VOTING AND THE SHARIAH – A RESPONSE TO BAATIL
The following is a letter from a concerned brother:
“Assalaamualaikum
Respected Mufti Saheb,
- I have a major concern regarding Jamiat ulama SA (he is referring to the Jamiat of Ebrahim Bham – JamiatNC) as well as other organizations such as Radio Islam, Darul Ihsaan, promoting voting. As a believer we understand very well that promoting voting in a democratic country where the laws governed by other than the Quran and Sunnah. How do they justify it?
Recently they have used verses from the Quran in promoting their stance, is this not tahreef of the Quran?
- They’ve got a very wide platform, they reach out to many Muslims in SA, the concern is that they are reaching out to them and encouraging voting with “daleel” from the Quran, are the masses not misled? How do we correct this notion amongst the masses, will the general Ulama who understand the truth and not speak against it, not be answerable before Allah?
jazakallahu khairan”
RESPONSE
Allah Ta’ala states in the Qur’aan Majeed: “Those who do not govern according to that (Shariah) revealed by Allah, indeed they are the kaafiroon.”
It should be understood clearly that the western system of democracy has neither origin nor sanction in Islam. The endeavour to equate the system of voting with Islamic concepts, smacks strongly of apologetism. In almost all cases, worldly motives are the incentives for this attempt.
The attempt to eke out Qur’aanic support for the system of voting which prevails in South Africa and in other countries, is indeed a miserable, sad exercise. It is an insult to men of knowledge who claim to be upholders of the Sunnah. The un-Islamic ingredients and methods of the voting system are glaring. Deep thought is not required to understand that this western system of selecting a government is just not compatible with Islam.
A VERY SIMPLE ISSUE
Nabi Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam said: “Deen is easy.” Whatever Allah Ta’ala has prohibited, is easy for us to abstain from. And whatever Allah Ta’ala has enjoined upon us, is easy to carry out. There is no difficulty and absolutely no complications in our Shariah.
The issue of voting is indeed very simple. The issue is: Inspite of the voting system being un-Islamic and in conflict with the Shariah, is it permissible for Muslims to vote? Does the current circumstances justify participation in voting or not?
Consider the following: If a Muslim is under duress and dying of starvation in a situation where the only edible item available is swine meat, the simple and straightforward ruling will be that it is permissible for him to consume a little of the haraam item to save himself. In order to extract this permissibility, there is absolutely no need to resort to laborious arguments, first to prove that pork is also a food item and to eat food is necessary to sustain the body, hence eating pork is halaal. Such arguments are the product of ignorance.
In addition to the voting system being plainly un-Islamic, our current situation demands that voting remains impermissible. In other words, it is not permissible to consume a little swine flesh. There is currently no danger to Muslims or to our Islamic way of life. In our opinion there is no pressing need for Muslims to vote. The harms attendant to participation in non-Muslim politics far outweigh the advantages. There is no good to gain from voting under present circumstances.
Muslims are under no pressure to vote. Our lives and Deen are not under threat, compelling us to vote for any non-Muslim or to participate in their politics. Participation in their politics is participation in kufr, fisq, fujoor and haraam.
Intermingling of the sexes, photography, total violation of Hijaab and numerous other Haraam acts are part of the process of re gistration and voting. And it should be remembered that by voting, a person is automatically contributing to the political cause of a party even if one does not agree to all the views of the party one votes for!
Our responses to the brother’s queries are as follows:
- One may not use the Qur’aan to promote something which is in conflict with the Shariah. This is openly tahreef (misinterpretation) of the Qur’aan which is stark Kufr. When one knows that the voting system is un-Islamic, then how can one have the audacity to misuse the Qur’aan for voting? Where in the Qur’aan or in the Shariah is the kuffaar system of voting promoted? Nowhere! On the contrary, it is severely condemned and branded kufr and its proponents are described as kaafiroon, zaalimoon and faasiqoon.
It is indeed sad, lamentable, a great sin and clear-cut deception for some so-called ‘Molvis’ to scare Muslims into Haraam voting by stupidly and baselessly averring that it is one’s right and duty to vote. To them we say that it is our constitutional right and our Shar’i right to abstain from voting.
They misuse the Qur’aan and when it is said that they are evil Ulama (Ulama-e-Soo), then the Ulama-e-Haq are accused of insulting the ‘Ulama’! What! Do they expect us to praise people who misinterpret the Qur’aan so blatantly? Undoubtedly, it is Shaitaaniyat to say that a Muslim is sinning for not participating in Kufr elections.
When the situation does not demand a Muslim to eat a little pork to save his life, then the Muslim may not be condemned for not consuming the filth. The entire fabric of governance in both ‘Muslim’ and non-Muslim countries is kufr and haraam. How can it ever be permissible for Muslims to be a party to such governance?
- Yes, the Ulama-e-Haq should speak up against all evils, especially those of the Ulama-e-Soo. This is the primary obligation of the Ulama known as Amr Bil Ma’roof Nahi Anil Munkar (enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong).
The scope of this article precludes a detailed response to their arguments. Insha Allah, a detailed rebuttal of their weak arguments will be published soon.