Can Muslims Vote in Elections of the Modern Secular State

Can Muslims Vote in Elections of the Modern Secular State?

THE WORLD-ORDER TODAY

THE MYSTERY OF THE MODERN SECULAR STATE

MERITS OF THE MODERN SECULAR STATE

SHIRK AND KUFR IN THE MODERN SECULAR STATE 

THE CALIPHATE AND THE MODERN SECULAR STATE

QUR’ANIC EXPLANATION FOR THE UNIVERSAL SHIRK OF THE MODERN SECULAR STATE 

ALTERNATIVE TO ELECTORAL POLITICS OF THE MODERN SECULAR STATE 

THE MUSLIM VILLAGE 

Before this essay ends there is a warning that must be entered into the record. It is this. The secular state and secular political system that Muslims have inherited from Britain and Europe is one which requires an essential homogeneity of godlessness in the polity in order for it to work. European civilization achieved that homogeneity in the emergence of an essentially godless secular way of life. The rest of the world does not yet possess that essential homogeneity. And so it was hardly surprising that racially and tribally divisive politics should have plagued non-European polities from the very beginning of self-rule. Indeed it has now reached dead-end and there is a distinct possibility that it can lead to racial riots. If Muslims remain a part of the system of electoral politics and identify themselves politically with the party of their race, they will remain the most vulnerable of all groups to be targeted when racial riots begin. When they raise their hands in prayer at that time of bloodshed and killing, and find to their dismay that they receive no help from above, they may then understand the verse of the Qur’an which warns that Allah will not change the condition of a people until they (the people) take the initiative, using Allah’s guidance, to change their own condition (Qur’an, ar-R’ad, 13:11). That is the basic function this essay seeks to perform.

CONCLUSION 

This writer has based his arguments on the Qur’an, the Hadith and the Sunnah of the blessed Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), to the effect that participation in electoral politics in the modern secular state constitutes Shirk and Kufr. In the event of disagreement with the view expressed in this essay, scholars should respond with arguments based on the Qur’an, Hadith and the Sunnah of the blessed Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). They should declare the specific conditions in which it would be Halal for believers to vote in national elections. For example, can a believer vote for an idol-worshipping Hindu, or for an enemy of Islam, a liar, a drunkard, a thief, an adulterer, a moneylender, who owns shares in a bank or is a bank director etc.? Can he vote in elections on the basis of racial solidarity or on the basis of a trade: “We will vote for you on the condition that we get such and such from you.” Can he vote for a political party that is committed to supporting the Zionist State of Israel in its continuing occupation of, and oppression in, the Holy Land and Masjid al-Aqsa? Can he vote for a political party that supports the legalization of the lending of money on interest, lottery, homosexuality and abortion?

The blessed Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) declared: What is Halal (permissible) is clear! And what is Haram (prohibited) is clear! Abstain from whatever is doubtful! It now remains for the Islamic scholars, who are the guides of the believers, to declare whether it is Halal for Muslims to participate in electoral politics in the modern secular state. In order to deliver an unambiguously positive answer the scholars must demonstrate, firstly, that it is not Haram to do so, and secondly, that it is not ‘doubtful’ to do so. And they must establish their response on the authoritative foundations of the Qur’an and the authentic Hadith. If they do not do so, and still insist that Muslims can vote in elections, then such scholars are very dangerous people and should be avoided like a plague. Those who insist on following such scholars should pause to reflect over the terror of the Day of Judgment: 

“Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, The people would sweat so profusely on the Day of Resurrection that their sweat would sink seventy cubits deep into the earth, and it will rise up till it reaches the people’s mouths and ears.” (Sahih, Bukhari)

Source: Sheikh Imran Hosein