Question:
Assalaamualaikum Brother,
My family and I moved to Pakistan from America to give our kids an Islamic environment and closeness with my family. We did several istakharas. Our house sold easily, my job allowed me to work from PK and everything fell into its place. It appeared that Allah(swt) wanted us to move. We have lived in PK 2 years and are miserable. We have all the comforts, spiritually we’re very unhappy. The people are corrupt, stealing and lying at every level. Safety is a major issue. Our kids are learning the bad things of this culture like corruption, poor work ethic, class system, and distrust of everyone, from outwardly supposed “religious” people to your family. Did we misread our istikara and move back? Are we committing a sin if we move back? Do we pray more istikara and ask Allah do we move back?
Answer:
`Alaykum Salam,
You should try and live wherever there is a practicing community that will benefit you and vice versa, regardless of country. There is corruption and dysfunctionality everywhere, but there is also pious people and sincere circles of dhikr everywhere. Identify it first and
then make your move.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
