4:65 Verily No! By Your Lord, they will not believe until they make you the judge between them in all legal disputes and do not strive against legal decisions, but accept them fully, without reservation.
The Khawarij used to Ayat to support their contention that Ali Ibn Abi Talib (RAA) was an apostate for accepting an arbitrated agreement despite another ayat making Sulh fard.
3:159 It was by the mercy of Allah that you were lenient with them (O Muhammad), for if you had been stern and fierce of heart they would have dispersed from round about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult with them upon the conduct of affairs. And when you art resolved, then put your trust in Allah. Lo! Allah loveth those who put their trust (in Him).
42:38 And those who respond to their Lord, keep up prayer, who consult among themselves, and who give out (to the poor) part of what we have given them.
The Harikat at Islamiyy and the Salafiyya also use this Ayat to support their contention Muslims should not participate in the civic affairs or political affairs of non-Muslim nations.
During the Arab Spring, the Salafiyya issued fatawa and gave khutabaa' using this ayah and the ayah ordering Muslims to obey Allah, His Rasul, and wa uuliy l'amri minkum to support the idea that Muslims should not rebel against any government, even if the government is oppressive and unjust.
4:59 O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end.
We have addressed the true meaning of this ayat elsewhere, but suffice it to say here that this ayat is not talking about some human-developed political structure, but the Law or Shariah, and its interpretation. Just because the president for life has a "Muslim" name does not mean that he is above the law and should be obeyed without question or opposition. Nor does it mean that we should not participate in civic life if the president does not have a "Muslim" name.
The ayat above tells us to obey Allah and His Rasul, so let us take a look at the Sunnah of the Rasul to see how he dealt with non-Muslim governments. When we examine the time the Prophet spent in Makkah before the Hijrah, we notice that he tried to talk to and reason with the leadership. He did not obey them if they ordered him to do anything prohibited by Allah, including abandoning tawhid or worshiping the idols of the Quraish. However, he did order Muslims to generally obey and respect parents and elders, to treat others well, to care for kith and kin, and to carry on trade and other civic activities. He did not tell the Muslims to boycott or refuse to deal with non-Muslims. He taught us to cheat everyone well and to do so equally.
Finally, the prosecution in Makkah became to great. The first place the Muslims emigrated to was Ethiopia. So what was special about Ethiopia? Ethiopia or Habasha was, at that time, ruled by a righteous, just and religious king, the Negus. The Negus was a coptic Christian, who ruled according to Christian teachings and law. And the Prophet SAW recognized that because he was just and was someone who "practiced what he preached" as we say, that the Muslims would be treated fairly and justly in his land.
The Prophet also maintained good relations with another coptic Christian leader, the Maqaaqis or Prelate of Egypt. Apparently, the relationship was good and the Maqaaqis even sent the Prophet gifts.
The greatest evidence of the Sunnah of civic engagement, however, come from the Dustur al Madina, the Contract or Constitution of Madina, between the Muslims, the pagan arabs of the tribes of Aws and Khazraj, and the tribes of the Bani Israel, the Bani Nadhir, the Bani Quraizah and the Bani Qanuqa'a. They came to a mutual agreement among them to abide by the Dustur, and to judge among the people according to an agreed method. The Dustur recognized a civil authority for judgment of disputes among people of the different groups. The judge in this case was Rasulallah SAW. Then, if the dispute was between two people of the same group, the Dustur recognized that the dispute would be adjudicated by the law of that group. So, a dispute between two Jews would be decided by a Jewish judge according to Jewish Halaqah law. This was Allah's way of handling diversity and handling the need for unified governance when the community contained various ethnic and religious subdivisions.
The next question we could ask here is how did this diverse community reach this agreement? How did they choose to have the Prophet SAW be the civil judge? They agreed to it in shura'. They came together, they talked, they discussed, they voted. That is how the tribes of Arabia decided matters in those days, by shura'.
Elsewhere we have discussed Islamic shura' or consensus government, and its superiority over majoritarian democracy. Certainly, consensus is more inclusive and provides a viable solution to the problems we face in the United States, with a 50/50 split. Majoritarianism might work if there is a clear majority, although its fairness is still questionable. But majoritarianism completely fails where the two sides are equal. Too many are being turned away from the table. American bipartisan majoritarianism is no longer working.
We have addressed the true meaning of this ayat elsewhere, but suffice it to say here that this ayat is not talking about some human-developed political structure, but the Law or Shariah, and its interpretation. Just because the president for life has a "Muslim" name does not mean that he is above the law and should be obeyed without question or opposition. Nor does it mean that we should not participate in civic life if the president does not have a "Muslim" name.
The ayat above tells us to obey Allah and His Rasul, so let us take a look at the Sunnah of the Rasul to see how he dealt with non-Muslim governments. When we examine the time the Prophet spent in Makkah before the Hijrah, we notice that he tried to talk to and reason with the leadership. He did not obey them if they ordered him to do anything prohibited by Allah, including abandoning tawhid or worshiping the idols of the Quraish. However, he did order Muslims to generally obey and respect parents and elders, to treat others well, to care for kith and kin, and to carry on trade and other civic activities. He did not tell the Muslims to boycott or refuse to deal with non-Muslims. He taught us to cheat everyone well and to do so equally.
Finally, the prosecution in Makkah became to great. The first place the Muslims emigrated to was Ethiopia. So what was special about Ethiopia? Ethiopia or Habasha was, at that time, ruled by a righteous, just and religious king, the Negus. The Negus was a coptic Christian, who ruled according to Christian teachings and law. And the Prophet SAW recognized that because he was just and was someone who "practiced what he preached" as we say, that the Muslims would be treated fairly and justly in his land.
The Prophet also maintained good relations with another coptic Christian leader, the Maqaaqis or Prelate of Egypt. Apparently, the relationship was good and the Maqaaqis even sent the Prophet gifts.
The greatest evidence of the Sunnah of civic engagement, however, come from the Dustur al Madina, the Contract or Constitution of Madina, between the Muslims, the pagan arabs of the tribes of Aws and Khazraj, and the tribes of the Bani Israel, the Bani Nadhir, the Bani Quraizah and the Bani Qanuqa'a. They came to a mutual agreement among them to abide by the Dustur, and to judge among the people according to an agreed method. The Dustur recognized a civil authority for judgment of disputes among people of the different groups. The judge in this case was Rasulallah SAW. Then, if the dispute was between two people of the same group, the Dustur recognized that the dispute would be adjudicated by the law of that group. So, a dispute between two Jews would be decided by a Jewish judge according to Jewish Halaqah law. This was Allah's way of handling diversity and handling the need for unified governance when the community contained various ethnic and religious subdivisions.
The next question we could ask here is how did this diverse community reach this agreement? How did they choose to have the Prophet SAW be the civil judge? They agreed to it in shura'. They came together, they talked, they discussed, they voted. That is how the tribes of Arabia decided matters in those days, by shura'.
Elsewhere we have discussed Islamic shura' or consensus government, and its superiority over majoritarian democracy. Certainly, consensus is more inclusive and provides a viable solution to the problems we face in the United States, with a 50/50 split. Majoritarianism might work if there is a clear majority, although its fairness is still questionable. But majoritarianism completely fails where the two sides are equal. Too many are being turned away from the table. American bipartisan majoritarianism is no longer working.
Drumpf v. Rodham
Any Muslim who is able to vote and does not vote in this 2016 election for the United States President, should immediately go home. Those who argue that Muslims should not participate in the non-Muslim government of the United States should ask themselves why they are here. If you are here for the money, go home. Those of us who are born here and do not have anywhere else to "return" to, do not need you. You are taking jobs from us; you are taking resources from us; you are taking tax dollars from us. Go home! If you do not like the form of government or think that it is haram to participate, then it is just as haram to be here.
Many of the Salafiyya argue this way. They then claim to be doing dawa. What dawa? Many are living on public charity, on food stamps and other public benefits, or on wives they cannot afford to support. I know one individual who had two wives who were supporting him, because he was "doing dawa." He seemed to have conveniently forgotten the actual Book of Allah and the Sunnah that requires men to support women, and not vice versa. Qawamun al Nisaa' is only because we men pay the bills. If they pay the bills, ....
Of course, the next issue is who to vote for. Voting is a voluntary act. However, this year we have someone who has made it clear that he supports violence towards Muslims. It is not clear that the other candidate will be any better. However, support for Drumpf - his actual last name before the family Anglicized it - is support for Islamophobia, violence against immigrants, bigotry, racism, fascism, and Russian hegemony in the world. Consider who is currently supporting Bashar al-Assad. How can a Muslim support an amoral person who supports Vladimir Putin, even if he is a closet Tartar, and the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Hillary Rodham is not the best alternative, Jill Stein may be, but Hillary is a known quantity. Her team will be the people who worked for Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. That said, both had problematic policies in regard to the Middle East. However, at least there is a hope for peace if Ms. Rodham can be convinced to pull out support for al-Assad and do what really needs to be done to stop the fighting - naming the complete and total ban of all weapons in the region and a blockade to achieve that. This action combined with the institution of Qisas as required in such cases by Allah, will stop the fighting. It stopped the Aws and Khazraj in their tracks. When you have to, as leader, pick the person who will be killed and then look your own loved one in the eye when you kill them, Qisas is a total solution to violent tribal warfare. And we should not be mistaken, the nonsense going on throughout that region is nothing more than high tech tribal infighting - ancient, childish and stupid.
Beyond the Vote
So, yes we should vote, we should vote for somebody. And we should take our own polls and our own statistics showing the power of our vote as Muslims. We need to show the American politicians that our votes matter. We have never done that. Yes we invite them to mosques and they come and give speeches, but we have never really shown them poll numbers.
And our involvement cannot end with the election. We must put pressure on politicians and government officials to pursue policies that are of benefit to Muslims, particularly in the Middle East. We have tried to influence State Department policy on Syria, but we have failed. If we can demonstrate our political power this election, then we will have the power to shape policy. How do you think the Jewish lobby got so powerful - votes and money. How did the Gay community get recognition of same-sex marriage - votes and money. So what are we doing? Talk, talk, talk... Talk is cheap.
If we are not prepared to participate in civic life in the America, we need to go home. Otherwise, if we continue as we have, they - all the other Americans - will send us home. And since some of Drumpf's supporters are violent and have already planned for an after election attack on immigrants and Muslims ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/militia-terror-plot-fbi-kansas_us_58014995e4b0162c043c1e90), some of us may be sent home in a box.
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