It is election fever at the moment. Malaysia's PRU13 (Pilihan Raya Umum). This is hard cause I've never experienced this before...well, maybe when I was little. I left Malaysia when I was 17 years old and now I'm back and this is my first time witnessing the election process. It is fun seeing the colourful banners, flags and funny adverts but reading newspaper headlines nowadays give me the headache. I'm still trying to figure out who is who, who is from which party...and then trying to figure out what scandal the newspaper is actually reporting, who the scandal is about. I never quite get to the analysis of why...bit!
In UK things were so simple. We just didn't vote. We didn't believe in the democratic system. There's nothing wrong with election or choosing a leader but WHAT IS WRONG is regardless of who rules, the laws are man made! It is pretty clear for Muslims that we can't rule by laws made up by people. Our belief in Allah SWT dictates that we rule by Allah's laws e.g. when Allah says gambling is haram, we cannot make it halal. When Allah says interest (riba) is haram, we cannot make it halal.
As I say things were so much more clear cut in the UK but here in Malaysia, it is very complicated and I can't even begin to explain the intricate situation we are in...but I guess the fact remains that regardless who enters into power, Malaysia is a secular state with a secular constitution and the bottom line is, the laws are man made. The idea that if a particular party could win the election and suddenly implement hudud. Hmm....unlikely! the system and the constitution protects man made law. Besides hudud is not the be all and end all of Islamic system. The Islamic system is the Khilafah system, it has a particular governmental structure with principals deriving from Qur'an and Sunnah.
In the Khilfah ruling system, sovereignty belongs to Allah SWT, in other words the laws come from Qur'an and Sunnah. In the democratic system, sovereignty belongs to the people...in other words people make the laws and more specifically, a particular group of people...people in power.
Also there is issue of economic system which has to be addressed because Islamic economic system is different from the Capitalist economic system. There is the issue of judiciary, education and social system. The hudud completes the system but it does not lead the system. How do you implement the hudud in a non islamic society where there's free mixing, poverty, selfishness and rampant ignorance?
The Prophet SAW did not implement Islam by punishing people. He implemented Islam upon those who believed in Islam as a system, who believed that they wanted to solve their daily problems by Islam. They wanted Islam as a solution to their messed up lives.
So you see it is not easy cause sometimes it just feels like within this election driven democracy, the only thing that matters is getting the votes but has there been a change in thought? elevation of mentality? referring to Islam as the method to solve problems?
Even I have become so confused since I came back to Malaysia...
Sometimes I don't know how to think anymore.
Anyway, people have fears and of course everyone fear instability.
I fear instability and I thought about running back to the UK if someone might sell this country off for their own personal gain! which has happened in many other places in the world.
So, how do you tell people not to vote because man made laws are haram?
Of course no Muslim should support man made laws, laws created by human beings and making those laws above the laws of Allah...but how do you address their fears? their fear of losing what they have now?
And often people are driven by their emotions...
The situation is tricky and fragile!
May Allah SWT protect this Ummah and give us the Khilafah soon. Ameen!
