WHEN to travel to study Islam

One of the questions that people ask is when should they make the move to travel overseas to study Islam. How much should one study in their area before moving overseas? People often mention the sunnah of those who came before us about how they would not leave their area until they benefited everything they could from it. Over the years I have heard multiple imams, speakers, and average people say that one should not leave their area until they study with their local students of knowledge and scholars and some have gone to the length of saying if you are only going to spend 4–5 years overseas then do not go at all and you can get that knowledge at home. I call in to question much of this advice.

There is no one cookie cutter answer for when to travel to seek ilm. Every person’s situation is different and many factors come into play. These factors include one’s financial situation, family situation, needs while being abroad, convenience, future job prospects, goals for what one wants from studying, and more. I will try to shed some light by raising a few points by sharing my personal thoughts.

I personally believe that once one is ready to make the move they should regardless of the level of study they have done before going. Everything you do at home in the west will be done much faster in an environment that is better suited for ‘ilm. If someone says that you should learn basic fiqh and aqida before going overseas, that might take a couple months to a year depending on where one is but can take 2–4 weeks overseas with a private teacher. If one says you should learn Arabic before going, you will learn Arabic much much faster living in an Arabic speaking country while studying it full time than staying in your home town. The sooner you make the move the sooner you will start benefiting. Even if you did study the same exact subjects over the same period of time overseas as you would back home (which is never the case as you will get much more done) you will benefit much more studying with a ‘Aalim (scholar) than with a local Imam or talib ‘ilm in most cases. This is not to take away from the wonderful work that people are doing back home however if one has the opportunity to study with Ulema, they should take that opportunity. It is not the same.

The point people make about the time you spend overseas studying 4–5 years you can do the same at home is very misleading in my opinion. First off the quality of ulema and students of knowledge is no where near the same in western countries as it is in hubs for seeking ilm. You’re getting much more than just class time in these hubs. Second even if you live near an ‘alim in your local community how much time does that ‘alim realistically have to dedicate to teaching you? Anything less than 3–5 hours a day of classes 5 days a week is not serious talab ‘ilm in my opinion. That’s aside from time spent reading, reviewing classes, and memorizing mutun. If someone is passionate about seeking ilm the experience they will have going overseas will benefit them much more than staying in the west.

As for people who are not currently able to make the move, they should make the most usage of their time with local teachers and make good use of their time. The attitude and work ethic towards teachers and ‘ilm you have at home is the same attitude and work ethic you are bringing with you overseas. You do not just magically become a new person by virtue of traveling for 10 hours across the world so you should begin developing those habits now. Also if you properly took advantage of your resources before going overseas you will see that you are ahead of your peers from the same country. I will expand on this more in another article.

The real question I believe that people should ask is not when to go but where to go. Instead of looking at your current level to decide when to go one should look at their level to decide where to go. Depending on how advanced or early one is in their studies can change where their destination will be completely. This is something I will share my thoughts on in a future post in sha Allah so for now salaams.

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