Voting when no candidate is ideal

Muslims living in secular democracies meet the same question at every election: what should I do when no candidate represents Islamic principles?

This guide sets out a way to think it through, drawn from a conversation with Sayyid Sulayman Abidi. It does not tell you whom to vote for. It offers principles and questions for reaching a decision you can stand behind before God.

Is voting permitted?

Muslims hold strong views on voting. Some call it a duty: a right others sacrificed for, unavailable to Muslims in much of the world, and one it would be ungrateful to God to neglect. Others see it as lending legitimacy to an unjust system, or as a waste of time and resources.

These are worthwhile debates about whether voting is advisable. They are separate from the question of whether it is permitted. On that question, Sayyid Sulayman Abidi notes, senior scholars across the spectrum agree: voting in itself is not prohibited, even when no candidate fully represents Islamic principles and practice.

Whether, when and how to vote are matters of judgment on which sincere Muslims can differ. For a specific ruling, follow the guidance of your marjaʿ.

Begin with priorities, not candidates

A healthier starting point is to move politics out of the centre of how we think about change. Fierce opposition can also put politics at the centre, the way we stay fixed on a person we are trying hard to avoid.

The Prophet ﷺ was a political and military leader, but the source of his authority was not political. He used that authority to bring good to society, as a mercy to all the worlds (Qur’an 21:107). Our starting question is the same: what is my duty to God toward society right now?

Once you have named the priority, work backwards. Ask which choice serves it best:

• voting for a candidate, or voting against one
• a third-party, write-in or protest vote
• registering without voting, or abstaining
• canvassing for a campaign or donating to one

Weigh the office as well as the person. An elected official works within the limits of the office, the party and the next campaign, and will say and vote in ways you disagree with. Weigh the message too. A national leader shapes which ideas count as reasonable, so a xenophobic or self-serving message can matter more than any single policy.

Do not expect a saviour, even on the one issue you care about most. Muslims may reach different conclusions about the highest priority, and that is acceptable. Deciding from priorities brings steadiness. Over time it builds experience and wisdom, instead of a choice that swings from issue to issue.

Choosing a higher priority is not a compromise

Setting aside something of lower priority for something of higher priority affirms your principles. Preserving life outweighs protecting property. Human dignity can outweigh even life, which is why believers have been willing to give their lives for their faith and their honour.

The real effort lies in discerning, to the best of your understanding of the religion, what God wants you to prioritise. Sometimes this is clear and sometimes it is not. With each new decision, ask whether you were mistaken last time or whether circumstances have shifted.

This world offers no perfect option, and you are not asked to find one. Act on your best judgment with faith in God, with humility and with confidence.

A vote is not an endorsement

A ballot has no room for footnotes. Voting for a candidate does not endorse everything they have said or will say for the rest of their career. It records your judgment about the highest priority, with the knowledge you have at the time.

Say elsewhere what the ballot cannot carry: in a masjid sermon, at a youth programme, in a public statement, or through an alliance with another faith community. If those avenues do not exist, build them. Everything we believe and advocate does not need to fit into one arena.

Staying home does not remove the tension. You still pay taxes and live under the policies of whoever wins. Voting, abstaining and boycotting all have consequences, direct and indirect.

When the candidate is Muslim

Seeing Muslims who pray and wear hijab in public life helps young Muslims practise and aspire with confidence. Representation is valuable, but it is secondary to the substance of what a politician stands for.

Where you support a Muslim candidate, voice your disagreements in other forums too. Islam should not shrink into a cultural identity, or become a copy of one party’s priorities within a generation.

The vote as a trust

The question to bring into the polling station is not “What do I want?” or “What benefits me?” It is this: what decision am I comfortable answering for before God on the Day of Judgement?

Principles define our priorities, and our interests follow from our principles. No real interest can be separated from justice, honour and dignity, for ourselves and for others.

Human beings are stewards of God’s earth. Your country’s decisions reach people who have no vote: people beyond its borders who live with its foreign policy, and generations not yet born. Weigh them, along with the animals and the environment that cannot speak for themselves.

God does not expect the cleverest choice. He expects the most sincere decision you can make with the knowledge you have, and with trust in Him.

Beyond election day

The Qur’an asks us to enjoin al-maʿrūf, which means what is known to be good. Every society recognises a great deal of good through its fiṭra, the innate sense of right and wrong God has given people. Begin where Muslims and their neighbours already agree. Muslim and Christian parents, for example, have found common cause in asking schools to tell parents what their children are taught and to let families opt out of lessons that oppose their faith.

Where society does not yet recognise something as good, advocate patiently and humbly, and impose nothing. Persuasion can take generations, and God has His own timescale.

Guard against becoming a political animal, whether as a consumer of news or as an actor on the electoral stage. Prayer, learning and our community institutions are the source of the spiritual and intellectual capital we bring to public life. Cut off that source and the well runs dry.

“We are stewards, but we are not owners.”

Sayyid Sulayman Abidi

There is freedom in this. All power belongs to God. We carry real responsibility and real agency, but the outcome is in His hands. So we can act without the pressure of thinking everything depends on us.

Five questions before you vote

1. What is the highest priority before God right now?

   Name it for society as it is today, not for an ideal world.

2. Which choice serves that priority best?

   Voting for, voting against, a protest vote, abstaining, campaigning or giving.

3. What can this office actually deliver?

   Expect the person to work within the limits of the office and the party.

4. Who will be affected but has no vote?

   People beyond our borders, future generations, and creation itself.

5. Where will I say what my vote cannot?

   Your masjid, your community, your alliances and your own voice.

Then ask the question that matters most: could I answer for this decision before God? After the election, return to it. Did your choice serve your priority? What will you do better next time?

“Make sure that you are engaged to the best of your ability. If you think that voting is important, then vote, but don’t think that you’ve done your duty and that you can be complacent until the next election.”

Sayyid Sulayman Abidi

Study these questions further

The Religion and the State course with Shaykh Azhar Nasser examines these questions from their foundations. It covers political authority in Shia Islam, justice and serving unjust governments, Islamic perspectives on migration and citizenship, and the guardianship of the jurist.