Come November 2nd insha Allah, the decision you will have to make as a voter can essentially be sized down into two decisions: follow leadership, or don’t follow leadership. Now as much as it seems like that decision would be easy (choosing the former)…I’m going to point out to you what it is that is making so much of us hesitant to do so. If any of you reading this is part of the leadership wokrking for the Muslim Bloc Vote…you had better be paying very good attention.

Four years ago we as Muslims were duped into making the “lesser of two evils” decision…which we found out not surprisingly enough still equates to evil. This time the decision in most of our heads has become “Evil or Nader”, or in states where the third party candidate has been denied a spot on the ballot “Evil or Nobody”.

Previously, I have written about my thoughts on the election system but I have not written about the futility of lobbying….which are essentially just bribes…which I absolutely refuse to pay. Luckily, this year we are only lobbing with our votes and not our wallets. Perhaps we have finally come to grips with reality and have realized that paying people money to do what they should e doing anyway is just plain wrong, or that the Israeli lobby just has us outdone in terms of money anyway. BUT, population wise we do have them outbeat…at least in some cool states like New Jersey, New York, and Michigan, and sunny California. That gives us some what of an edge on trying to get our voices heard.

I still really really hate lobbying and I still don’t understand why we would ever give our votes to a ‘lesser evil’. Yet it seems from what I read in the “Muslims” and “The Mirror” magazines every week that the guys over at the AMT are not as gullible this time around as they were before…and that this year we’re teaming up with all the other fringe groups to at least try to and get some of our civil rights back.

I really don’t know if I have the stomach this year to give my vote to another wrong candidate…but it still is essential that we follow our leadership. If not anything but to attain…or retain…what unity we do have in these afairs. Either way, the weight of leadership falls onto their shoulders…and so does the accountability and the responsibility that comes with it.

Finally, just so you know what finally pushed me to make this decison. In the book “The Sword of Allah”, by Lieutenant-General A.I. Akram we see a parallel situation happening with the sahhaba and Khalid ibn walid, Radia Allahu Anhu…who was placed in leadership over them during the campaign against the apostasy. Upon given orders which they did not agree with…and even though they were perhaps closer to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) and more well respected than any others in the army…they came down to the final decision: ‘If they win, then we miss out on all the good fortunes. If they lose, then we will be blamed for it’. So they went.

Here is the direct passage so you can read it for yourselves insha Allah:

When, after finishing with Salma and her followers, Khalid gave orders for the march to Butah against Malik bin Nuwaira, he had no suspicion that some of his own men would oppose his plan. Preparations for the move were carried out as ordered, but when the time to march came, a large group of his soldiers refused to move.

Hardly an hour had passed when the Ansars realised the seriousness of their error in refusing to march with the rest of the corps. "If they meet with success, we shall be left out of it", said one. Others added, "And if they come to grief, nobody will ever talk to us again." Their minds were soon made up. They sent a fast rider after Khalid to say, "Wait! We are coming." Khalid waited until they had joined him and then resumed the march to Butah.

The decision you will have to make as a voter can essentially be sized down into two decisions: follow leadership, or don’t follow leadership.