Muslims and National Elections of 2012
By Dr Ghulam M Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota
In a few weeks, to be precise on November 6, 2012, national elections will be held to select the next president of the United States. Seeking to occupy the White House are two candidates, Barack Hussein Obama of the Democratic Party and Mitt Romney of the Republican Party.
Obama is the incumbent president who served in the White House for the past four years and Romney is the challenger who is seeking to topple the current president.
By profession Barack Obama is a lawyer who organized a community action group before his entry into politics. Mitt Romney has been a businessman having put together an investment company through which he earned millions of dollars during his tenure as the CEO of the company.
Both of these individuals did very well during the course of their working lives. At least for Obama he is a self-made individual coming from a background of broken family. His father was a student from Kenya, studied at a university in this country and married a white woman. Later on, they split up and he died while Obama was still an infant.
Obama is the first African-American to make inroads into national politics at the highest possible level. African-Americans had suffered a lot, were bought here as slaves to work in the cotton plantations and were bought and sold in the open market. They were denied all the opportunities which most people take for granted and suffered severe discrimination.
Most people don’t talk of slavery today except in the dark recesses of their homes at a cocktail party. This happens mostly in the South but the North is not exempt from it. The red necks are proud of it because it demonstrated the “white man’s superiority.”
As for Romney his father was a successful businessman, the CEO of the American Motors Corporation and Governor of Michigan. Many people have forgotten his lineage and the media does not want to talk about it. He also made millions, although that fact is kept hidden in the present campaign for the benefit of Mitt in his struggle for the White House.
For several years the Republicans have severely trashed the Muslims including virtually all the major leaders of the party. Many Congresspersons have refused to meet with their Muslim constituents, including the one representing Minnesota’s sixth district, Michele Bachmann. During the last elections John McCain denigrated Muslims several times as did his Vice-Presidential candidate, Sara Palin.
When the time for voting comes along it is imperative for the American Muslims to show up at the polling station, stand in the line, and cast their ballots. Muslims have finally gotten organized after many years of struggle. Many Muslims don’t share the culture voting and don’t believe in the idea of voting to select the leaders of the community.
When I first began to register Muslims to vote they denounced me as an agent of the kuffar. Today, many people voluntarily seek out information to register to vote. Some of them, not all, have finally realized the value of voting.
Most Muslims have seen the act of voting right in front of their eyes taking place in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Earlier, similar exercises were carried out in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran and Pakistan. These events have taken place in Turkey for quite some time.
Most ulema, in most places, favor the act of voting. Voting took place prior to the Prophet’s invitation to move from Mecca to Medina. “Let there be discussion in public affairs” is a famous passage often quoted from the Holy Qur’an. It is translated in various ways.
At the last election, in 2008, it was reported that Muslims voted in substantial numbers with the Democrats getting the large numbers of their votes. In that election the Republicans were quite hostile to the Muslims if you remember their statement from speeches and debates.
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