30 Muftis’ fatwa: Voting for righteous mandatory, for characterless a sin

LAHORE: As many as 30 Muftis of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Pakistan have said in a joint fatwa that giving vote to a capable candidate is a farz (a religious duty commanded by Allah), voting for a person of bad character a sin and not casting a vote is a national crime.

The muftis issued the joint fatwa called ‘Collective Sharia Announcement’ on an appeal made by SIC Pakistan Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza. The announcement declared that not casting a vote ultimately damages a society and giving vote to a right person brings about prosperity in the country. The fatwa said that barring women from casting their votes is illegal and wrong.

It declares vote a sacred responsibility and a national and religious duty. According to the fatwa, one should cast his/her vote beyond the considerations of nation, race, caste, biradari, personal benefit or biases. Taking part in elections is correct in the light of the Sharia orders.

The muftis who signed the fatwa include: Mufti Muhammad Muqeem Khan, Mufti Muhammad Habib Qadari, Allama Hamid Sarfraz, Allama Muhammad Akbar Naqashbandi, Mufti Waseem Raza, Allama Raza-e-Mustafa Naqashbandi, Maulana Muhammad Ali Naqashbandi, Allama Shamsur Rehman Shams, Mufti Mushtaq Ahmad Noori, Mufti Muhammad Bakhsh Razvi, Mufti Rehmatullah, Mufti Ghulam Usman Ghani, Mufti Zafar Jabbar Chishti, Allama Hafiz Yaqoob Fareedi, Allama Arshad Mustafa, Allama Mumtaz Rabbani, Allama Matloob Raza, Maulana Abid Alvi, Mufti Imtiaz Hussain, Mufti Izhar Ahmad, Mufti Muhammad Bilal, Mufti Ahmad Raza, Mufti Khalil Qadari, Mufti Zahoorullah, Allama Muhammad Saleem Qadari, Mufti Shahzad Ahmad, Mufti Muhammad Siddique Qadari, Mufti Barkat Ahmad Siddiqui, and Mufti Nasir Qadari.