Imran Khan
There is an alien tendency that has crept into Muslim behavior when it comes to their life in non-Muslim societies. It results in positions that are short-sighted.
Muslims have a tendency to vote either based on “their interests” as a “minority” or to weaponize their vote in an attempt to extract concessions.
In both cases they concede many of their fundamental rights.
They weigh the pros and cons between options that are manifestations of the lesser of two or more evils. In this process they switch sides during different election seasons due to the options from which they are forced to choose having incoherent positions when considering different challenges.
For example, a political party with a favorable position on Palestine may have very loose morality or none at all or, a political party with high moral values may be pro-Israel. Muslims thus become polarized and even divided in trying to determine which political party to vote for.
They ignore the fact that political systems are crafted within the nation-state structure whose ultimate objective is to preserve the status quo. In virtually every country there is little difference in substance between what the ruling party represents and has to offer compared to that of the opposition.
There is an old trap the Yahud tried to place in front of Allah’s Prophet (pbuh).
Many people, Muslims included, are falling for it nowadays.
At one time in their own meeting with religious scholars included, the un-Islamic camp, (or the anti-Islamic camp, if you have not been psychologically defeated), said let’s go to Muhammad (pbuh) and try to lure him away from his deen, because he’s only human.
Deen is the ideological pattern and social prototype. This is probably one of the most mistranslated words.
The usual translation of the word is ‘religion’.
But in a better understanding of Islamic terms, the word deen should carry within its meaning a lively, cohesive prototype and a socio-economic system.
As such, a deen could be man-made and in denial of Allah, or it may be in conformity with Allah and in affirmation of Him.
They say to Allah’s Prophet “you know that we are the cream of the crop of Yahudi society and they will not disobey us. Once we make our decision, they follow us. But among us there is a dispute. Other Yahud have taken issue with us. We want you to be our arbiter. Judge this dispute among us. If your judgment is in our favor, we will follow you and you will have the rest of Yahud following you.”
The political game that they are playing nowadays is the same as they tried to play on the Prophet (pbuh).
Allah revealed ayaat that put an end to any type of politicking by Yahud and others. They tried to preclude due process in order to gain recognition, prestige and status by having Muslims involved in their internal affairs there-by giving credibility to some over others.
Yet we have Muslims today falling for this game. It is as if they don’t read the guiding Qur’an.
Or if they read about this incident in the Seerah, they probably have not reflected on it at all.
That explains and is one of the likely reasons why Muslims say “this political party leadership is better than another political party leadership”.
Or, “this political party leadership is better than the previous one”, or “this political party official is better than another,” or “this political party is better than another political party.”
The Prophet (pbuh) did not get involved at all in the internal affairs of these political parties!
He was listening to Allah when He was guiding him. This is unlike today’s Muslims who simply don’t and won’t listen to Allah when He is providing us guidance.
Allah said: “Hence, judge between the followers of earlier revelation in accordance with what Allah has bestowed from on high, and do not follow their errant views; and beware of them, lest they tempt you away from any of what Allah has bestowed from on high upon you. And if they turn away [from His commandments], then know that it is but Allah’s will [thus] to afflict them for some of their sins: for, behold, a great many people are [morally] defective indeed” (The Ascendant Qur’an, Surah Al Maa’idah, verse 49).
There are many people who are degenerate and who simply cannot live up to the standards of Qur’anic arbitration and scriptural arbitration and Prophetic arbitration. Based on the afore-mentioned, the immediate requirement is for the Muslims to open public discussion internally within the Muslim House.
Similar public discussion between the Scriptural Houses at the broadest and most inclusive levels of society should be opened commencing with those who are bound by the common thread of the scripture and hence have the power presence of Allah, The One and Only True God embedded in their conscience.
The goal of this exercise should be, as soon as possible, to sow the seeds of ethical leadership on the basis of Divine Guidance. At the same time, Muslims should open public discussion with the status quo preservational agents.
They should be invited to the table-spread of ideas based on The Qur’an and the Prophet’s consensual and validated methodology. The goal of this exercise should be to determine, as soon as possible, whether the trials and errors of integrating particularly into the nationalistic political parties has yielded favorable and beneficial results for the Muslims and the oppressed peoples.
