Travelling to a land in which evil is widespread

Firstly: 

In the
answer to question no. (67587),
we have stated what people call the honeymoon is one of the reprehensible
habits that have become widespread among the Muslims, which has led to a
great deal of negative consequences that can harm both spouses.  

Secondly: 

With regard
to travelling to a country where evil and haraam things are widespread, that
is haraam and it is not permissible to travel unless that is for an
essential need. Travel for a holiday or for fun is not an essential need
that would make it permissible to do this haraam action. 

Travelling
to a land in which sin and evil are widespread, whether it is a Muslim
country or not, involves many dangers and haraam actions, including the
following: 

1 – Sitting
in places of entertainment where sins are committed such as drinking alcohol
and gambling, entering places of entertainment and dance halls, and not
condemning those who do that. This is doing a haraam action and failing to
do an obligatory action, whereby the Muslim is guilty of sin. 

2 – Loss of
modesty because of the tempting scenes and immoral conduct and animalistic
behaviour that one sees in those countries. 

Shaykh
‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Jibreen mentioned a number of these evils
and things that go against Islam in his answer when he was asked about the
phenomenon of families travelling to Arab and western countries: 

He replied: 

There are
many ahaadeeth which forbid the making of images… they are general in
meaning and apply to all images, whether they are engraved, carved or drawn,
and whether they are three-dimensional or have no shadow (two-dimensional).
There is the command to erase all images, and it is narrated that the angels
do not enter any house in which there is an image. Because of the necessity
nowadays to protect borders and rights, the shaykhs and scholars have
granted a concession with regard to necessities such as ID documents and
passports etc, for those who want to travel for the sake of medical
treatment or for essential studies and the like. Such a person may have his
picture taken for his passport because it is not possible to travel
otherwise. But as for travelling for the sake of pleasure or fun, this is
not essential. I think that taking photographs is not permissible for this
purpose. Travelling with one’s wife and family for pleasure and fun leads to
many negative consequences, foremost among which is taking pictures of
mahrams whereby men at the border posts see them even though it is haraam
for a woman to uncover her face in front of non-mahram men. 

Secondly:  

There is no
benefit in these journeys at all, rather they are a waste of precious time.
The claim that these trips are for discovery and learning about other
countries and their benefits are not true. Those who travel do not use their
trips to learn and ponder; rather they use them to relax and enjoy looking
at different scenes.  

Thirdly:  

These trips
are a waste of money which is spent by these travellers and which goes to
benefit the kuffaar who are the enemies of Islam and use it to support kufr,
promote false religions and wage war against Islam and the Muslims. 

Fourthly: 

They indulge
in permissible things which distract them from acts of worship, and they may
do many makrooh things which lead them into haraam things. We often hear
that those travellers intend to do promiscuous things, then they fall into
zina, drinking alcohol, listening to music, going to dance halls and places
of entertainment and spending huge amounts of money on those haraam and
makrooh things, which benefits the kuffaar and harms the Muslims. 

Fifthly: 

The
believing women end up doing things that are contrary to Islam, by lifting
the veil of modesty, uncovering their faces and heads, showing their
adornment and imitating the kaafir women on the grounds that they cannot
cover among women who are uncovered. Thus they fall into sin and imitate the
kaafir women and sinful women, and their guardians cannot stop them. 

Sixthly: 

Travelling
to those countries for no necessary reasons is a means of committing sin or
looking down on the Muslims, whereby one scorns the teachings of Islam and
develops respect for the kuffaar in one’s heart. We advise Muslims to
protect themselves, their minds, their womenfolk, their wealth, their
religious commitment and their worldly interests by not travelling except in
cases of urgent need. 

And Allaah
is the Source of strength and the Guide to the straight path. May Allaah
send blessings and peace upon Muhammad and his family and companions. End
quote. 

Shaykh
Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan was asked a number of questions about young
men travelling with their wives after getting married or during holidays,
and the attitude of guardians about young women travelling with their
husbands. There follow some of these questions and his answers: 

1 – If a
father knows that his son is going to travel abroad after getting married,
is he obliged to stop him? What is the evidence for that? 

Answer: The
father should stop his son from travelling abroad if the journey is merely
for pleasure and if he is able to stop him, because of the harm that
travelling will do to his religious commitment and to him. If he cannot stop
him, then he has to advise him and not give him any money for that, because
that would be helping him in sin and transgression. 

2 – If the
father of the wife knows that his daughter’s husband is going to take her on
a trip abroad after they get married, is he obliged to stop her? Is she
obliged to obey her father and not travel, or should she obey her husband
and travel abroad for pleasure? 

Answer: The
wife’s father has the right to prevent her from travelling abroad with her
husband if the trip is merely for pleasure. The wife should not obey her
husband in that, because there is no obedience to any created being if it
involves disobedience towards the Creator. 

Thirdly: 

With regard
to what is required of the one who travels to that country: if his trip is
for a necessary purpose which makes it permissible, such as medical
treatment and the like, then Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan said: 

My advice to
those who travel abroad for permissible purposes is that they should fear
Allaah and adhere to their religion and practise it openly; they should feel
proud of it and call others to it and convey its message to the people. They
should be a good example and represent the Muslims in a good light, and they
should not remain in the kaafir land for longer than is necessary. End quote.