“In March 2004 the Emergency Reaction Force in Camp Delta came into his cell. They brought their pepper spray and held him down. “They held both of his eyes open and sprayed it into his eyes, and later took a towel soaked in pepper spray and rubbed it in his eyes.” An officer then pushed his finger in Omar’s right eye. “He’s totally blind in the right eye,” says Clive Stafford Smith. “I can report that his right eye is all white and milky — he can’t see out of it because he has been blinded by the US in Guantanamo.” (Clive Stafford-Smith describing the condition of his client Omar Al-Deghayes, one of the British residents still in Guantanamo Bay.)

Omar Al-Deghayes is one reason why Britain’s Muslims must vote on 05 May. Shaker Aamer, Bisher Al-Rawi, Jamil Al-Banna and Jamal Abdullah, the other British residents still incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, are four more reasons why Britain’s Muslims must vote at the 2005 General Election.

The 100,000+ Iraqi civilian death toll since March 2003 are 100,000+ more reasons why Britain’s Muslims must vote next month. Until last year, I myself used to consider that voting was haram. For me, the issue was black and white: democracy was a heretical ideology and according to the well-known verses in Surah Al-Maidah (verses 44, 45, 47 and 49), legislating by man-made laws was kufr.

However, in May 2004, Sheikh Haytham Al-Haddad of the Al-Muntada Al-Islami Centre in London issued a fatwa in support of voting in British elections, subject to certain conditions.

His fatwa, titled ‘Why Vote, and Who To Vote For’ basically stated that voting for a candidate or party that rules according to man-made law does not necessitate approval or acceptance of this candidate’s or party’s methods. Therefore, if a Muslim votes for such a candidate with the intention of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil and not because he believes that this candidate’s party legislates equal to or better than the shariah, then he is not committing an act of kufr.

Obviously, if a Muslim votes believing that the legislation of a particular party is better than or equal to the shariah, then he is committing kufr. I was convinced of Sheikh Haytham Al-Haddad’s reasoning and evidences and so, in the June 2004 elections I voted for the first time in my life, being 100% convinced that I was doing a correct action to seek Allah’s Pleasure.

I had changed my earlier opinion when I was shown conclusive evidence to the contrary because that is what we are obliged to do as Muslims: to follow the truth, however ‘unfashionable’ it is to do so.

This leads to the question: if Britain’s Muslims vote, what will it achieve? The answer to this question differs from constituency to constituency and from candidate to candidate.

At best, tactical voting to elect a particular candidate will increase some good towards the Muslims and maybe even remove and punish a candidate that has caused great evil and harm to the Muslims.

Take the Blackburn constituency, for example, currently held by the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw MP in a 2001 majority of 9,249 votes. Jack Straw is one of the key architects of the war in Iraq in which thousands of Muslim children have been orphaned and thousands of Muslim women have become widows; he is not just an innocent, silent approver of it.

His policies support the killing of Palestinian schoolchildren and the desecration of their mosques. He remains a staunch supporter of the detention and torture of Muslim captives in illegal U.S. concentration camps such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib; moreover he steadfastly refuses to bring back the five British residents still held hostage there.

Supporting Jack Straw are some of our Muslim elders and their ‘Lordship – seeking’ thugs amongst Blackburn’s Muslims, who recently manhandled some MPAC volunteers who were distributing leaflets telling people NOT to vote for Jack Straw.

Standing against Jack Straw is Craig Murray, the respectable and intelligent former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan who was sacked for publicly speaking out against the torture and killing of practicing Muslims in Uzbekistan (a major U.K. and U.S. ally in the ‘War of Terror’).

There are about 25,000 Muslim voters in Blackburn: if all of these 25,000 Muslim voters voted for Craig Murray and not Jack Straw, what would most likely happen? A competent man would be elected in Blackburn who is so sensitive to Muslim affairs that he sacrificed his prestigious job because of it. (Craig Murray has consistently spoken out against the Iraq war, the ‘War of Terror’ and Guantanamo Bay).

Craig Murray is unlikely to establish Khilafah in Blackburn or introduce shariah therein, but he is even more unlikely to orchestrate the genocide of Muslims in foreign countries like his former boss. Unseating Jack Straw and confining him to the garbage can of history will punish him for his crimes against humanity and send a chilling message to his warmongering cronies that, “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

In my humble opinion and with all due respect to some zealous Muslims who may disagree with me, unseating a war criminal like Jack Straw from his constituency seat will punish the current Blair Administration over Iraq more than a number of illegal acts of violence committed against them.

After all, why should the ordinary British people, most of whom oppose the war in Iraq anyway, pay for the crimes of a handful of anti-social thugs amongst them? If, on 06 May 2005, Blackburn’s Muslims wake up to Jack Straw as their MP, then may Allah help them.

Another example is George Galloway, standing against another warmonger, Oona King, in Bethnal Green and Bow. George Galloway hardly knows me and yet he has been passionately campaigning for my case and those of other Muslim political prisoners far more than some of our Muslim community elders who are still living in the days of the subservient Maharajahs in British India.

Like Craig Murray, George Galloway is unlikely to establish khilafah in East London, but voting for him will elect a man who speaks up and has sacrificed more for the Muslims than they speak up and have sacrificed for themselves.

His enemies try to discredit him as an artificial, publicity-seeking man. I say that actions speak louder than words and it is he who continues to help my family both publicly and behind the scenes, where there are no journalists or cameramen.

It will be a disgrace if Bethnal Green and Bow wakes up on Friday 06 May 2005 to find that George Galloway has not been elected as their MP. The same can be said for other candidates, from all parties, whose actions speak louder than their words, such as Yvonne Ridley (Leicester South for Respect), Salma Yaqoob (Birmingham Sparkbrook for Respect) and others that have been recommended by the Muslim Association of Britain (www.mabonline.net).

However, it’s not as straightforward as saying, “Vote for this party!” or “Vote for every Muslim candidate!” as the situation differs from candidate to candidate. For example, Sadiq Khan is Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Tooting but he has been a fervent public campaigner for my case and that of other Muslim political prisoners.

I encourage all my family, friends and supporters in Tooting to vote for him, despite him being a member of the Labour Party. Labour also has several other anti-war candidates such as Alice Mahon (Halifax), Bob Marshall-Andrews (Medway) and others listed by the organisation Vote4peace.org.uk.

On the other hand, surprisingly, some Muslim MP’s such as Mohammad Sarwar (Glasgow Govan for Labour) actually voted in favour of the recent ‘anti-terrorism’ (read ‘anti-Muslim’) Control Orders. That said, more important than having decided who to vote for is actually turning out to vote. It’s no use shaking George Galloway’s hand in the mosque then failing to get every over-18 you know in the Bethnal Green and Bow area to vote for him on 05 May itself. Since the vast majority (typically over 70% in some areas) of people who traditionally cast votes in a General Election are aged over 40, the vote for the 18-40 age group will be a deciding factor in this General Election.

Blackburn’s Muslim voters in the 18-40 age range alone could depose Jack Straw, even if some of their community elders value a cup of tea with him more than the blood of Iraqi babies and imams.

Given below is a suggested Six-Point Action Plan for Britain’s Muslims this General Election:

1. If still unsure about the Islamic legality of voting, read the fatwa of Shaikh Haytham Al-Haddad (Google search for ‘Why Vote Haytham’). If you are still not convinced, then it is unjust to impose your opinion on other Muslims or pressure them against voting.

2. Go to MAB’s website (www.mabonline.net) to find out if there is a candidate in your constituency being recommended by MAB. Contact them if you are unsure who to vote for in your constituency.

3. Book a day off work or studies on Thursday 05 May 2005.

4. Compile a list of the phone numbers and addresses of every over-18 you know in your constituency (including mums, dads, brothers, sisters, housewives and grandparents). Contact them now to urge them to vote for the recommended candidate, explain to them why and how to vote. Offer your help on the day to take them to their polling station.

5. On Election Day itself (05 May 05), awake early and have your own and your family’s votes casted as soon as your polling station opens. Don’t delay it until later: if you don’t cast your own vote, don’t expect others to cast theirs. Go through your contacts list and get them all to cast their votes ASAP. Chase them up until they either vote or tell you to stop bothering them! Offer to accompany them to the polling station if you have to. This point is particularly important if you live in one of the marginal key seats being targeted by MAB.

6. If you have time, offer it to organisations like MAB or MPACUK.org or their recommended candidates themselves, to help distribute leaflets and posters before and on the Election Day itself. Try your best then leave the rest to Allah.

Carry on your life as normal on 06 May 2005! In conclusion, voting tactically on 05 May will not immediately change the world but, if successful, at least it will punish the likes of Jack Straw and Oona King who stab the Muslim community in the back whilst showing it a smiling face.

At least, if you have the correct intention, it may give you a feeble excuse before Allah on the Day of Judgement if Guantanamo detainee Omar Al-Deghayes or a murdered Iraqi child grabs you and asks, “What did you do to help me?” However, if you are one of those who support pro-war, anti-Muslim candidates and for whom the milk in the cup of tea with Jack Straw means more than the milky eye of Omar Al-Deghayes, then consider the Words of The Almighty: “Whosoever desires honour and dignity, then with Allah is all honour and dignity.” (Quran 35:10)

Ultimately, when it comes to sentencing some of Britain’s war criminals, on 05 May 2005 at least, the ballot will be mightier than the bullet.

British Political Prisoner Babar Ahmad MX5383 April 2005
The full version of this article can be found in The Muslim Weekly, April 2005

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