What I Wish I Knew Before Making Hijrah (From Sweden to Dubai)

Bismillah. Hello everybody and welcome to yet another episode of the Baraka Blueprint podcast. This is the podcast where we talk about the optimal balance of faith and focus to become the best version of yourself. A version that performs successfully in dean and dunya and to achieve truly lasting success. success that will give you both worldly benefits and spiritual benefits. I'm your host Ibrahim Sharif. You're going to find my podcast on Spotify, on YouTube. You're going to find short clips on Instagram and Tik Tok. You can find me on YouTube shorts and I don't know if there are any other social media platforms. I'll even be there inshallah. And before I start, I want to extend my gratitude to each and every one of you because those who don't thank people don't thank God. So I want to be the person that thanks every single one of my subscribers, my followers, my viewers, my listeners. Thank you all so very much for continuing to contribute to the growing success of the Baraka Blueprint Podcast. We have had alhamdulillah some amazing things happening to the podcast recently. We were guests at the podcast of American in Dubai. Our brother Darren, may Allah bless him. We had our first guest as well and I'm going to be releasing that episode very shortly. So keep an eye out for that. And I also want to thank those of you that have criticized my recent podcast episode, namely about hijra. Many thought that it wasn't a good idea to talk about this specifically for various reasons. Some were thinking that this would potentially bring me problems. I don't know why one would think like this. Others had the idea that this wasn't really something suitable to talk about. And this episode guys is specifically for those of you who think like this because I absolutely disagree. fundamentally disagree, especially considering the very negative developments that have happened that are affecting Muslims very negatively in the west when it comes to practicing their faith, when it comes to affirming and living their identity as Muslims. It is something that is growing to be more and more impossible and is going to be very very difficult. And therefore, I want to continue on this series. I want to continue on this very topic and talk a bit more on the practical side of things. Not not not so much of a step by step, but I would say some more practical information other than the general information that you've been given in the most recent episode. And I'm going to take examples from my own journey from living and practicing in Sweden until I actually took the step and moved to the United Arab Emirates. So, if you have any specific topics that you want me to address in the later episodes or something that you would like to pass the ball back and forth regarding your own journey or your own experience, please feel free to reach out and I'll be more than happy to take up those particular topics. But without any further ado, let's continue with this episode in Baraka style. The first question you need to ask yourself is, is hijra right for you right in this moment? Meaning, are you actually ready to take this step? Because hijra and moving to a Muslim country is not really a dance on roses. Hijra is an act of worship. Like any act of worship, it's i. Therefore, like every single ibada, every single act of worship, this particular thing and this particular action requires the correct intention for you to be successful. What do I mean by this? I mean that if this action is not for the sake of God Almighty then either Allah subhana wa tala will not give you any success in this endeavor or you will not be able to achieve the very thing that you're looking to achieve which is reward. What we're doing is we're trying with every single thing that we do with every single project that we take on with every single change that we introduce to our lives we try to please God almighty we want to be in a sit in in a state in a level where Allah where Allah subhana t is pleased with us and gives us success in this life as a secondary priority but success in the in the afterlife and to achieve paradise and this is the primary goal is the primary goal of every Muslim man and woman. We need to understand that this is an act of worship and we need to internalize this mindset and we need to internalize that belief and only then we will be able to achieve and get the success of God Almighty. For example, before you book that one-way ticket, ask yourself, are you running from something or are you running towards something? Now, one or the other is not necessarily good or bad. Everything depends on your perspective. Because if you are running from something, meaning you are intentionally leaving a negative space, a negative environment, an environment that fights your belief, let's say, then you're actually doing a good thing. And the same thing with the other side of the coin. If you're running towards something, meaning you may not necessarily have it as bad, but you want to migrate to a place to an environment where you can become a better version of yourself, where you can practice your religion more freely. Both can be good. Both can be very beneficial, especially with the right intention. Both can be done for the sake of Allah Almighty ultimately. However, understanding your situation will help you prepare for your next journey or for your next bus stop. Because ultimately, there's nothing final in this life. Everything is temporary. We're just passing by temporary stops and stations before we reach our ultimate station, which is the afterlife. And understanding what your situation is will help you utilize and extract as much value as possible. It also helps you understand two other things. Firstly, it helps you understand whether you're living a fantasy or whether you're actually giving real commitment because it is very easy to say that hey guys come on over move to Muslim countries or saying to oneself oh I wish that I was in XY Z country instead of wherever I am right now. But when push comes to shove and when we assess the situation of whether we're actually ready to take these steps, here is where we draw the line between fantasy and reality. And there's absolutely no problem in fantasizing about your next step in life or trying to understand if I don't know if a certain place is suitable for you or not and just thinking along those lines maybe without even having concrete plans as a beginning. I mean of course everybody wants that. I didn't immediately start planning to move to the UAE, but there was a very long phase where I was dreaming and asking Allahh for success and just hoping that something would come my way or hoping that one of the stones that you throw that they actually hit the target. I mean, of course, there's nothing wrong in hoping and or not hoping specifically, but there's nothing wrong in fantasizing about your next destination. The problem is if you stay in that box, that is the problem. The problem is if you don't fuel or use this fantasy and this dream and this aspiration as fuel for you and actually work on it and knock on doors and optimize your profile and actually do whatever you can so that you can be more ready to take that step. Because if you dream too much, again, nothing wrong with dreaming, but if you dream too much, well, you're still asleep. You need to wake up. It's no problem at all in having a fine, beautiful dream. It is a problem if it stays a dream and doesn't become reality. Digressing to the second point, which is you need to look for signs. If you are physically, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually ready is what I'm trying to say. You need to be mentally ready in terms of you need to understand that there are going to be processes that will grind your gears. Hey, especially if you come from Europe, there are certain systems and there are certain processes that we may be used to and certain things that we take for granted, but we're not going to see that in our next destination. And that can actually lead to some frustrations, to some pain points, and at the very worst case scenario to loss of resources. Could be loss in money, could be loss in other things as well. So you need to be mentally prepared for the challenges that you're going to face. And even more important than that, you need to be spiritually ready. You need to understand that if you truly are doing this for the sake of God Almighty, then any pain point that you're going to see in your life in this journey, in this challenge, it shouldn't throw you off your game. It shouldn't get you to throw in the towel and give up. because you're doing it for the sake of God. So challenges should be next to normal. So to summarize, number one, identify the why. Identify why you want to leave. Identify what situation you are in so that you can extract as much as much value as possible. Number two, nothing wrong with fantasy, nothing wrong with dreams, but migrate as soon as possible from dream to reality before you migrate from country A to country B. And finally, assess your mental and spiritual readiness. Very very important because only when you are mentally and spiritually ready is when this particular journey is going to yield the most success for you. Secondly, choosing a country, choosing your place of residence. I'll take myself as an example. Now, I've always wanted to move to the Gulf States for a very long time. I had some on my short list. Allah subhana wa ta'ala made one of them possible. It was possible because I am in a particular workplace was there was there in Sweden and they have a division in the United Arab Emirates. Whether the United Arab Emirates was on the top of my list or not doesn't really matter. What matters here is that a door opened up and alhamdulillah it was a better situation than the situation I had in Sweden. So I prayed I asked Allahh for guidance I took advice from my nearest and dearest around me. I packed my bags and I came to the United Arab Emirates. That was my situation for me. For you it may not be the same. And again it depends on your profile. For example, if you are a business owner, an entrepreneur, while you may have some more freedom, you'll have some other anchors and responsibilities that you'll need to consider. For example, what do you need in terms of starting a business to get the proper visa and the proper residence permits and the proper work permits to enter and live in that country? How much capital do you need? How much money do you need to be it do and complete the specific processes to find an accommodation? Do you need to rent an office space? So all of these things, right? Ask yourself which situation are you in. Are you coming in as an employee, as an employer, as a freelancer, as a content creator? Whatever it could be, you need to understand what situation you're in first and then and only then certain parameter sorry certain parameters I'm not going to cut this is going to apply to you and that is going to be your platform that is going to be your game plan or your field and those are then going to be your rules. Besides that, you don't know if you're going to be playing a game of baseball, a game of football, a game of American football, or if if I have anyone from the US, football or soccer. You need to understand what rules apply to you specifically in your situation before you can start playing the game. If you're coming in as an employee, you have a couple of options. Either you're working with a global employer that has branches in other countries. See if there is a possibility of relocation. Now, of course, that comes with a catch and the catch is that you're actually doing good as an employee. You are a valuable asset to the firm and at the same time you have a skill set that can be of advantage to the branch you are moving towards. Now, with that being said, if that is your situation, look at the branches that they have. see if one of the countries is one that you can think of trying out and check with your employer if there is any potential or possibility to relocate. There's also the possibility to relocate while remaining under the employment of your current branch or your current corporation. Some workplaces, I'm not going to speak for all, but some workplaces actually offer that. So, my advice for you is think about that step also. And I'll give an example. Let's say you're considering to, let's say you're working in a Swedish company and you're considering to live in Morocco. Some workplaces can actually offer you in your contract a non-specificity in location of work. So, you can be a full-time remote employee while you work from another country. My recommendation then is choose a country that has a an approximate or close time zone to your country of origin because or your or your business location because you don't want to put your employer in a situation where you relocating is disadvantageous because remember it is not only you that will extract value. you need to give value to your employer and reducing value is not really gonna speak for your case very well. Now, if the situation is different, if you want to come to another country, let's say to the Gulf States as an employee and you're looking for a job, let's say you're not with an employer that has other branches, let's say you're someone who is actually looking for a place of employment. Let's say you're looking for a company to hire you. The important thing here is to understand okay what business do you want to work in what industry do you want to work in sorry and what skill set is required for you to stand out from other applicants because in a market like let's say the United Arab Emirates for example or even other markets like let's say the competition for workspaces or the competition for positions is actually quite high and the market is very saturated. So, what you're going to need to research is what will make you stand out from the other employees. What will make you stand out from the other uh applicants? It could be a certificate of sorts. It could be a specific education. It could be a particular experience or knowledge or skill set that is very rare. That is something you can find very easily. You can look through LinkedIn. If you have a premium subscription, I think you can even see what the top applicants have as skills or as parts in their profile that can actually help you. If not, you can use various AI tools. You have perplex uh perplexity. Sorry, I don't know why I'm sluring today. You have Perplexity, you have chat GPT as well with their new functions of like researching different sources and whatnot. Use those tools to your advantage to build your optimal profile. And my word of advice is to use them specifically to develop your LinkedIn profile. Spend a lot of time on it. Be it to develop the different media sources. Let's say your profile picture. I wouldn't necessarily I wouldn't actually recommend using AI for your profile picture. No. Unless it's a very good tool and it's very very convincing. But what I mean instead is let's say for your bio description. let's say ideas on how you can have your cover art posts that you can um share about your particular expertise or to write in your domain of expertise or in your domain of work. It could be anything. I mean if you have legal expertise for example then there there there's going to be certain content where you can generate as much value as possible. If you're an IT expert or if you're an IT subject matter expert of any sort, fintech, whatever it could be, provide value and show the your different your prospects that you are somebody that doesn't only utilize value, but you can actually generate and provide and share value with other people. I would even say check other platforms like if you want to search for a job in the UAE, consider bait.com for example. You have many many opportunities that are published there and not on LinkedIn. Indeed, you have many other plat and indeed is one of them as well. You have many many other platforms. So research the different platforms and train AI with different applicant data so that you can ultimately stand out and you can build your profile to be well the best possible presentation of yourself. And of course, before even talking about the prospect country or choosing the country, there are certain things you're going to be that you're going to need to research. What's the cost of living? How much is it going to cost for you? Let's say, are you alone with your partner? Are you coming with your family with of kids? How's your situation? How's your living situation or living conditions going to be? how much you need to pay in terms of rent, insurance, all of these things, all of these administrative tasks. Make sure to do them properly before you narrow down the short list. Cost of living, groceries, and whatnot. Uh now, all of that is possible through various means. either you solely use internet resources and net resources or AI resources for that and of course you always need to double check whatever you get or you can also network with let's say people in your contact list or networks that have actually moved to these countries that you're looking for or that have experience or that know people that have moved there. There you can get some real time feedback on what you can expect in terms of the administrative and the costly endeavors. Among the other things that you're going to need to research is well the the the legal side of things, right? So you need to understand what uh legal requirements uh you need to follow, how is the visa process going to be, what do you need to complete and even the legal requirements from your country of origin. So for example, I'm from Sweden. There are certain requirements when it comes to spending time in Sweden after you have relocated and after you have left Sweden, before you become tax eligible or before you are tax mandated. Other things that you need to think about for example is uh well besides how much time you're allowed to spend in your country of origin it could also be let's see here what processes do you need to do before uh or even after you move out of your country for example in Sweden you're not allowed to stay outside of the country for more than a year while remaining as a registered resident in Sweden so if if time passes more than a you're actually obliged to reg to to to dregister yourself from the residence records in Sweden. So consider that and consider looking into that very very carefully because you don't want to be in a situation where you looked up too little or you researched a little and then the backlash hits you and it ends up taking up a lot more damage than anticipated. And as much as we talked about hij being a spiritual move, it is not only a spiritual move, it's a financial and monetary move as well. And but starts with a budget. So like the financial planning that you're going to need to consider, like I said, the estimated costs on a monthly basis, rent, groceries, transportation, whatever it could be, administrative fees as well, visa costs, uh the flight tickets, all of these things, prepare for that. And like I said, use the various tools that we have around us to your advantage. Erh because if you sit with your own thoughts and think about the different things that you need to budget out for and plan for, there is a possibility that you're going to miss out on something. Something is going to fall between the cracks. You may have, for example, planned the transportation cost, cost of living, groceries, residence, uh everything, and you forget the visa costs or you forget other fees that are going to end up taking a chunk of your budget. I'll give you an example. Here in the UAE or here in Dubai specifically, in order to have a an an electricity and water uh service running in your apartment or your house, you need to pay some fees that that count as security deposits, but you need to pay them upfront before you register for that contract and before you have running electricity and water. Now, if you haven't lived in the UAE and if you only sit with your own thoughts and plan and calculate, it is a possibility that you're going to miss out on this. So, again, using systems like chat GPT or networking with other people and have gone through this a similar experience will help you evade many of those traps and errors. A recommendation that I have is this. If there is a possibility for you to build an income portal or an income channel before moving to another country, I highly recommend this. So be it if you're a freelancer and let's say you're a graphic designer or you're a web designer or you're a marketer or even if you're a copywriter, any anything goes. So if you have another income stream or planning to have that, I would highly recommend keeping those alive because in a situation where you're moving from country to country, having additional income streams will only play to your advantage. So again, highly highly recommended that you build additional income streams if possible or that you foster and uh develop your existing income streams and channels. Now when it comes to my situation because as I mentioned I moved from Sweden to the UAE and it took me some time to adjust. It took me some time to adjust to the new environment. Not only from a physical as in like temperature point of view like right now it's getting kind of hot and I'm dreading the worst July August situation. Allah if I'm going to be here at the time but some things that I wish that I had prepared for better is especially when it comes to the mental aspect or the emotional aspect I should say. I'm a very social person and it took me some time to build a network here in the UAE and I wish that I have I had started that a bit sooner is something that I could think about. Alhamdulillah, it didn't take me too long to build a network. People here are very open, friendly, and they're eager to share their value, I would say. So, alhamdulillah, it wasn't very difficult. I'm not so much of an introvert. So, that played to my advantage. Alhamdulillah. And I would recommend with that being said to understand your environment or understand the environment that you're moving towards. That will help you greatly to well, be it build your network or to survive that environment. If you're going to a place that is very closed off, then act accordingly basically or prepare accordingly. Now, let's face it, most of the countries that people usually consider when they're talking hij are not those countries. If I'm wrong, please correct me. But to my understanding, that is not the case. To my understanding, people are are quite open. You can talk to anybody here in the here in Dubai, for example, everybody's open. you can really strike up a conversation with random people and you wouldn't know maybe you find your next business partner. I mean really it works like this and that is something that I wish I had adopted a little bit sooner because I was still stuck in my Swedish ways. People you don't talk to everybody really. You have your own network and it's very difficult when you don't have anyone in your network in your physical network when you move to the UAE or when you move to another country. So that's something that I now thinking thinking back to it I wish I had prepared better for this but alhamdulillah right now I wouldn't say that I'm in a situation where I'm a stranger uh actually quite the opposite so but just for the sake of comfort something that I wish that I have done a little bit sooner and speaking of which I have heard of people being open and friendly and you could really strike up a conversation with anyone but I wasn't wasn't prepared that it was like this in in that level that I have observed. It's actually quite surprising and I'm very happy for it alhamdulillah because this fits perfectly with my personality. It fits perfectly with who I am as a person. And one more thing that really surprised me is the existence of like many possible things. There are many many things that you can do. many services that exist that you wouldn't imagine. I, for example, renting a podcast studio. I mean, of course, I don't need it, but no, I'm joking. For my different guest episodes, for example, it really came in clutch. It was very beneficial. But those services, I really didn't consider that they existed. And that that was something that was very surprising. And ultimately when you think about it, it's not very not very strange because this market is very hungry. This region is very hungry. Everybody's hustling. Everybody is working. So of course ideas, they're going to come left and right. Someone is going to have the idea of well renting a small space, buying all the gear, buying all the SH SM7B mics and the Sony cameras and the soft boxes and whatnot and some good cute looking vases and suddenly you have a podcast studio for people to rent and then well you can help you you you help them with their content creation for example. That is something I didn't think would exist. But when the need came, subhan Allah, it was right there. And besides that, of course, the openness of people is something that really surprised me. Positively surprised me. Alhamdulillah. Now, and for this one, I'm going to talk to the Muslim listener that is and the Muslim viewer that is watching this, we have the ultimate weapon at the end of the day, which is dua. We have the ultimate weapon, which is praying your prayers in the masid. we have the ultimate weapon which is keeping a real and consistent relationship with the Quran. Now these three things while seemingly simple and easy to say trust me when I say I think the majority reason behind the success that I have lived here alhamdulill and the comfort that I'm living here is because of these three things or these three because ultimately God is the ultimate decision maker but these three uh methods and these three resources help me the farthest Allah subhana t takes care of the person who asks for his help and God Almighty takes care of the person who builds a lasting relationship with his dean. Be that person and watch how God does wonders for you. Now before I let you go, for some time I thought I was ready. I thought I was ready to move. The week before I was going to move, I started getting second guesses. I started to think, okay, well, I'm I'm leaving a comfort zone. when I'm leaving my family and friends. I'm leaving my closest network, friends that I grew up with, my local masid, I mean, everything, right? And it scared me. I'm not going to lie. And I still thought I was 100% ready for for many months. I thought I was when I got the offer letter and I was preparing my my migration and everything, I thought I really really really thought I was ready. 100% ready even. But then, and I'm I'm happy that I got this reality check because you'll you you'll never be 100% ready. Even and especially when you think you're 100% ready, you're not 100% ready. So, it's okay to not be 100% ready. What you need is this. You need which is asking for guidance, asking for advice, consultation, research, preparing physically and preparing metaphysically. So if you do your due diligence and if you're if you ask for God's guidance and you end up landing on the conclusion that I am moving to country X inshallah even when you feel that you're not 100% ready and you get these second guesses go ahead do it stay on your path when you make your decision rely on God continue with that path but rely on God and God will take care of you after that my advice to you is again If you are a if you if if if you're leaning towards the entrepreneurial freelancer side of things, check which markets and which countries will help you the most in terms of opportunity, but also in terms of let's say cost of living. So let's say you want to move to a country that has a lower requirement or a lower cost. In that way you won't have as much pressure for example. or let's say you want to have as many opportunities as you possibly can and network uh your head off. Maybe countries in the Gulf will be more suitable for you. So assess your situation first. Now if you're an employee or an aspiring employer or whatever, prepare your profile, build your profile, build your skill set, get your certifications. Let's say if you're a pro a project manager, get your PMP certification and your scrub master or whatever. If you are in another field, look through carefully what would make you stand out as an applicant. So you preparing practically in your best skill set and your best abilities while preparing your faith and iman in your best possible capability. Trust me when I say God will give you success. And I ask Allahh to give me and to give you all the success in our journeys, our endeavors, in our efforts. With that said, I want to thank you so very much for this special episode. I'm saying special not because I don't have a special guest yet, but those those those are coming. But it was special in terms of me being able to open up to my audience a bit more. And thank you for those who sent the questions that led to this specific episode. If you have any other questions or any other topics that you want me to touch on, I will be more than happy to address them. And be on the lookout for the upcoming special episodes. One with American in Dubai where I was a guest in his podcast and the one with Canyon Canyon Mips as our first official podcast guest because that is coming up very soon as well. If you like what you've seen, please leave this video a like. Please leave the podcast a review on the various podcast platforms so that I know what I'm doing that is beneficial and good or what I can do to further improve the delivery of this crucial and important message and to help as many people as I possibly can and as we possibly can because we want to leave a net net positive impact on the people around us, our society, our environment because that is what we're taught to do as Muslims. So let's help each other on that path. Leave me a follow on the various social media platforms if you want to stay updated on the well updates on the baraka blueprint or if you want to connect with me and ask me any questions or if you want to meet up if you're here in the UAE more than happy to do that and let's keep the baraka rolling. Stay productive, stay focused and I pray for your success in Bakyle.