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 refect 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 him who has taken as his Ilah (god) his own desire? Would you
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)

Ibn Taymiyyah said:

“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’.” (“Al-Fatawa”, Vol. 28/200)

And Ibn Al-Qayyim said:

“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.” (“‘I’lam Al-Muwaqqi’een”, Vol. 1/50)

Muhammad Al-Ameen Ash-Shanqiti said:

“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.” (Look to
“Adhwa’ Al-Bayan”, Vol. 4/82-85)

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 clarifed 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 specifc period and
appoint to represent them in practicing this authority on their behalf.”
(“Mawsu’at As-Siyasah”, Vol. 2/75)

Abu Baseer Mustafa Halimah said,

“Firstly, 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.” (“Hukm Al-Islam Fi Ad-Dimuqratiyyah Wa At-
Ta’ddudiyyah Al-Hizbiyyah ”, Pg. 28)
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?

‘Abdul Qadir ibn ‘Abdil ‘Azeez, said,

“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

Kafr, 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 worship
none 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.” (“Al-Jami Fi Talab Al-‘Ilm Ash-Sharif ” 1/151-
152)

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)
certainly in that case you would be like them. Surely, Allah will collect the
hypocrites and disbelievers all together in Hell.” (An-Nisa’, 140)

Ash-Shawkani said,
“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.” (“Fath Al-Qadir ”, Vol. 1/527)

And Sulayman Ibn ‘Abdillah Ibn Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhab, said,

“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 Kafr 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 Kafr.” (“Majmu’at At-Tawhid ”, Pg. 48)

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 frst 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 the
Messiah, 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.”

Concerning the tafseer of this verse, Al-Alussi said:

‘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’.

‘Abdul Qadir ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azeez commented,

“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 Kafr 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 Kafr, because Allah says: ‘And in
whatsoever you differ the decision thereof is with Allah.’” (Ash-Shura, 10)
(“The Criticism of Democracy and the Illustration of its Reality,” pg.
4)