Leading Muslim scholars have given their backing to a campaign to try to get more people from their community to vote in the general election.
A Get out and Vote website has been put together in a strategy to encourage Muslims to make it to the ballot box.
There is a large population of Muslims living in 50 UK parliamentary seats.
Imam (Muslim priest) Abu Eesa Niamatullah told the BBC Asian Network: "Despite the fact we have large numbers we are not making our presence felt."
It is expected that this year's election will be a close contest and Imam Abu Eesa from the Prophetic Guidance Project says the Muslim vote could be a key factor.
Inactivity is the worst thing - We might not make any difference but at least we will have tried Imam Abu Eesa Niamatullah
He believes Muslims can have a real influence, especially at local government level where "the Muslim vote could be the difference," he said, "for a candidate who is for progression and peace".
Other Imams backing the campaign are Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad from the Islamic Sharia Council, Mufti Muhammad Ibn Adam from Darul Iftaa in Leicester, Mufti Zubair Butt from the Al Qalam Institute Bradford and Tarek al Diwany from the Zest Advisory.
"I'll be voting because I want the right representative for my community and my town in parliament," said Mr Butt.
Shariah law
Sparkbrook and Small Heath in Birmingham has the largest percentage of Muslim voters of any UK constituency at 48.8% according to the 2001 census.
And the Get Out and Vote campaign also aims to address a concern in the Muslim community where there is uncertainty about voting for a government that does not comply with Shariah law, which is Islam's legal system derived from the Quran.
Some Muslims feel that the British system of rule often contradicts, and can at times oppose the Shariah, such as when it comes to laws on abortion and alcohol.
They feel by voting for parties who back such policies they are going against their own Islamic beliefs. Others say the rules on police stop and searches violate their civil liberties and, therefore, they cannot support such a system.
Imam Abu Eesa says he respects the difference of opinion and by encouraging Muslims to vote he insists it is not declaring that Shariah law is finished.
"It's an affirmation that while living under the rule of man we will try our best to create a scenario that will benefit our community and the British citizens at large in the best way possible," he said.
"Inactivity is the worst thing. We might not make any difference but at least we will have tried.
"It (voting) is a privilege a lot of people die for. We in the UK have got it. We should use it."
This voting business is confusing, I've read that its haraam due to supporting non-muslim law over Allahs law. But now my imam said in a khutbah that we should all vote to stop bnp and to gain more power in this country, he used the example of jews having 59 seats in parliment compared to muslims only having 4 mps representing a population of 2 million. Recently in my local newspaper I saw a muslim MP showing support of british troops in afghanistan, he went as low as using terms like 'our boys' and 'our lads'. How far can you go to gain support? Who's right about voting and who isn't?
He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers. [Quran {33:43}] www.QuranicAudio.com www.Quran.com
i would just like to know from those people who say voting is permissible because its better to vote in the "lesser of the 2 evils." as if these governments are going to stop the massacring of Muslims and withdraw troops.
what could be more evil than killing a person who worships the One true deity. subhanallah
...desperate for husnul-khitaam...
please make dua that Allah grants me a good end (to my life). please make dua that Allah guides me.
I've read on Islamqa that the ruling may differ depending on the country, since the Muslims will face different circumstances. Therefore, it's probably best to ask the 'Ulema residing in our own country who will be best informed about the context and situation of the Muslims here.
"I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge."
With all respect, I have not been impressed with most scholars ability to discuss political participation without resorting to abstraction and cognitive dissonance. At the moment the only one that comes to mind is Maulana Imran Hosein. But that aside, I don't see why we should be so dependent on them in this area anyway, scrambling for a coherent fatwa while they contradict one another. Think for yourself! Frankly, few issues could be of less importance. You do far more to support a non Muslim frame work when you sign your immigration papers, beg for licenses and pay your taxes. If voting does support this system at all it is a microscopic amount because, let's be honest, voting accomplishes almost nothing. Which is an equally valid argument not to vote.
Here's why I don't vote. It is only a broken slave who begs his master to beat him less, or begs for a different master. An unbridled slave demands his freedom, and doesn't pretend that the slave driver will grant it to him if enough of the slaves write "freedom please" on a slip of paper and put it in a suggestion box. Voting is humiliating, and both Muslims and non Muslims should not be so eager to humiliate themselves. Our political masters shear our wealth by force and then ask us to beg for it back, or beg to have it spent wisely, which it never is. They murder innocent people and then promise to stop if we just beg enough, and then never do. But worse, they pretend that our vote is our sanction, a mandate of the public will. Well it is not my will, and my sanction does not come so easily. They do not represent me, and I will not dignify them with my consent.
The Prophet Muhammad instructed us to enjoin good and forbid evil, not forbid evil and elect the lesser of evils.
Last edited by MuslimAgorist; 04-13-2010 at 05:38 PM.
Voting is a privilege to die for? Really. Wow. What a materialistic thought by a so-called Islamic scholar.
Help me to escape from this existence
I yearn for an answer... can you help me?
I'm drowning in a sea of abused visions and shattered dreams
In somnolent illusion... I'm paralyzed
That's not what he said Br. mad_scientist! He said it's a privilege a lot of people die for. There's a big difference!
Btw Imam Abu Eesa is another learned person for whom I have a great deal of respect. His series of lectures explaining Imaam al-Bukhaaree's Al-Adab al-Mufrad is definitely one to die for!
"I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge."
If Muslims don't want to vote, I don't blame you. Labour is incredibly boring, the Tories are just a bad joke, and the party I'm voting for (Lib Dems) just aren't given as much attention, sadly.
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Inactivity is the worst thing - We might not make any difference but at least we will have tried
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