8/9/2019 In Response to an Article Published In The Trinidad Express 17th May 2010, Entitled 'Stay Away From The Polls'

1/2

In The Name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful

In Response to an Article Published In the Trinidad Express 17thMay 2010, Entitled 'Stay Away From The Polls'

Assalaamu Alaiykum to all my dear Brothers and Sisters;

Please allow me to respond using the tawkeel argument.

Voting in the Trinidad and Tobago General Election is an act of delegation (tawkeel)where a delegator (muwakkil) appoints a delegate (wakeel) to act on ones behalf.

Tawkeel (delegation) is a legitimate Islamic contract and is used in cases such asrepresenting someone for marriage or for the guardianship of minors.

Tawkeel, as an Islamic contract, has to proceed according to the rules of Islam.

One pillar of tawkeel is that the delegator (muwakkil) can only delegate that whichthe Shariah deems permissible since the delegate (wakeel) acts on behalf of the

delegator (muwakkil). So what is halaal for the delegator (muwakkil) can bedelegated and what is haraam for the delegator (muwakkil) cannot be delegated.

For example it is halaal (permissible) for me to delegate another to buy me a pint ofmilk as it is halaal for me to buy a pint of milk. It is haraam (forbidden) for me todelegate another to rob my neighbours since it is haraam for me to rob myneighbours. This is known as Ghiyaab ul-Mawaani Ash-Shariah (the absence of anydivine prohibition).

Returning to the fiqh al-masalah (or specific reality) of voting in the Trinidad andTobago General Election we face an insurmountable obstacle. The problem is thatthis is a delegation for someone to represent them, according to manifesto of the

delegate (wakeel), in a legislative chamber in this case the Trinidad and TobagoParliament as an MP.

Worse still, the delegator (muwakkil) cannot specify or hold the delegate (wakeel),in this case the MP, to only act on their behalf on certain matters e.g. against Israelor against foreign invasions such as of Iraq and Afghanistan. The MP will generallylegislate, vote on legislation, debate legislation, help to draft legislation, amendlegislation, propose legislation and defend legislation on behalf of the delegator(muwakkil).

Here we have to ask if it is halaal (permissible) for a Muslim to do any of the thingsthat the delegate (wakeel), in this case the MP, will do.

It is a matter of aqeedah that a Muslim does not have a say when it comes tolegislation:

It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger havedecreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision (TranslatedMeaning of Al-Quran [TMQ] 33:36)

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/nart?id=161665162&weba=NWSNewshttp://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/nart?id=161665162&weba=NWSNews

8/9/2019 In Response to an Article Published In The Trinidad Express 17th May 2010, Entitled 'Stay Away From The Polls'

2/2

This is because the right of legislation is only for Allaah SWT (c.f. TMQ 12:40).

Muslims should look to the Shariah for all matters:

But no, by your Lord, they can have no (real) faith until they make you judge in alldisputes between them and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions,

but accept them with the fullest submission (TMQ 4:65)

Not to man-made legislation, which is Taghut (an authority other than Allaah SWT):

Have you seen those (hypocrites) who claim that they believe in that which hasbeen sent down to you, and that which has been sent down before you, and theywish to go for judgment (in their disputes) to the Taghut while they have beenordered to reject them? (TMQ 4:60)

So I disagree with the comment that Voting and participating in the electoralprocess is not tantamount to legislating against Islam because voting in the

Trinidad and Tobago General Election and delegating an MP to act on your behalf is

getting involved in legislation without doubt.

As Muslims we should stay with the halaal regardless of our desire (hawah) for anyperceived benefits:

Have you (O Muhammad SAW) seen him who has taken as his ilah (god) his owndesire (hawah)? Would you then be a wakeel (delegate) over him? Or do you thinkthat most of them hear or understand? They are only like cattle; nay, they are evenfarther astray from the Path. (TMQ 25:43-44)

You are right that we face difficult times and you are right to call the Ummah toaction and for that I applaud you but legislating by man-made law, in violation of

the Islamic aqeedah, is a line we cannot consider crossing. We should instead havetawakkul (trust/reliance) in Allaah SWT:

Do they then seek the judgment of (the Days of) Ignorance (Jahiliyyah)? And who isbetter in judgment than Allah for a people who have firm belief? [TMQ 5:50]

Wa- SalaamUmar Abdullah