General Concepts

Open letter to the Muslims of Afghanistan. Do not take part in the elections!

The Afghan elections take place on Saturday 18th September 2010. This is the translation of an open letter distributed to the Muslims of Afghanistan advising them not to take part in the parliamentary election as this is haram. The Muslims have achieved nothing from these elections in the last eight years except poverty, corruption and oppression.

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Open letter to the Muslims of Afghanistan.
Do not take part in the parliamentary election!

وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا ۚ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

“Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their Religion – the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: ‘They will worship me (alone) and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. ‘If any do reject faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked.” [An-Nur: 55]

The history of parliament is very obscure to many Muslims in Afghanistan and in the Muslim world generally. The first myth which has to be unveiled is the view that the concept of parliament is something modern, totally new. The ancient Greeks had their assembly and the council of five hundred, while the Romans had their Senate and the Arabs had their “Darul Nadwa”. Both the Greek assembly and the Roman Senate had advisory functions at the beginning of their origin, dating back to 500 years before the time of Isa عليه السلام. These institutions were neither foreign to the contemporaries of Prophet Isa عليه السلام nor to the contemporaries our Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.

It is being propagated nowadays that these institutions are new and have only become necessary in this modern time. Thus, they argue, “the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would have no objection to it if he had known it”. The idea of an institution like the parliament is at least 2500 years old, much older than both Islam and Christianity, a fact not being mentioned by the defenders of Capitalism and enemies of Islam. The misconception that Islam could not have touched the issue of a ruling council or the method of jurisprudence or the matter of ruling is absurd, a misconception being the result of total ignorance or deliberate propaganda. This misconception, not only propagated by the West in the last century, not only spread by the puppet agents, not only defended by the so-called Westernized thinkers is now also believed and taught by some royal scholars.

Some thirty years ago, some scholars tried their best to depict Islam as a religion similar to socialism and today they are doing the same thing but putting another camouflage over it, the cover of capitalist democracy with all its ingredients, propagating that development is not possible without adapting to these capitalist concepts.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا الْحَقَّ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

“And do not mix up the truth with the falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know (it).” [Baqara, 42]

Having with no other arguments to justify this innovation to the Muslims, different people have compared the Islamic Shura to the parliaments. Another false argument is comparing the so-called Jirga, an Afghan phenomenon to the Islamic Shura. This Jirga dates back to the time of King Kanishka as some of the historians assert. How could that be Islamic? Neither of these is the same as the Islamic Shura.

Both Christian and Muslims pray and both of them have prayer houses like the church and the mosque. One would be erroneous to conclude based on it that Muslims are like Christians.

Both Islam and Buddhism have “Zuhd” or asceticism. If we conclude that we should not marry anymore and stay in monasteries, we would be acting against the Sunnah. If we are not making such false analogies concerning the mosque and marriage, why are we doing this in political matters? Just because both Shura and parliament have advisory functions does not mean that they are the same.

The parliament does not only have an advisory function but it also legislates. Not legislating according to the Quran, Sunnah, Ijma and Qiyas is un-Islamic; it is indeed Kufr. Any law derived from other than these sources, is not from Islam, even if the parliament comes to the same conclusion as the sharia from a different point of view or with a different method other than the Islamic ijtihad. Even if the parliament concludes that fornication is forbidden through a majority vote, it is not Islamic until it is derived from the text of Islam. It would be considered as a kufr verdict.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

أَفَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ أَبْتَغِي حَكَمًا وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكِتَابَ مُفَصَّلًا ۚ وَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ مُنَزَّلٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ بِالْحَقِّ ۖ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ

“Shall I then seek a judge other than Allah? And He it is Who has revealed to you the Book (which is) made plain; and those whom We have given the Book know that it is revealed by your Lord with truth, therefore you should not be of the disputers.” [Al-Ana’am, 114]

Oh, people of Afghanistan, it is not that hard to realize that these people do not care about the Islamic verdicts. Most of these rulers and many MPs are involved in corruption, oppression and embezzlement. They have killed many Muslims of Afghanistan in the past without any remorse. All these activities are forbidden and yet they are sunk deeply into it and you know it. The same people do not have any problem acting against Islam in matters of legislation.

We hear repeatedly from innocent normal people on the street that if legislating in the parliament is forbidden then why are the leaders in it? If they want an answer to this question then they have to answer the following questions:

Do these people care about taking bribes or about their acts of embezzlement or their oppression of normal innocent people?

Did they care about the Uranium that was stolen by the foreigners or the killings of innocent people by the occupying forces in marriage ceremonies?

Why should they care about the parliamentary legislation being halal or haram?

Do you not see their big palaces and their luxurious cars roaming on the streets of Kabul as if everything belongs to them?

Who has given them the right to act in such a way?

Who has given them the right to posses such luxury while their ancestors were poor farmers or local Imams or poor tribal leaders?

How did they come to this fortune?

Why do they not act according to Islam in these matters?

Many of these people are interested in the parliamentary seats to maintain their power, their palaces and their luxury cars. Many of them are there, neither to defend Islam nor to represent you.

We give you the sincere advice not to take part in the parliamentary election. Have you not heard the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that a believer is not bitten from the same hole two times? Are you giving your consent to un-Islamic legislations? Do you want to be responsible for the Riba that is made halal? Besides, what have you achieved from these elections in the last eight years except poverty, corruption and oppression?

The only way out of this calamity is to obey Allah and establish the Khilafah and not put your trust in any kind of capitalistic concepts like the capitalistic parliamentary system. There is no other way out. If you do not heed our warning, then look at Pakistan and Iraq. The rulers in both countries are friends of the West. What has the West made of Pakistan and Iraq before your eyes?!

Fear Allah and fulfill the obligation of establishing the Khilafah and help Hizb ut-Tahrir to realise it.

وَمَا عَلَيْنَا إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ

“And our duty is only to proclaim the clear Message.” [Ya-Sin, 17]

 

Hizb ut-Tahrir, Afghanistan