PREPARING FOR THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS

I am sharing today a translation of the Khutbah, with the above heading, delivered by one of the imams of the Abuja National Mosque, Dr Muhammad Kabir Adam, on Friday, December 23rd, 2018._

 

Dr Muhammad Kabir Adam

Praise be to Allah who has honoured this _Ummah_ by making it ‘best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency, and ye believe in Allah.” I praise and offer gratitude to Him, the Almighty, for what He has bestowed. I bear witness that there is no (true) god but Allah, who has prescribed prosperity for the summoners to good and betterment. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, the bearer of the standard of _da’wah_ and _jihaad_, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and upon members of his household, who trod his path and traced his footsteps, and upon all those who follow them in goodness, for as long as the alternation of night and day lasts.

“O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them, twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward Allah in Whom ye claim ( your rights ) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bare you ). Lo! Allah hath been a Watcher over you.” (An-Nisaa, 4:1) 

Servants of Allah! I enjoin you and myself to fear Allah, Almighty. Anywho fear Allah, He will find a way out for them, and enlarge their reward on the Day of Judgement. Oh people! Obey Allah and obey His Messenger and those among you who are in authority. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has gained a signal victory. 

Brethren in faith! We have to wake up from our deep slumber, give life the concern it deserves, and participate in the nation’s political activities by voting for our various representatives in all levels of leadership. This is a very important matter which Islam considers a binding duty on every citizen since the politics of the _Ummah_ and its leadership must be recognised by everyone, and that can only be achieved through the participation of all. 

What is the role of the youths in this responsibility? Will the youths, who are the pillars of every society and its future, allow themselves to be used by the politicians in their political chess? Will the youths accept being pawns in the game of power, at the hands of politicians who saturate and enervate their senses with drugs and other intoxicants, turning them into moving weapons against political opponents in their electoral campaigns? No, should be the appropriate answer to these questions. 

Oh Muslims! Islam is the religion of truth and peace. Thus, it prohibits harming and maligning people in whatever way and for whatever purpose. Not only that, Islam regards defamation as an abomination and an enormity. The Qur’an says: “And those who malign believing men and believing women undeservedly, they bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.” (Al-Ahazaab, 33:58)

Leadership is something that Allah has ordained and made it a pillar on which societal wellbeing is established. For Islam is both a _deen_ and a way of life; a _deen_ and politics; a _deen_ and a social interaction; all that is based on discipline and adherence to law and order. Chaos has no place in the Islamic Society. 

Brethren in faith! Making illicit drugs available to youths during political campaigns is an appalling disservice to the nation. Consider the corollary of drug addiction, indiscipline and insecurity on the society. Life in such a society will be very miserable, just like the devil’s workshop where the strong devours the weak - survival of the fittest. Chaos will reign supreme in this intoxicant milieu where Satan is certain to sow the seed of rancour and discord among the individual members of the society, as the Qur’an mentions: “Satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from (His) worship. Will ye then have done”? (Al-Maa’idah,5:91)

Oh Muslims! Power is Allah’s; He bestows it on whom He wills, and withdraws it from whom He wills, as He Himself says: “Say: "O Allah! Lord of Power (And Rule), Thou givest power to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou strippest off power from whom Thou pleasest: Thou enduest with honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: In Thy hand is all good. Verily, over all things Thou hast power."Thou causest the night to gain on the day, and thou causest the day to gain on the night; Thou bringest the Living out of the dead, and Thou bringest the dead out of the Living; and Thou givest sustenance to whom Thou pleasest, without measure.” (Aali Imraan, 3:26-27)

In the Sunan of Imam Haakim, the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said, “And when you ask, ask of Allah, and when you seek help, seek for the help of Allah. The pen has dried after writing whatever will happen. If all creation were to gather together and desire to benefit you with anything which Allah has not destined for you, they will not be able to do so. And if they were to gather together and desire to harm you with what Allah has not written against you, they will not be able to harm you a stint. And know that there is a great good in perseverance at the time of adversity. And verity, success is with patience, relief with affliction, and hardship with ease”. 

Therefore, seeking for political office, one should not be so desperate as to drug the youths in order to create unrest and gain therewith some political capital in the forthcoming 2019 general elections. 

Anyone who desires to occupy a public office, oh Muslims, they should exert their utmost in seeking for people’s acceptance and votes during the electioneering. There is no blame on anybody seeking for elective office especially where such a person is intent on correcting what has been corrupted in our nation. The Prophet Yusuf, alaihis salaam, sought from the King of Egypt the position of the Head of Treasury and Minister of Agriculture because he desired betterment in that office. “He said: Set me over the storehouses of the land, I am a skilled custodian”. (Yusuf, 12:55)

On account of the above, whoever vies for an elective office let them start by seeking Allah’s guidance in that desire, and then the people’s acceptance as well as observing the electoral laws and respecting the citizens’ human rights. Whoever strives in upholding the truth while vying for a position, Allah will be their succour since they desire good for themselves as well as for the people. The Qur’an says: “And those who strive in Our (cause),- We will certainly guide them to our Paths: For verily Allah is with those who do right”. (Al-Ankabut, 29:69)

Brethren in faith! Do not build your campaign rhetoric on deception and oppression, for the end of that will be destruction and chastisement. “Do they not then see that We have made a sanctuary secure and that men are being snatched away from all around them? Then, do they believe in that which is vain, and reject the Grace of Allah? And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects the Truth when it reaches him? Is there not a home in Hell for those who reject Faith”? (Al-Ankabut, 29:67-68)

Servants of Allah! Seek for _al-Khair_ from Allah Almighty, and do not cast yourselves to ruin by running after the fleeting glitter of this world; it is caducous since it will tarry with you but for a while, before it goes to another person, maybe to a victim of your ill-treatment, who may not desert you at the hour of need. On account of this, I call on politicians to eschew lies and avoid stoking hatred and rancour among people during the electioneering.

And Allah it is whose help is to be sought in (all the allegations) that you describe.

Translated (from Arabic) by:
Abubakr Siddeeq Muhammad,

Date Published: Friday, January 11, 2019