Studying in a muslim country

[Should_I]

salam aleikum
In a couple of years, I will be given the opportunity of studying abroad. As a road taken by many a male western student, mine is different. I wish to study in a muslim country. I do not even know if such an undertaking would be possible, as I suspect most western universities only exchange students within the west, ie usa-australia-netherlands, leaving what we call the middle east out of the circle. However, many westerners travel to Egypt, UAE and other muslim countries on vacation, so I suppose it might be possible. Time will tell...

However, I won't be going there (whichever place it might be) just for the studies, I'd like to study culture and religion as well. Here are a couple of things I am wondering about...
How difficult is it to be socially accepted? I am not planning on walking about in a bathing suit or tight jeans as western tourists would in 40c, rather this:
Also, I'd like to show up for the daily prayers, if possible. Then again, people might be offended by that. What do you think?

I am not sure how long I would like to stay. I would like to go as a student because I don't think I would be let in under other circumstances. I have read on this meeting place about haram. I know halal from before because I have met souls unfortunate enough to end up at haram meals for westerners where they could not eat and would not be offered anything to eat besides haram. I have lots of muslims where I live, but the women are reluctant to chat obviously, and it's difficult to tell what men are muslim, but none of that matters because it is impolite to ask about one's religion anyway. Thank you for replying to my post.

live long and prosper

 

[Should_I]

two questions right away
what temperature do you have now?
I have heard music is haram. Is this true? :shymuslima1:
I have been not too far from your country once, in the palms of gran canaria. But that was long ago. I might prefer to find myself somewhere without french as second language.
thank you for the quickest reply

 

[podolski11]

salam alaykum

could u define muslim country?......cause theyre only labelled muslims now....I dont think any country except for saudi in which people dress modestly where u can keep away from fitnah i think.....

 

[Should_I]

salam
have a look, this is what I mean http://home.earthlink.net/~lazarski/home/Middle-East.gif
however, a muslim country to me is a country in which muslims are represented my 25% of the population or more. Therefore, in addition to the pictured countries, I add marokko, libanon, indonesia and some of these countries who are in africa and asia instead of... in between.

thanks for replies
may I be adequate in my search

 

[Should_I]

sorry for slow response, my posts are going through some kind of filter, please have patience and it will come

 

[zbhotto]

You should go to Saudi Arabia or Quatar. So far I know other muslim countries do not adhere the sharia. There are lots of new universities in Saudi and Quatar. You can check Texas A&M university, Quatar campus, Northwestern university Quatar campus, Virginia university Quatar Campus. There are many other universties in SA/Quatar that are affiliated with top USA universities.

 

[ShyHijabi]

Woohoooo!! A trekkie is here! (I am a trekkie so please forgive my eagerness) If you plan on traveling to countries such as Egypt, Syria, etc., then you shouldn't have any problems. Basically the cultures are very mixed and they tend to be open to newcomers. You sound very respectful of their feelings (you speak of dressing modestly) and I can't imagine anyone having a problem with you coming to the mosque and maing inquiries.

Do let us know what country you decide on and maybe some of the native board members can give you advice.

 

[Should_I]

salam alaykum

could u define muslim country?......cause theyre only labelled muslims now....I dont think any country except for saudi in which people dress modestly where u can keep away from fitnah i think.....

sorry, my posts are going through some kind of filter. I don't know how long it will take before it gets here.

hopefully before the sun is here

 

[Muslimah16]

^ LOL @ "before the sun is here"

InshaAllah your posts will come through quickly,

Wasalaam

 

[samiha]

Hello - Sorry about that!

I just came across your thread now - I apologize that it took a while to approve your post, the reason was just that we restrict posting 'links' in any members first few posts. It's a precaution for spammers mainly, but it does at times affect others as well... I apologize for that!

I hope you get the answers you're looking for.

 

[DanyalSAC]

How difficult is it to be socially accepted? I am not planning on walking about in a bathing suit or tight jeans as western tourists would in 40c, rather this:
Also, I'd like to show up for the daily prayers, if possible. Then again, people might be offended by that. What do you think?

Walaikum salaam -

Though I've never had the experience -and likely won't by now considering my age - those I've spoken with have said that outside of Makkah & possibly parts of Morocco if you dress in "native" clothing (thobe, dishdasha, whatever) most locals will take offense. I've been told by friends that live there that non-Arabs in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to wear a thobe & shmagh (I know I spelled that wrong). In addition I've heard that most of the countries in the Arabian Penninsula (or the "Gulf" countries they're called by some) will keep non-citizens in compounds that usually have their own masajid. I checked into living in Egypt or in Dubai and most of the companies that hire Westerners will also house them...

Perhaps I am wrong, and perhaps being a student it is different. Allahu alim.

 

[Isra]

:salam2:

Morocco is a country in the North Africa and that is not true about taking offend from foreingers who wear local clothes, local muslims welcom foreingers to wear locals clothes generaly . and also give as a gifts those clothes

wa :salam2:

As salamo alaikome......

I can verify brother Abdalilah's statement is true. I am an American with very blue eyes but I visited Morocco at the beginning of this year and while I was there I wore the clothing of the locals and actually felt more comfortable than I did wearing my Western clothing (even though the clothes I brought with me were all loose fitting since I already knew what was expected). I felt less noticed when I was in the local clothing.

I was given Moroccan clothes and shoes when I left to come back home and actually the first hijab I wore here in the USA during Ramadan was one that was given to me in Morocco.

 

[DanyalSAC]

:salam2:

Morocco is a country in the North Africa and that is not true about taking offend from foreingers who wear local clothes, local muslims welcom foreingers to wear locals clothes generaly . and also give as a gifts those clothes

wa :salam2:

Yup, that is why I said outside of Makkah and part of Morocco...

Meaning - with the exception of those places.

 

[revert2007]

well is suggest that u study in egypt...egypt has one of the best education and the fee is extremly low..u can just say that u dont hv to pay fee lol...the food is all halal(we have both cheap food and expensive food for all classes) and we hv muslims which is the majority and ortodox christians the minorities.....

here it will be winter starting november..winter without snow which is the best...it is not hot not even we r still in summer...people here are very friendly and open minded...

it is just like any other europe country but it doesnt look clean and the buildings are too old...what do uxpect from the first civilization country in the world.lol

u can learn about religionfrom Al-azhar university which the oldest university in the world...u can visit the pyramids and many hystorical places...

everything is cheap here and u can find the same food like cheese and other similar things to u.....

Egypt Intro

Egypt Video

 

[revert2007]

another important point...Egypt treat foreigners with gentle and they don't mess with the foreigners especially those from US,or any other part of Europe...

 

[xSharingan01x]

salam aleikum

How difficult is it to be socially accepted? I am not planning on walking about in a bathing suit or tight jeans as western tourists would in 40c, rather this:
Also, I'd like to show up for the daily prayers, if possible. Then again, people might be offended by that. What do you think?

live long and prosper

:salam2:

Masha'Allah may Allah bless you for your intention and I pray that you'll find an amicable environment to learn about Islam.

I don't think it will be difficult for you to be socially accepted so long as you surround yourselves with good company (practicing brothers and like minded people). I can understand the uneasiness you might feel about being acquainted with people/making friends in a foreign country. Have Sabr, and Insha'Allah it will work out just fine.
I can assure you that no one will look at you weird or be offended if you go to the Masjid for daily prayers. Even in the worst Muslim countries you'll have no problem attending Masjids (we have a lot of those)

I would recommend Egypt and Malaysia.
Egypt, because of its rich tradition of offering quality Islamic education and also so long as you have money you can live comfortably there (tuition is ridiculously cheap so is cost of living)
Malaysia will be more costly, however you can enjoy the material comfort of western lifestyle since the country is quite developed as the same time the Islamic traditions and values are clearly visible amongst most Muslims. Malaysia also has some new Islamic universities and many of these universities are a popular destination for international students from Muslim countries.


p.s. What's a "trekkie?"

 

[allah is with me]

ah! sister, i understand, force your mother not to send you there...

 

[revert2007]

:salam2:

Masha'Allah may Allah bless you for your intention and I pray that you'll find an amicable environment to learn about Islam.

I don't think it will be difficult for you to be socially accepted so long as you surround yourselves with good company (practicing brothers and like minded people). I can understand the uneasiness you might feel about being acquainted with people/making friends in a foreign country. Have Sabr, and Insha'Allah it will work out just fine.
I can assure you that no one will look at you weird or be offended if you go to the Masjid for daily prayers. Even in the worst Muslim countries you'll have no problem attending Masjids (we have a lot of those)

I would recommend Egypt and Malaysia.
Egypt, because of its rich tradition of offering quality Islamic education and also so long as you have money you can live comfortably there (tuition is ridiculously cheap so is cost of living)
Malaysia will be more costly, however you can enjoy the material comfort of western lifestyle since the country is quite developed as the same time the Islamic traditions and values are clearly visible amongst most Muslims. Malaysia also has some new Islamic universities and many of these universities are a popular destination for international students from Muslim countries.


p.s. What's a "trekkie?"

hahahha...thats is nice we have the same thought..lol...well actually am a malaysia married to egyptian man so i now live in egypt...it depends on what kind of education u want...i read in ur profile that ur not a muslim yet....well if u wanna learn about islam and wanna have a very good islamic environment..i strongly suggest that u study in malaysia
in egypt they dont care if ur revert or not and i dont think they will help u much if u wanna convert.

but in malaysia,people will help u and guide u in islam...it is the best islamic country in the world.my opinion though.

but the worst thing about malaysia is the wheather...it si a tropical wheather and it rains everyday and it is very highy humidity..u clothes will get rotten and ur food will get rotten and the worms come to ur food so easily within 2-3 days..even if ur food is in the fridge after 4 days it will get spoil...my husband and i siffer a lot with this wheather so we decided to go to egypt which is a dry whether and ur cloths dry within 30mints and no rain and u can just enjoy ur life..

another worse thing about malaysia is the doctors...the decease wont kill u but the doctors might kill u by giving wrong medicines...well my whole family have bad experience with doctors in malaysia...i dont know how come they can be doctors..they know nothing and everyday u can read in the newspaper about the mistakes the doctors did and killed the patients.

and another thing the fee...they suck ur blood..so u must be really financially stable.


so i cant gurantee that if u are sick u will be treated well there...

there are both pros and cons....so u have to really look into the matter and get preaperd well..if u wanna come to malaysia...just bring all the medicines that u need and do not visit any clinic or hospitals.lol

good luck to u.

 

[revert2007]

well i dont know how true it is coz last month i checked in the internet it was al-azhar and i dont know how come the guiness book can claim that al-azhar is the second when the first civilization in the world is Egypt...but whatever it is..all around the world,muslims come to al-azhar to study islam.even Sheikh Khalid Yasin came to azhar to learn islam....so it is not about how old it is but how effective is the learning about islam in that particular university.

 

[Should_I]

salam aleikum
It's been a lot of posts, so I'll write this: What is a trekkie?
And to clarify something: I am studying computers and multimedia, so I reckon it will have to be something related to that, ie studying religion will get me disapproved, but who needs school to study religion. I need a technical university. If you know of one, that would assist!

about malaysia: the lingo is written in latin, I need to learn a new alfabet(alphabet). I would prefer going to north africa or the middle east, not southeast asia, due to some of the things you mentioned: the striking humidity. I believe marokko, saudiarabia etc have dry climates. I've heard of bugs appearing in rice after a few days... ech. And the rain! I am used to having two days of rain a year. So maybe egypt is a good idea. I know people who have spent their holidays there, with some problems due to not observing local customs. I want to stay somewhere nice and hot, I haven't had a tan ever :shymuslima1:

It will likely be two years from now before I go, but it is not a bad idea to plan ahead, as I might be the only one going in that direction from this university.

:fighta: why does this smily only count to 5?