Musleh Khan – Ask Musleh – Should I vote in political elections?

			Salam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh brothers and sisters, let's talk about voting today. A lot
of Muslims are very confused of what voting is and if if they should take part in it or not, is
thought or is it an act of Kufa? Is it a knee foulke? Or should we just simply get involved and
ignore all of those elements that scholars have talked about? So in this short video, we want to
highlight some key points for you to consider and be the lead ATAR I hope by the end of this video,
you'll have some direction of what your decision should be with respect to voting. Number one, there
are several opinions that voting is held on. And they use verses that are found in Solitary Man
		

			either in where Allah subhanho wa Taala says woman lamea can be met and said Allah for Allah ik and
then there are three verses that start off the same way but in differently one of them says, For
Allah eco one calf your own fasciae * and volley moon, whoever does not judge in accordance to
what Allah has sent down, meaning the Quran and the Sunnah or the the Shetty, or in general, then
this person has either committed an act of CO photo, or this person is a law on him, they have
transgressed and sinned, or this person is a fast sick, this is a person who's just out there to
bring corruption to the land. And no doubt brothers and sisters, that if you don't judge a situation
		

			by what Allah subhanho wa Taala expects from you, then certainly you get yourself into problem.
Here's the issue with that, or to struggle with an opinion like that. No one can argue that this
opinion is wrong or it's hard on, no one can say to you that look, this is not applicable to our
times in our situation. Rather, brothers and sisters, you want to understand why that factor even
exist in the first place, and how to apply it whether it's in this situation, or in another. So
let's put things into perspective. And this is how you're going to understand the other opinions
that say, well, this doesn't apply. You can vote get involved, because it's the greater good of this
		

			oma. Today, there is absolutely no doubt that Muslims are under the microscope, we are being talked
about in every news outlet, every newspaper, every political stage, something about Muslims are
being talked about. And most of the time, and I really don't know why. But May Allah subhanho wa
Taala give us strength, most of the time, it's always negative, a lot of it is untrue. But somehow
at the end of the day, all the Muslims around the world are being painted with the same brush that
we fall under all of these extreme categories, may Allah protect us from them. Now coming back to
this whole voting issue, there are elections happening here in Canada and in North America. And
		

			wherever you are in the world, if elections are happening, these are some points to consider. Voting
is not nothing more than just choosing or considering an option. And a lot of the students who say
that this is all how long they argue the fact that you're voting or you're choosing an option within
a Cofer system. So I want to paint a picture for you to consider what this court for democracy looks
like. And where you stand within that picture. Imagine you had two parties. One party says that
we're going to run for election, but we're going to legalize *, we're going to legalize
crime and marijuana. And in addition to that, we're also going to legalize the scrutiny and maybe
		

			the persecution of Muslims in general all over our country. The next party that's running against
them says, well, we're going to legalize crime, * and alcohol and other things. But you
see this persecution business with the Muslims, we're going to eliminate that completely. We don't
want any of that not only for the Muslim, but for no genders or no religions anywhere in our
country. So both of them are running for the selection. Now you as a Muslim, what do you do? Your
obviously, if you're going to vote, you're going to vote for the latter party. But then you argue
that you're participating in a corporate system, guess what's going to happen, if you sit back and
		

			do nothing, there is a 5050 chance that one or the other is going to come in power. And if you
decide to do nothing, then in actuality your abstinence from voting is actually a vote. You're
basically saying, I don't want to have nothing to do with this. That's my choice. So as a result,
one of these parties ends up winning and most likely could be the first party and here you are,
you're affected by that vote. You're affected by that election your children are, and this is now
this is the problem. Now you start seeing stories and you hear on the news.
		

			Hobie was attacked at a mall, this Muslim was attacked or being spied on or discriminated in the
workplace or at school, all of these things spread out, sprout out because of that kind of
propaganda. And what did you do to change that? You decided to do nothing. Now here, that's a huge
problem. If you had voted, you would have voted for the latter. And if more Muslims took on that
same mentality than in sha Allah, you know, the latter would have won the election. But it still
doesn't ignore the fact that both parties are going to legalize things that are hard on, here's one
point that I want you to remember, voting is not about you, and you alone, it's about the greater
		

			good of the Muslims and the oma in general, if you start paying attention to policies, then it
becomes an individual thing. It's all about you, you don't like marijuana, or you don't like a
* and things like that. So you don't want to vote to vote for that. That's great for you
as an individual, but what about the home as a whole, just think about what you see on TV, and how
the Muslims are being talked about all over the world, do something that can at least have an effect
for the rest of your brothers and sisters around the world, stop thinking about you and your cell
phone and think about all of them. So in actuality, at the end of the day, just because you
		

			participate in a conference system, doesn't necessarily mean you are actually falling into the state
of California. Think about it. So that's a serious statement to make. Because if you're going to
vote for the latter, then at least at the end of the day, the situation for the Muslims could become
that easier. Another point that others have argued with respect to why voting is is impermissible.
is they say that the Muslim identity is always at risk. Because there are certain policies that can
change the way you think, and the way you feel about your Muslim identity. I have a big problem with
this. Because if a simple check mark on a piece of paper really compromises your identity as a
		

			believer, then guess what voting is not your only problem in your life, you'll have other issues
that you need to focus on. So stop blaming everything on one thing and start looking at how often
you prefetcher on time, What's your relationship, like with your family, with your parents, with
your spouse? Are you giving them all their rights? What's your involvement in your own communities,
what have you been doing to better yourself as an individual, then you can look at where voting fits
in and all of that. And when you do that, when you're really critical with yourself, then you
realize, voting has nothing to do with my identity. I don't feel any different. It's just the check
		

			mark at the end of the day, and I can walk away. So really think about how much of an effect it's
going to happen to you. And if it really does affect you, you have other problems to deal with, not
just this, the last and the final point that I want to mention and leave you with brothers and
sisters is I do realize that the majority of the fatawa. And believe me, I've read as many of them
as I could possibly find. They say that voting is hard on but just think about it at the end of the
day. These are fatawa. These are opinions from respected scholars of Islam. But at the end of the
day, they're not actual legislation. It's not something engraved in stone, we need to really
		

			reassess our situation and look at what the greater good of the Muslim Ummah is going to be. If you
sit back and do nothing, you're actually creating greater harm for our brothers and sisters at the
end of the day. Because one day, the when you turn on the TV, and you hear that a hijab, he was
attacked just because of her hijab, that could be your daughter. So what are you going to do, then
it could be your mother, what are you going to do, then you're going to regret that at least you
didn't have one say at least you didn't take part and try to stop that kind of discrimination from
happening. So abstinence from voting is actually creating a bigger problem in this day and age. And
		

			this is why I think that at this point, we need to really rethink and review what our opinion is,
with respect to this topic. Now we have reached a stage in the political world where we need to get
involved, at least in the political process. Look around at how many Muslims are actually involved
in their communities. Like I'm talking about the broader community involved in the hospitals being
part of the political process, volunteering, giving back, just think about that situation, and how
much that lack of involvement is actually hurting us as an oma. So at the end of the day, brothers
and sisters, I leave you with these thoughts just for you to think about and if voting is happening
		

			for you right now, elections are around the corner right now. Honestly, brothers and sisters, look
at the situation of the Muslims in your locality in your country, and do what is best for yourself,
for your children and for the overall Muslim community. wherever you live, may Allah subhanho wa
Taala accept this from me and accept this from all of you.
		

			You And may Allah subhanho wa Taala Forgive me for whatever mistakes I say or have done, especially
at this time. A lot of them I mean just a couple level hieron salaam alaikum warahmatullahi
wabarakatuh