Muslims on
The Political Spectrum
Every four years, the United States of America elects a new president. To be the president of the USA is no small matter - the USA arguably being the biggest superpower in the world, period. The election campaign becomes a global affair. Despite the latest presidential election being in January, American politics was recently put in international limelight, but this time, for a matter far more grim: the assassination of a prominent political activist. In political events such as these, people from all around the world become exposed (only if just a peak) to the world of Western politics as mainstream media buzzed with their cover stories.
A surface level understanding of the victim shows that he is against the control of arms despite the plague of gun violence, is anti-immigrant, anti-Islam and pro-Zionist through and through. Research little bit more and we will find out that he treasures nuclear-family values, is anti-LGBT, anti-woke and values his traditional, religious morals. But when we dig even deeper, we will find not only his incompetence in knowledge and facts but also inconsistencies in his morality - contradictions between his actions and his supposed beliefs. To top it all off, he as an activist, has garnered an enormous following numbering to the millions. So what's going on here? More significantly, how should a Muslim feel about such stances politically?
With the advent of democracy, political parties come up with ideologies and philosophies that believe will benefit the country and her people best. This inevitably gives rise to opposing political stances in what is now referred to as the "political spectrum". The stances held in the previous paragraph comes from the 'right-wing' of politics, with the opposite being called the 'left-wing'. While the technicalities may be way above my level of understanding and knowledge, I will attempt, on a layman level, to list down common right and left wing stances in the table below. Although what constitutes as 'right' and 'left' varies from country to country (and time), in general the ideologies each side of the spectrum espouses should be the same. Do keep in mind that there are also multiple models of the spectrum and it is also not binary. I will just keep it simple to serve as an introduction.
So, have you guessed the answer for my earlier question? Yes, Muslims should not align themselves to either side of the spectrum! While the left-wing is more accepting of diversity (and hence Muslims), their values also mean that they fundamentally oppose Islam's. For example, they push for LGBT-normalisation and women's rights that transgresses the Sharia. Hence, they will find Islam's stance on such issues to be oppressive. On the other hand, while the right-wing may seem to favour religious, traditional values (something Muslims may have in common with), the right-wing in non-Muslim countries fundamentally see Islam as a foreign religion and opposes Muslims thriving in or immigrating to their country (in which will result in greater Muslim empowerment).
In practice, this means that Muslims living in democratic non-Muslim countries should vote for those that can best benefit the ummah (and society at large) - not because they endorse laws that go against Islam's teachings but because that is the best they are able to do in their capability (short of being a politician themselves - but even then, there are caveats). After all, they are living in a non-Muslim country.
No matter where we may be, as Muslims, we must believe that the Shariah is the perfect code of law and the only one that mankind should live by. Even if it means that we might feel 'alone' for not belonging to any side of the political spectrum. A Muslim's trust must first be with Allah and then with each other anyway. Siding with anybody else will eventually result in us renouncing or compromising our Muslim identity as we succumb to peer pressure put on us by those we aligned ourselves with (as we have already seen many Muslim leaders and politicians fall into). But why side with any side of the spectrum in the first place? Nothing much should be expected of man-made laws anyway, even if they claim to be based on morality. It is mainly driven by politics. The rest is just rhetoric and overzealous loyalty. Creating laws based on Man's desires and conjecture instead of obeying God's commands will result in moral flaws and incoherence. Such is the truth of liberalism and the democracy that was born of it.
For one, even though the right who believes in traditional, religious values, and label themselves as 'conservatives' (the opposite of 'liberals'), are actually in fact, still classified under the umbrella of liberalism themselves. They have moved away from scripture and have instead adopted 'progressive' liberal man-made laws that ultimately contradict their values. For example, despite Christianity being the main religion of many right-wing groups, Christians foolishly support Israel - an entity that goes against their preaching of universal love and compassion. Many right-wingers also have a problem with the hijab, although practicing modesty is something that was common merely a hundred years ago (ie. it is a traditional value). Finally, despite countries being founded on democracy, many right-wingers take it that to be nationalistic, the country must prioritize the rights of a specific race and/or religion (usually the majority), with that race/religion being seen as 'natives' or the 'default race' of that country.
For the left, they claim to champion equality, human rights and freedom. Yet they are pro-abortion, meaning that to them, it is OK for a woman to indiscriminately murder the growing child in her womb. They have traded the freedom of a woman for the life of a baby. In a claim to fight oppression, they also cheer on for people to be more open-minded with their choices and reject notions that might cause individual harms. However, the short-term gratification that comes along with liberalism often causes even more oppression society. For example, the support of transgenderism to the point that it threatens the safety of women and children, giving too many rights and privileges to minority groups to the extent that they are put on a pedestal and not treated with due justice, and the pushing for leniency in legal punishments, weakening crime deterrence and essentially allowing repeat offenders to cause even more harm to society.
I want to emphasize that it is also part of the Shariah to live by the laws of the land even if it may fall short of the Shariah: to live as good abiding citizens and trustworthy neighbours; not causing undue unrest. Yes, we should take a stand on our values, but our 'isolation' does not mean that we victimize ourselves or react negatively towards society at large. It means that we are given the opportunity with giving da'wah to others the morality that is upon the haqq. Da'wah, if done properly, should not be seen as something 'weird' or 'inappropriate'. Those from the right and left constantly 'preach' their views on what laws the government should adopt, so why shouldn't we as Muslims do the same? Far from being controversial or seen as inciting dissent, that is actually a democratic right that we all have anyway.
Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.
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