QUESTION:
Please advise regarding voting in our country as Muslims. Should we participate in the vote, or participate but spoil the vote, or abstain completely from voting?
ANSWER:
It is recorded in Hujjatullahil Baaligah, that the following requirements should be fulfilled for one to qualify as a ruler:
1. The ruler must be an intelligent/understanding person.
2. He must be mature.
3. He must be free.
4. He must be a male.
5. He must be a brave person that holds a high opinion.
6. He must be able to see, speak and hear.
7. People must accept him and his nation as honourable people and shouldn’t disobey him.
The following Fatwa is recorded in Fataawa Mahmoodiyyah regarding voting:
Votes are not given to a particular party on the basis of their Islam or Kufr, rather individuals vote for a political party with the hope of them fulfilling the rights of the citizens, preventing oppression and on the basis of them serving and benefitting the citizens of the country.
If there is hope of a certain political party fulfilling the above objectives, then voting for such a party is acceptable, otherwise not.
[Re:- Fataawa Mahmoodiyya Pg.430 Vol.20].
ALLAH TA’ALA ALONE IN HIS INFINITE KNOWLEDGE KNOWS BEST!
ANSWERED BY:
Mufti Mohammed Desai
Date:- 05 Jumadal Ula 1445 / 19 November 2023
