Is it permissible for a Muslim to nominate himself in parliamentary elections? And is it permissible to vote for him?

The Shaykh : The question of the brother, as it appears, concerns the ruling of the Shari'ah regarding the election of Islamists who nominated themselves for the National Assembly, which is called the parliament. I note that a person usually does not ask about something unless it concerns his religion, so this question should have been asked before this time; but now the matter you are inquiring about has already been decided. However, there is no harm in discussing it for the sake of knowledge and understanding. We have been asked repeatedly about this question before the matter concluded with the success of many Islamic individuals. My answer, when I was asked, was as follows, and it divides into two branches: one concerning the candidates themselves, and the other concerning those who will elect them. As for the first group, my opinion, which remains the same, is that we do not advise a Muslim who fears for himself before he fears for others to nominate himself to be a member of the council, as long as he believes that this council is established on something other than Islam, and on European laws and systems. Especially since we hear from people that it is part of the system that every person who succeeds in becoming a member of the parliament must take an oath that is not permissible in the Shari'ah; this is the least that can be said about it. If the first step of this successful candidate is to violate the Shari'ah, this does not bode well. We know that those who nominate themselves think they will be able to improve something of the ruling system, whether it be law or constitution. In my opinion, parliamentary experiences in the entire Islamic world have not allowed Muslims to succeed in this justification to present themselves as members of parliamentary councils. In fact, the matter may result in other harm to them, in addition to the first harm we mentioned earlier, which is the oath. They do not take the oath to support the Book and the Sunnah, but to support the existing rule, and they know for certain that this rule contains things that contradict the Shari'ah. These are the things that led them, or made it attractive to them, to nominate themselves as members of the parliament. I fear that behind this step they have taken, which is the oath supporting what is not permissible to support, there may be other steps that expose this elected person to violating the Shari'ah of Allah the Exalted in one issue after another. At that time, I would recall his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . Those who claim to be Islamists are in great danger. The sign of the danger is that oath. The outcome of the danger varies according to the strength of their faith, the strength of their personality, and their steadfastness in their religion, creed, morals, and principles. I say, for example—and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah—there is a phenomenon that draws attention. With our respect for those afflicted with this phenomenon, we respect them for their Islam, not for their appearance. The phenomenon is that most Muslims or Islamists who belong to parliaments are not adorned with Islamic attire. Most of them, in terms of clothing, do not wear Arab clothing but consider it a disgrace. It is as if one enters the parliament in his jilbab and shirt. Perhaps this is the first step; if one of them wanted to do so, he would be expelled from this council because this council was established on the European system. This phenomenon is usually accompanied by another, with our respect also, because the land is inhabited by Islamists. These are two groups, most of whom are shaven and consider shaving the beard to be part of civilization, and few of them have beards, but their beards are not according to the Sunnah, but according to the common practice described by some of the common people among us in the Levant as "the best of chins is a sign." Some of the Islamists who belong to the parliament may have beards, but according to this common practice, "the best of chins is a sign." What I want to say is that some of them may have kept their beards in their lives before the parliament, but when they enter the parliament, they shave them or trim them, even in their own claim, meaning that their presence should be in harmony with the majority in this council. Thus, what I pointed out earlier is realized in them, from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . They joined the parliament to alleviate some of the problems surrounding Muslims, but as it was said long ago: "Can the shadow be straight if the stick is crooked?" If the constitution does not help the parliament to correct what is crooked in the rulings, the matter will remain as it is. Therefore, we say that we do not advise a Muslim to nominate himself, because the outcome, in terms of his person, will be that he loses something of what he was gaining in his ordinary life, and in terms of the others who nominated him, it will not benefit them in anything regarding their religion. It may benefit them in their worldly affairs, and at that time, there is no difference between this candidate being an Islamist or not, because they all nominate those they think will be judges of their needs and interests. As for the second group, those who elect these people, we say that they must apply a legal rule, which is that if a Muslim falls between two evils, he must choose the one with less harm, the one with less evil. We, or I as a person from the Ummah, hold the opinion that a Muslim should not nominate himself because he will lose much or little from it. But we must deal with this reality as it is, with its crookedness and straightness. If a group of Islamists come forward and nominate themselves, and against them are people who are either non-committed Muslims or not Muslims, and they may be Muslims who have apostatized from their religion, then the rule mentioned earlier requires us to choose the one whose good is greater than the good of others, or rather, whose evil is less than the evil of others. On this basis, it is obligatory for all voters to choose the Islamists, whatever their orientations and parties, and so on. It appears that this is what happened, and praise be to Allah, that a group of Islamists were chosen, perhaps more than the others relatively. This is my opinion. So, as for the group who nominated themselves, we do not advise them; but since they have nominated themselves, it is upon us to choose from them the one who is closest to Islamic action.