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<\/a><\/p>\nElection day.\u00a0 The airwaves are full of pundits and politicians making one last desperate push to send their guy across the finish line first.\u00a0 Every four years we go through this with but a brief respite between campaigns.\u00a0 Along with the talking heads of the mainstream media, the Muslim Ummah weighs in on the candidates, for, against, and abstaining.<\/p>\n
Every time there\u2019s an election you can be sure the battle lines will be drawn. Not Republican vs Democrat, or Libertarian vs Green.\u00a0 The argument that breaks out again and again is more basic than that.\u00a0 Is it permissible for a Muslim to take part in an election system in a non-Muslim country?<\/p>\n
On one side is the ultra-conservative wing that just this morning told me and all my voting friends in no uncertain terms that we were heading for the hellfire.\u00a0 Stepping up to the voting machine is tantamount to stepping out of Islam, giving in to the \u201ckuffaar\u201d and declaring that you prefer the corrupt political system of the disbelievers to the pristine purity of the Islamic Khalifah, the mythical Islamic State that rules according to Islam.\u00a0 The only way to stay on the good side of Allah is to remain on the sidelines and castigate everyone who disagrees with you.\u00a0 So, according to these kind and charitable Muslim brothers and sisters, I\u2019m an infidel now and I\u2019d best take my place in the flames with the likes of Hitler and whoever that guy was who invented infomercials.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m supposed to just die now and go or live out my normal lifespan and then go to hell, so I\u2019ll have to wait for some more Facebook status updates to clarify the matter.<\/p>\n
On the other side are the super-patriotic rah-rah Muslims who volunteer for President Obama\u2019s re-election campaign and who consider voting to be a duty almost as important as the pillars of Islam, like prayer and fasting.\u00a0 Many are first- and second-generation citizens who come from countries with, shall we say, slightly less democratic governments (read: tyrannical regimes).\u00a0 Coming from a country where speaking your mind and voting your conscience can get you a quick trip to a dungeon can make you an enthusiastic advocate for participating in the quirky, messy, imperfect democratic system we have here in the States.\u00a0 These Muslims are active in their communities and can quote voting rules and regs from memory.\u00a0\u00a0 They are strong and not easily intimidated and are a vital part of the American political scene.<\/p>\n
In between are the rest of us.\u00a0 We vote sometimes, and other times we stay home.\u00a0 We wrestle with which of the lesser of two evils to choose.\u00a0 Romney is pretty much a non-starter for most Muslims, but Obama is not an easy choice either.\u00a0 His foreign policy is certainly more enlightened than his predecessor\u2019s, but as Commander in Chief it\u2019s his name that is signed on every bomb dropped by Predator drones that kills innocent men, women, and children.\u00a0 It is his Israel policy that is in lockstep with that of every president before him, a policy that condones the apartheid conditions in Palestine that have made a virtual concentration camp out of Gaza.\u00a0 Yes, he ended the illigitimate war in Iraq and is working to bring our troops home from Afghanistan, but he hasn\u2019t closed Gitmo.\u00a0 So the choice is not easy.\u00a0 There are Muslims who are voting for third-party candidates because they can\u2019t bring themselves to vote for the two men at the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n
As you can see, Muslims are definitely not a solid unified group with one voice.\u00a0 Those of us who are practicing Muslims seek out fatwas, religious rulings, to help us make decisions, but that too is a source of division.\u00a0 Some sheikhs say it is forbidden in all cases to participate in non-Islamic political systems.\u00a0 Others say it is disliked in some instances, allowed in others, and even obigatory under some circumstances.\u00a0 So to be honest, there are arguments on both sides of the divide.<\/p>\n
I voted today, but I have no issue with my Muslim brothers and sisters who refrained from voting because they felt is it not permissible to do so.\u00a0 They searched their conscience and sought guidance from the scholars they adhere to, and they are following the evidence as they see it.\u00a0 They are still my brothers and sisters in Islam and I love them for the sake of Allah.\u00a0 Even those who curse me and declare me to be a disbeliever.\u00a0 I forgive you in advance for telling me I\u2019m not a Muslim anymore, because to declare a Muslim a \u201ckaafir\u201d is a heavy heavy sin and I don\u2019t want you to have to answer for it on the Day of Judgment.\u00a0 I forgive you, but I may just unfriend you on Facebook because I am a low-drama kinda gal and I don\u2019t want to have to deal with this issue for the rest of my life.\u00a0 Go in peace.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be here watching the news and obsessively tweeting the results.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Election day.\u00a0 The airwaves are full of pundits and politicians making one last desperate push to send their guy across the finish line first.\u00a0 Every four years we go through this with but a brief respite between campaigns.\u00a0 Along with the talking heads of the mainstream media, the Muslim Ummah weighs in on the candidates, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,18],"tags":[98,97,88,3,89,90,96],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-islam-2","tag-democracy","tag-election","tag-election-2012","tag-islam","tag-obama","tag-romney","tag-voting"],"yoast_head":"\n
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