Are Muslim Countries Safe for Westerners?
Iranians in the rain on a Tehran street
December 18, 2006
This question is answered by Wael Abdelgawad, the IslamicAnswers.com. and Zawaj.com Editor and Administrator.
QUESTION:
Dear Bilqis,
My fiancee is a Muslim man from Iran, and I am a Christian woman from Australia. We have known each other for four years. We now want to get married. I also want to turn to Islam. In about eight weeks we will be flying to Iran from Australia to get married as his family lives in Iran.
I am fairly nervous as in Western countries we are told that the Muslim countires are dangerous or a threat to Westerners. The Australian government says there is a high level of caution for Australian people in Middle Eastern countries. I want to know whether it is safe for me, a Christian woman, to travel to Iran? I really want to meet his family and marry him.
A lot of my friends and relatives think I am stupid for wanting to go to that country at this time... with all the political issues that are televised on Australian TV every day. I am so confused. I have never been over seas before.
- Angela from Australia
WAEL ANSWERS:
Dear Angela, As-Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah,
You should go, and I would be very surprised if you experienced anything from the Iranian people but warmth and friendliness.
It is admirable that you want to become Muslim, and you will find it to be a religion that is sensible and straightforward, as well as spiritual and just. Islam teaches us to respect all human beings, and to have compassion for all, regardless of nationality or race.
Australia is a country which is known to have a high level of prejudice and hostility toward foreigners and minority races. Perhaps you are afraid that you will encounter a similar sort of prejudice in Iran. But I think your fears are unfounded. Even though there may be political strains between governments, you will find the people on the ground to be friendly, normal people just like you and me. Furthermore, Iran is a stable, democratic country that does not suffer from internal political violence.
I suspect you will find the Iranian people to be very hospitable and generous people, which is a common trait of Muslims, in spite of what you may hear in the Western media.
As for your friends who say you are foolish, have they been to Iran so that they can offer an informed opinion? Of course not. Their statements are based on ignorance. Anytime you do something in life that others have not done, you will get a lot of criticism. Learn to ignore people's comments and follow your own heart.
I do have some common-sense pieces of travel advice for you. Most of these are general travel safety tips, whether you are travelling to Iran, New York or Beijing:
- Carry your passport and wallet on your person in a secure place. You should also make two photocopies of your passport, identification and credit cards. Leave one set of photocopies at home, and carry the other set of photocopies in a separate place, in case the originals are lost or stolen.
- When flying, anything you cannot afford to lose should go in your carry-on bag, not in your checked luggage.
- Let your family at home know where you will be staying and how to reach you. Stay in touch with them while you are traveling. Internet cafes are usually very handy for this. I am sure you will find plenty of them in Iran.
- Use your credit card as little as possible when overseas, to prevent credit card theft or fraud. Pay with cash or traveler's checks.
- Do not go out alone or at night in areas that are unfamiliar.
- Do not take out your wallet or your money on the street. Do not use streetside money changers and do not buy goods from street vendors.
- If you require any medication, take enough with you to last through the trip. Don't count on being able to get a prescription filled overseas.
- Do not wear expensive clothing, jewelry or watches.
- When you visit a Muslim country it's best to dress modestly so as to respect the local traditions.
Lastly, I don't like to sound a negative note, but be sure you take enough money with you to pay for lodging and food for the duration of your stay. Even though you may be planning to stay at your fiancee's house and rely on his family's hospitality, there is always the chance that things may not work out, and in that event you need to be able to pay your own way until you return.
Enjoy your trip Insha'Allah. Approach it with an attitude of hope and excitement (not fear or anxiety) and I am sure you will have a wonderful time.
If any readers have some additional advice for this questioner, feel free to post your comments below.
Glory to You Allah, we praise You, we bear witness that there is no God except You, we ask Your forgivess and we repent to You.
Best regards,
- Wael Hesham Abdelgawad, Administrator
IslamicAnswers.com Islamic Marriage and Family Advice
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Hello Jijo,
Regarding racism in Australia, I read the BBC News and I keep reading stories like these:
In pictures: Australia violence:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4520286.stm
Racism on the rise in Australian sports:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/australia/4670676.stm
But I admit that these stories are infrequent. And I haven't been to Australia, so it's not fair for me to judge. So maybe my statement about Australia being "known to have a high level of prejudice" was overstated or exaggerated. Every country experiences racist incidents, including the United States, China, the Arab world, or wherever.
So I take back my statement about Australia being racist. You are right that I cannot judge.
Lastly, I just want to comment about visiting Iran: bear in mind that this answer was written before the recent political troubles and unrest in Iran. I might give different advice today about traveling to Iran.
Hello Wael,
I liked your reply except for this part: "Australia is a country which is known to have a high level of prejudice and hostility toward foreigners and minority races."
How many incidents have you heard about a Muslim woman getting attacked in Australia because of her religion? Australia is more liberal than Iran by any standards. Since it's a very free country, even small incidents get media attention. We don't have to smuggle out photos taken in our mobile phones to know the truth.
Also I would like to know how you would have welcomed Angela if she told you that her fiance was converting to Christianity. My point is that it's easy to come to conclusions about others. Let's leave that 'holier-than-thou' attitude and face the fact. That we are all more or less the same.
Your Brother,
Jijo
Hello Wael
You are very wrong when you said:
"Australia is a country which is known to have a high level of prejudice and hostility toward foreigners and minority races"
Australia is arguably the worlds most successful, harmonious multicultural nation. People of all nations and religions live, work, intermingle, eat, study and marry together. There are no ethnic ghettos, no large areas of cities only populated by people of one nation. It has very strict laws stopping racism and all forms of discrimination are heavily enforced and punished severely.
Australians pay a lot of their taxes to fund ethnic support agencies, translator services, equal-opportunity officials and an entire government department dedicated to stopping discrimination, language classes. Muslim schools get subsidies along with the christian schools.
Australians for the very most part hate racism and all forms of discrimination: it is very against the culture, and even being accused of this is greatly shaming and can ruin a person's career and life. Australians are great travelers, and are famous for wanting to see the rest of the world.
The Indian gutter-press has been inflaming and distorting Australia's crime rate to sell more rubbish newspapers over the last year. You should not be playing into this by adding to the fire of hate, especially if you have never been to Australia, it makes trouble for the whole world at a time when we need to need to be good to each other more than ever. It is also very hurtful for Australian people, did you even consider that? Indian gutter-press never reports on acts of violence to foreigners in India, do they? But there are many each year. And, the Australian media does not report this in the same way either, and these facts produce a very unbalanced, distorted view of things. Also, you clearly have not heard about Indians in Australia convicted of crime themselves? Or that some of the reported violence violence against Indians was done by OTHER INDIANS! And there have been some Indians convicted of lying and saying they have been attacked and robbed to try to get compensation payouts.
Do you like the view of Iran that the foreign press presents? is it fair? Think of how distorted a picture it is - hysterical Islamic extremists burning western flags and shouting slogans of violence, etc. Is that the REAL Iran? NO!, it is the MEDIA Iran, just nasty, hurtful, racist propaganda. So please stop spreading the nasty media FAKE propaganda view of Australia!
Please stop being racist and adding to world hate and ethnic tension. It is very irresponsible these days.
Visit Australia, I think you will have a wonderful holiday, it is a friendly, welcoming, very tolerant, and beautiful land and people
Another thing Wael
I just checked your BBC links: they are 4 whole years apart! Hardly an epidemic of racism? And even more unbelievably, you may not have even read them yourself.
Let me quote one:
"An Indian man in his 20s was allegedly set upon by a group of men of Middle Eastern appearance, and another Indian was injured in a separate attack"
and:
"And the Lebanese hit them Indians very badly... in the stomach and in the head," Reuters TV quoted an unidentified witness to the attack.
Three Lebanese men were then allegedly assaulted by members of the angry Indian crowd and sustained minor injuries, in what is believed to be a retaliation attack."
So what is the point of sending a link to this story at all? Are you trying to argue that Middle-Easterners are violent and racist? Or that Indians are themselves forming angry violent mobs in Australia?
I'm afraid this story tends show just how complicated real life actually is, and it is not a simple matter of just running Australia and Australians down for being , as you put it: "... a country which is known to have a high level of prejudice and hostility toward foreigners and minority races."
Here it appears the "foreigners and minority races" seem to be the ones actually being hostile!!!
We;d all like an apology please Wael!!!
Hello Gerardo,
Thanks for your comments. I haven't been to Australia, so maybe as you said my view is distorted by uneven media portrayals. I'm willing to admit that possibility. But your comments on the other hand seem unrealistically rosy. For example you said there are no ethnic ghettos, what about this:
Sydney's notorious Aboriginal ghetto to be demolished
You might say, "well look, they're going to demolish it," but this is recent news, and hasn't it existed all these years?
In any case you have expressed yourself eloquently and I'll let your comments represent your case.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
Salams,
prejudices exist everywhere and the West is generally very biased towards Islamic countries due to
ignorance and false media portrayal. I'm a half-Iranian raised in the West, so I think i can give you
a few tips when it comes to inter-cultural differences.
1.) Iran is not a democracy in the western sense, it's a theocracy in which people elect president
and parliament
2) Iran is a country in which women have to wear headscarfs on the street, unlike their Arab neighbour
states, but in which the majority of university students and the members of parliament are female. Women
are highly respected in Islam and culture, and have a lot to say in their marriages. Very often , the woman in
Iran is in charge of her husband's financial affairs and money.
3) Iranian food is very delicious, tell your husband to invite you to "Djudje Kabab". You're going to love it,
I got addicted to it.
4) In Iran, the family influences the way Islam is practised. You're going to find families in which all females
have nose-jobs and the hair is flicking out of the scarf. There are other families which are religious and
women wear the tchador, which is a traditional black garment, like a tent, the original meaning of tchador.
I assume your husband's family is religious, so there will be gender segregation very often. Don't panic,
that's just because women in Iran are very image-conscious and in front of men, we don't show our
beauties. Under the traditional hijab, you can wear anything you want, tight-fitting jeans, skirts, dresses...
only men are not supposed to see it. But: your father-in-law is mahram, so he's allowed to see you. And
his grand-father, too, in front of other men, women cover.
I would recommend you to wear a cardigan-like over garment and a normal headscarf. When you're in
Iran, you can go to the bazar with your in-laws, choosing an appropriate hijab.
They are very friendly and warm, and you're going to love it. Sometimes a little direct, but that's because
they live in extended families and are used to saying everything to each other. 🙂 But all in all, they are
hospitable, nice, modern, generous and very very friendly. By the way, are you going to travel to Tehran?
As regional differences play a role, too.
Okey, dokey, let me know if I could help you.
Oh, before I forgot it. Iran is very safe and there aren't suicide bombings. It's safe.
Jazakallah kheiran