruption agency, which is among the top 3 rated in the world.

2.Attitude of locals to the foreigners -- How pervasive is Racism and nepotism ? Is meritocracy promoted ? - I've already touched a bit about nepotism. About meritocracy, the competitiveness is being upgraded and some of the more important and lucrative sectors are slowly being liberalized. A pool of semi skilled workers are not hard to find in Malaysia, however the competitiveness in a true liberalized economy is depending on the professionals and skilled workers. For that, plans are underway to produce more professionals and skilled workers in several targeted sectors.

3.Communication and power infra-structure - Communication shouldn't be a problem. The biggest telco company in South East Asia is actually located in Malaysia. Also for communication purposes, English is the second language used by many Malaysians.

4. Attitude of locals to the visible sign of religiosity- hijab , niqab ,beard and sunnah dress etc - Majority of Muslims in Malaysia follow Shafi'ie fiqh. The environment in big cities are not free from the western cultures, but if you go just outside the cities, then you'll see a much more Islamic environment (hijab, beard, etc). The Islamic environments are much more prevalents in the state of Kelantan, Trengganu and Kedah. Actually, the Head Minister of Kelantan himself is a qualified 'alim that teaches many subjects in fiqh and aqeedah at a mosque next to his house mainly on Fridays and Saturdays.

5. Healthcare infra-structure - Healthcare services are still not up to the standard like in the West, however it's not too shabby either. Some of the most advanced research in cancer, specifically throat cancer is done in Malaysia. Every major city has a few big hospitals. Clinics are built in the rural areas.

6.job opportunity
7. investment or business-friendly environment - Job opportunities are available mostly to professionals. But personally I think the chances to do business is greater than to find a job in Malaysia, especially in international tradings. Bank facilities to secure the import export financing are quite robust. I guess that happens because Malaysia is a hub country where international cargos are often transited.

- Also I would suggest to do business that's directly related to the mass market (supply/demand) rather than try to get some contracts from the government related projects. That way you're free from political influence and since you're dealing directly with the mass market, it's entirely up to you on how to develop your business plan and execution. A few of the successful brothers who are istiqamah in da'wah are also doing their business that way.

8. educational infrastructure - Educational infrastructures are quite robust. The only problem I see is how to further nurture the research or experiment culture among the students.

9. General law and order - Law and order are generally good. Police has some SOP regarding their response time and so on.

How good is Malaysia in all the above sectors ?

From my professional perspective , Malaysia is good in electronics and high tech field.

Out of all the countries in South Asia and South East Asia, I think, only Malaysia seems to be an emerging tiger. The rest are just sinking ships.
Pakistan is almost broken , Afganistan is at the bottom of the ocean and Bangladesh is very corrupt. - Malaysia now is in the transition from being an electronic commodity manufacturer to the more value added content developer in almost all areas in information technology and service related industries (education, health system, etc). I think Malaysians are just started to get into the second phase of the process.

- Like I mentioned earlier, Malaysia still has a long way to go before can be said as an ideal Islamic country. But one step at a time, as long as the niyat is only for the sake of Allah and istiqamah in doing so, we'll try our best to achieve that.

Allah Knows best.

[feroiodpiop]

I don't think there is a "best Muslim country". I can't think of any which is free from corruption. However, there are certain cities which are very good to live in. One of the best which comes to mind is Tarim in the Hadhramaut valley of Yemen. The city is a very blessed city and is distinguished for producing numerous Islamic scholars and inviters. I have not yet visited there but I know many people who have and have travelled all around the world and they prefer Tarim to many places. It has the highest concentration of Sayyids than anywhere in the world. There are many Masjids and Madrassah in Tarim and it has a very blessed atmosphere.

[Allorneadesee]

Are you serious? I thought the Northeast/Southeast thing was a closed case?
Do you pray South-east at home? Do you believe that 99.99% of the Muslims in Canada are not praying in the correction direction?!

its definitely not 99.9% brother. this thing was started by a pakistani mathematician (not alim) who wanted northeast and slowly people became divided. then a decision was made to make it one or the other, ISNA is the group with money who chose northeast. masjids were changed to northeast because of this. This was maybe 20-30 years ago and even though i wasnt born, this story was related to me by my teacher who went with some other muslim brothers to ask someone who remembered this and knew what had happened.

[Allorneadesee]

Know what i think? its definitely great to live in an islaamic country BUT sometimes people who live in non-islaamic countries have a wider, broader, clearer understanding of the true deen/islaam. Just take the example of the beard and hijaab. In so many muslim countries people just don't wear it... and in some of them its even banned. Also in muslim countries usually people don't find it necessary to follow the sunnah and shariah coz they feel very out of place. I dunno how to explain it but its just like Everyone is muslim. Everyone does it. Everyone can't be doing wrong. So why must we be different? and so, sadly even the leaders and scholars do what... Everyone is doing!!!


Now in a non-muslim country if your'e a practicing muslim and you see everyone doing wrong, you will have to think: I'm a muslim. I'm different.

There's no mixing islaam with the law of the land, cultures and traditions.

And..... sorry if this post doesn't exactly fit in with the topic!

dont worry sister, i found your post to be a good alternative idea