Why Voting is kufr

The fundamental point that must be comprehended before dwelling into the arguments for and against voting is the apparent Shirk in the system of Democracy. We understand this by turning to the Kitaab and Sunnah and the explanation of the Scholars and then applying the principles to the reality.

The word Democracy comes from the Greek words ‘demos’, which means ‘people’ and ‘cratus’, which means ‘governance’. It is a system wherein the people legislate for themselves, by means of their appointed representatives, in a council or parliament, which is established for the purpose of implementing the laws and policies that reflect the desires of the majority of people of that region.

‘Abdul Wahhab Al-Kilali said,

“All the democratic systems are based on one ideology, which is that the authority is ascribed to the people, to whom the mastership belongs. In conclusion, democracy is the principle of the mastership of the people.” (“Mawsoo’at As-Siyasah”, Vol. 2/756)

It is, as Abraham Lincoln put it, ‘The rule of the people, by the people, for the people’. Therefore it is a system, which is at odds with the very essence of Allah’s exclusive right of legislation and as such it steps outside the mere disobedience of Allah into the realm of Shirk, in that it seeks to elevate mankind to the level of the Legislator (i.e. Allah).

Allah says:

“And Allah judges, there is none to put back His Judgment and He is swift at reckoning.” (Ar-R’ad, 41)

And He, the Most High, says:

“Have they other associates who have prescribed another law for them that has not been issued by Allah?” (Ash-Shurah, 21)

And because the people are the ones who select the laws, by means of their representatives, these laws are based upon what the people wish and they are in accordance with the desires of the majority, rather than what Allah has revealed.

Allah says:

“Have you seen himwhohastakenashisIlah(god)hisowndesire?Wouldyou then be a Wakeel (a protecting guide) over him? Or do you think that most of them hear and understand? They are only like cattle – nay; they are even farther astray from the path.” (Al-Furqan, 43-44)

Therefore the usurpation of this “right” by humanity sets them up as false deities (Tawagheet) besides Allah, by which they legislate laws and judge upon matters in opposition to His revelation. And for this reason, Allah, the Most High, referred to any person or system that does not rule by what Allah has revealed, as a ‘Taghoot’ (i.e. false deity): Allah says:

“Have you seen those who claim that they believe in that which has been sent down to you, and that which was sent down before you, and they wish to go for judgment (in their disputes) to the Taghoot (false judges, etc.) while they have been ordered to reject them.” (An-Nisa’, 60)

The person who is obeyed in disobedience of Allah or the person who is obeyed in following other than the guidance of the religion of truth; in either case, if what he orders mankind is in opposition to Allah’s orders, then he is a Taghoot. For this reason, we call the people who rule by other than what Allah revealed, a ‘Taghoot’.

So a Taghoot refers to all people who rule by other than what Allah or His Messenger rule. This would also apply in the case that the people worship him besides Allah or they follow him without sight from Allah or they obey him when they aren’t sure if they are obeying Allah. So these are the Tawagheet of the world and if you look at them and see the condition of the people with them, you will see that most of them have switched from worshipping Allah to worshipping the Taghoot; from ruling by what Allah and His Messenger ruled, to the ruling of the Taghoot, and from obeying Him and His Messenger to obeying the Taghoot and following him.

And with these Heavenly texts that we have mentioned, it becomes quite clear that the ones who follow the fabricated laws, which the Shaytan has legislated upon the tongues of his allies and which oppose that which Allah, the Powerful, the Most High, has legislated upon the tongues of His Messengers, peace be upon them, that no one doubts their Kufr and their Shirk except he whom Allah has removed his sight and has blinded them to the light of the revelation as they are.

And because Muslims are aware that the fundamental goal of democracy is to rule the masses based on the desires of the majority, as opposed to the revelation of Allah, we do not need to spend much time explaining the Kufr of this system in general.

Certainly, the system of Democracy is dependent upon the masses to participate in elections so that it can be clarified which candidates are to represent them in Congress. This electoral process is also essential in determining the ruling party and the President or Prime Minister of the country. Because the system is founded on the masses choosing leaders to legislate laws and implement policies on their behalf, the entire democratic process could not exist without elections. If it weren’t for the participation of the masses in the electoral process, Democracy would not be possible to implement as there would be no one to vote for any candidates and therefore their would be no elected members of parliament to act on the people’s behalf in legislation and government policy.

‘Abdul Wahhab Al-Kilali said,

“It means that the people, to whom the mastership belongs, do not practice the authority of legislating themselves. Rather, they grant it to the Members of Parliament whom they elect for a specific period and appoint to represent them in practicing this authority on their behalf.” (“Mawsu’at As-Siyasah”, Vol. 2/75)

Democracy is founded upon the principle that the masses are the source of power. And included in that is the power of legislation and that takes place by means of selecting representatives for the general population who take their place in the duty of legislation and the creation of laws. And in other words, the legislator and the obeyed one in Democracy is the human and not Allah. And this means that the one who is worshiped and obeyed in the issue of legislation and the permitting and the prohibiting is the masses and the human and the creation and not Allah, the Most High. And this is the essence of Kufr and Shirk and misguidance, due to its contradiction to the fundamentals of the religion and its Tawheed. And it results in the association of the weak, ignorant human with Allah in the most unique characteristic of Ilahiyyah (i.e. devoted worship), which is the ruling and the legislation.

So the reality is that these Members of Congress, which act upon the will of the majority and take their place to legislate laws etc., can only do so when the masses elect them to the positions to do so. And if we conclude that these Members of Parliament commit Shirk and Kufr by legislating laws besides Allah, then what would be said about the people who elect them for this job, knowing that this candidate will be engaging in the formation of man-made laws on behalf of the people who elect him?

As for those amongst the people who vote for them (i.e. Members of Parliament & Congress), they are committing Kufr as well, because according to the representative democracy, the voters are in reality delegating them to practice the mastership of Shirk – legislating beside Allah – on their behalf. Thus the voters give the members of parliament the “right” to implement Shirk, and set them up – through their voting – as legislating lords beside Allah. Allah says: “Nor would he order you to take Angels and Prophets for lords (gods). Would he order you to disbelieve after you were Muslims.” (Al-Imran, 80)

So if a person who takes Angels and Prophets as lords has become a Kafir, how then about the person who takes the Members of Parliament for that? Likewise, this is also implied in His saying: “Say: O people of the scripture, come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worshipnone but Allah, and that we associate no partners with Him, and none of us shall take each other as lords besides Allah.” (Al-Imran, 64)

Consequently, taking people as lords beside Allah is a Shirk and a disbelief in Allah and that is what those who vote for the members of parliament are doing.

And this action falls into the description of the known rule: “Supporting Kufr is Kufr”, because the one who assists or enables the people to commit Shirk or Kufr takes the same ruling as the one who commits the Shirk or Kufr itself.

And this rule is consistent with what Allah says about those who remain present while His verses are mocked:

“And it has already been revealed to you in the Book (this Qur’an) that when you hear the Verses of Allah being denied and mocked at, then sit not with them, until they engage in a talk other than that; (but if you stayed with them) certainlyinthatcaseyouwouldbelikethem.Surely,Allahwillcollectthe hypocritesanddisbelieversalltogetherinHell.”(An-Nisa’,140)

His statement: …certainly in that case you would be like them. In other words, ‘If you do that and do not prevent (it) then you are the same as them in the Kufr.

The meaning of this verse is just as it appears. It means that if a man hears the verses of Allah being disbelieved in or made fun of and sits among those disbelieving ones who are making fun of (them) without being compelled to, and does not prevent them and does not leave them until they begin to talk about (a different subject), then he is a Kafir like them, even if he does not take part in this act, because this indicates his pleasure with Kufr. And being pleased with Kufr is Kufr. With this verse, and others like it, the scholars have demonstrated that he who is pleased with the sin is like the one who commits it and if he says that he hates it in his heart, it is not accepted from him because the judgments are upon their (outer) appearance and he has exhibited Kufr, so he would be a Kafir.

Therefore, one who merely remains present while the Kufr is being committed and does not leave and does not attempt to prevent that from taking place, takes the same ruling as the one who actually performs the Kufr. So what is to be said about those who assist and enable the Kufr and Shirk by electing a candidate on their behalf to legislate for the creation, laws, other than the laws of the Shari’ah?!

And keep in mind that these votes are the only method by which this individual member of parliament will be able to do so, because without the electoral support from the voters, he would not be in the position to perform this Kufr and Shirk in the first place!! So in this case, the voters are the ones who enable and assist this one to commit the Kufr and Shirk and they are not merely from those who sat silently while the verses of Allah were mocked.

Once you make the connection between the role of the voters, during the election, and the subsequent Kufr and Shirk which is committed by the Member of Congress when he is elected, there is no more room for doubt. And what is the difference between those who elect this individual as a lord besides Allah to legislate the lawful and unlawful for them and those who take the sun or the moon as a lord besides Allah to provide them with their sustenance and provision? By Allah, the ruling upon them is the same.

The inner dimension of this ruling is taken from the tafseer of the ayah: They took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allah, and theMessiah, son of Maryam. (At-Taubah, 31)

Imam Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Jarir At-Tabari recorded a Sahih Hadeeth via several chains of narration, from `Adi bin Hatim who became Christian during the time of Jahiliyyah. When the call of the Messenger of Allah (saws) reached his area, `Adi ran away to Ash-Sham, and his sister and several of his people were captured. The Messenger of Allah (saws) freed his sister and gave her gifts. So she went to her brother and encouraged him to become Muslim and to go to the Messenger of Allah (saws). `Adi, who was one of the chiefs of his people (the tribe of Tai’) and whose father, Hatim At-Ta’i, was known for his generosity, went to Al-Madinah. When the people announced his arrival, `Adi went to the Messenger of Allah (saws) wearing a silver cross around his neck. The Messenger of Allah (saws) recited this Ayah; They took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allah.

`Adi commented, “I said, `They did not worship them.”’ The Prophet (saws) said, “Yes they did. They (rabbis and monks) prohibited the allowed for them (Christians and Jews) and allowed the prohibited, and they obeyed them. This is how they worshipped them.”

Most of the tafseer scholars said: `the meaning of lords is not because they believed that they were the gods of the universe, rather, the meaning is that they obeyed them in what they commanded and forbade’.

All of this illustrates that whoever legislates for the people besides Allah, such as the Rabbis of the Jews, the Monks of the Christians and the MPs, he has indeed set himself up as a lord to them, and that is enough as a clear kufr. So should anyone of these MPs be pleased with this parliamentary job of Shirk or participate in it, his Kufr is clear without any doubt. As for the MP who claims that he is not pleased with it, and that he has only entered the parliament for Da’wah and reform, he is a Kafir as well. His saying so is but a trick to deceive the laymen and the ignorant people, and a shield by which he defends himself. The reason behind his kufr is that his entering the parliament is a recognition of the legality of their activities i.e. going to the desire of the people for judgment, and is an abiding by its principles and the principle of the system through which they (parliaments) were established.

So all of this is a voluntary going to the Taghoot for judgment, which makes the person who does it a Kafir, because Allah says: ‘And in whatsoever you differ the decision thereof is with Allah.’” (Ash-Shura, 10)