February 26, 2005
Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 3
Section: WRITINGS | 77 reads
Another Example:
Other cases and examples are not hard to find. One example that comes to mind is when Gorbachev was liberalizing – practically dismantling – the Soviet Union. It was a day or two before bombs – to borrow an expression from CNN anchor Bernard Shaw – lit up Baghdad like a Christmas tree, in what is called the Gulf War – in 1991 was it?
Some very good and important Muslims had gathered in New York to figure out what to do. The mood was somber, the air full of anxiety and the talk grim and pretty much Muslim.
I proposed a resolution asking governments in Muslim countries to follow Gorbachev’s example and liberalize and democratize their regimes. Immediately, alarm bells went up.
Scared of Words:
Apparently, the word “liberalize” had gotten right amidst the deep insecurities of some good Muslims. “Brother!” said one very good and important Muslim voice, as some Muslim voices have a way of saying “Brother!” to some other Muslims. “We are talking Islam here, not democracy.”
“Precisely,” I replied, looking up from where I sat. “Give me democracy and I will give you Islam” I said. Whether or not I said Inshallah, I do not remember.
It was around the time Media, Culture & Society had published my fairly elaborate article on the role of politics, democracy and such other things in Islam and the Muslim world. A year or two earlier, I had presented a paper on the same topic to the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism (AEJ).
So, when I moved that resolution in that meeting at Philadelphia, I was not exactly shooting in the dark. I had spent years thinking about what I was saying. And before presenting it to the convention, I had that resolution cleared, as was to be expected, at the highest levels from the organizers of the convention.
6. Qur’an and Hadith in the Election Fatwa Crossfire
So, the spirit and the mindset behind the rejectionist voting Fatwas – and the plethora of social, political and moral questions they raise – are not entirely new to me.
I have personally been seized of these matters for a very long time and have repeatedly turned to the Qur’an and the Hadith for guidance in dealing with them – once I had done my share of wading through the “literature” in various professional and academic fields of relevance.
I am hoping the question of voting and elections could be quieted if not entirely settled with the Aayaat I have already cited. Qur’an and Hadith should be above denigration by partisans in polemical debates.
Therefore, I really do not want to drag the Qur’an and Hadith into these discussions beyond what I have already done. Not the least because some of these arguments are so blatantly empty of sense and logic and so patently out of touch with reality.
Attempting to graft Qur’an and Hadith to such shallow and almost silly ideas is a sign of disrespect to Qu’an and Hadith.
Who Should Govern Us?
Instead, here is a commonsense approach that will hopefully spare us the need for invoking more of the Qur’an and Hadith directly in what is a fairly simple and straightforward question: Should we or should we not have a say in who governs us and how?
That is the real question. And that is the crux of the matter in this whole debate.
For, this is one of the most fundamental questions every human being must ask at some point in their life. Qur’an and Hadith should not be used to confuse and cloud this issue in people’s mind.
If some people still insist on bandying the Islamic terminology of Halal and Haram with regard to something as basic and obvious as this, I would like to approach the issue from a somewhat different angle.
Underlying Absurdities:
I would say, instead of asking whether voting and elections are Halal or Haram, and invoking the Qur’an and Hadith in support or rebuttal, let us ask some simple real-life questions and see if the resulting answers will reveal the absurdities and contradictions underlying the rejectionist Fatwa and mindset. I was about to say “logic,” but logic is not the rejectionist Fatwa’s strong suit.
In fact, logic seems to be Haram in rejectionist religion!
In fact, some of these questions – the questions I want to pose – and any answers they may produce may serve to highlight the extent to which the votaries of the rejectionist Fatwa themselves may be involved in some of the very activities that they so vociferously condemn.
7. Voting and Elections May Be Fard, Do You Think?
Don’t forget, the real question is still this: If we can’t have a say, and if we can’t play a role, in who becomes our leader, then what is the alternative way – the other, preferred way – of doing it?
And the answer to that question is simple: The only other way is either brute and barbaric force or fooling people with things like the logic of the “divine right” – or a combination of both. That was the nonsense people used to use in the olden days: Rulers become rulers because they were divinely chosen to be rulers.
This was the kind of rubbish Islam set the world free from 1400 years ago.
As a result, if the only logical and legitimate method – and therefore the only Islamic method – of having leaders is by picking or choosing them ourselves, then the question is how do we go about picking or choosing them in practice?
From three to 3 million:
To ask that question also is to answer it: If we are three or 30 or so, naturally, we can “talk” to one anther directly – face to face or over the phone – and record their views and preferences. But if we are 30,000 or 3,000,000, then the only other way of doing it is by using an electoral mechanism of some kind – elections and voting.
What other way can there be?
Therefore, one good way of addressing this whole thing is by flipping it on its head. So instead of asking if voting and elections are Haram, we should ask if they may actually be Fard – a fundamental requirement of living Islam in this world.
And if all else – all methods of access to power other than elections and voting that ignore the will and consent of the people – could be Haram?
That means if I myself were a Fatwa-issuing kind, I might be inclined to call elections and voting, as a rule, Fard – not Halal or Haram but Fard. That is, compulsory and required, not forbidden or taboo!
That means to me, at the most basic level, elections and voting are the preferred or required ways of doing business in Islam and Muslim communities – of filling positions of power and authority in Islamic cultures and societies.
That also means that in general full, free and informed participation, involvement and representation are the basis of human affairs in the Islamic way of thinking and doing things at all levels.
Next Article: Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 4
Previous Article: Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 2
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Related:
- Islam against Islam: Hijacking Egyptian Elections Using Plan B
- Asking God for Help – Part II [Quote of the Day - 298]
- [Chapter 33] Are Elections Haram?
- Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 1
- Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 2
- Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 4
- Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 5
- Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 6
- Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 7
- Are Elections Haram? Says Who? And Based on What? Part 8
- American Presidential Elections: Reflections on Hillary Clinton’s Florida Primary “Victory”
- Whither Indian Muslims – Part One
- Whither Indian Muslims – Part Two
- Whither Indian Muslims – Third and Last Part
- No Elections, No Islam – It Is That Simple [Quote of the Day – 61]
- Islam Means Free and Fair Elections [Quote of the Day – 75]
- Judge People Based on Their Character, Not Based on Their Colour [Quote of the Day – 79]
- Leadership: What Is It and How to Deal with It? [Part One]
- Leadership: What Is It and How to Deal with It? [Part Two]
- Leadership: What Is It and How to Deal with It? [Part Three]
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