The fatwa below is the one that allegedly inspired the recent twelve-page document titled, “Participation in the Elections,” circulating in Brussels. The Belgian document called for a boycott of the June 10, 2007 Belgian election.
Praise be to the almighty Allah and may the peace of Allah and his Mercy be upon the Messenger Muhammad, his family and his companions and those who ally with them.
In order to be able to answer the urgent question of participating in the British Parliament and voting for candidates who want to participate in Parliament, we must understand the reality, for the Juristic principle states part of Judging a matter is comprehending it or understanding its reality.
Therefore we must understand the reality of two things:
1- The British Parliament who some candidates want to participate in and
2- The election which the people want to be involved in i.e. voting.
We must remember that part of our Imaan and belief in Allah (SWT) is At-Tawheed which means obeying, following, worshipping and elevating Almighty Allah (SWT) exclusively, without associating with him or his attributes anyone else, and that conversely associating with God or with any of his attributes is an act of Shirk which makes a person go outside the fold of Islam and that this is why At-Tawheed is the fundamental pillar of Islam. One of Allah (SWT)’s attributes is that he is the legislator and the commander and he has the absolute right and power to command and legislate, and no one shares this absolute power with him. For Allah (SWT) says:
“Verily the absolute right of legislating is for none but Allah (SWT)” [EMQ 12:40] […]
