Muslims led the world for over a millennium when Islam was their ideology, their way of life not just for personal affairs but also as a system of their society. This changed when they started to imitate the secular west and slowly reduced Islam to a ‘religion’ only for spirituality, morals and a few personal matters.
Today secularism has clouded the minds of many in the Ummah and their priorities have turned upside down. Trivial matters have been made overly fussy while vital matters have been forgotten and replaced by false and corrupt ideas.
How far have things gone wrong?
One very visible paradigm would be the comparison of our diligence in matters of selecting our foods and selecting our political activism. We read through the finest of prints on our food package and go out of our way to research each individual ingredient and its origin before we consume it. However, it’s a shame that we take the shallow and reactionary approach when embracing political viewpoints and activity.
Do we ever stop and look at what the ingredients are in the political choices being offered? Are they derived from correct sources i.e. ahkam-shari or do they have roots in haram? Do we go out of our way to look for a halal alternative if we find something rotten and dirty or do we surrender to selecting from whatever filthy that is available? Such is the impression of choosing the lesser of two evils from an evil political system.
We would cringe if we had to choose between pig and a rotten carcass. Don’t we go through great lengths when looking for right restaurant or packaged foods? We even take the extra step and request our food be completely isolated from haram ingredients; ie asking for a fresh pizza slicer that has not cut through pork before it cuts our pizza, or asking the sandwich maker to wear new gloves when making our sandwiches.
So, why is it that we are ready to consume whatever is dished out on our political plate? Do we ever ask if the ideologies on the table are halal certified? Do we even care if the ingredients are derived from approved sources? Have we ever convened seminars or conducted research to determine what components of the political process are within Islamic guidelines?
Some look for potential benefits in participating in a kufr political system, would they eat pork for its beneficial nutrition? Do we not bypass many desires, benefits, and convenience when we give up haram or questionable foods for a halal alternative? So how come we are so easily swayed by minor and doubtful benefits and comforts when it comes to political choices being offered?
Others grab on to tiniest resemblance of a kufr system to an Islamic flavor when making that choice. Would they eat a dog slaughtered in the name of Allah? Is it enough for us if a minor element of the system is clean and sanitary, regardless of the whole?
Even when eating a halal animal, we make sure that it is slaughtered only in the name of Allah. We reject animals that have been slaughtered in the name of another, be it an idol or ancestor. We state ayat of Quran to support this, yet we ignore the ayah “The sovereignty is for none but Allah”(TMQ 12:40), when we partake in a political system that has removed Allah’s legislation and has placed men, dead ancestors, and even idols as sources of legislation.
The matter of consuming haram food items is indeed important and to do so is a sin; however, that sin is limited to the act itself and does not go beyond the person that has committed it. However, participation in a kufr secular political is a far more severe act of disobedience to Allah because it entails one of the kabair (grave sins), which is committing shirk. Shirk may seem like a harsh accusation but that is exactly what it is because in this act, humans are being taken as ‘Lords’ instead of Allah!
They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords besides Allah (by obeying them in things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allah), and (they also took as their Lord) Messiah, son of Maryam (Mary) (TMQ 9:31)
Moreover, this is not a single act confined to one individual and a particular legislation. It is a continuous act that entails a persistent sin that repeats each and every time the empowered politicians attempts to mandate a law or legislation. Whether it is gay marriage, or protecting the so-called freedom of speech in insulting our Prophet (SAW), these acts multiply in their magnitude of haram daily, over and over again. In addition to this, these sins are multiplied millions of times over when this legislation directly or indirectly affects the lives and behavior of each citizen upon restricting and permitting what Allah has made haram and halal, respectively speaking.
Whether we live in Muslim lands (majority Muslim) where the rulers are puppets of their colonial masters or we have been forced from these lands, due to again colonial oppression, to seek our livelihood in other lands where Muslims are a minority, we continue to strive for halal food venues regardless of our location. Why then do we give up so easily the halal and more importantly the Fardh (obligatory) politics of seeking Allah’s rule in our lives?
