Al-Qalam 
By Imam A. Rashied Omar
Notwithstanding glitches in the electoral system, our country’s national elections occurred under relatively peaceful conditions. If now, after we have voted, we think that we have fulfilled our responsibility as citizens and sit back waiting for our newly elected leaders to deliver on their electoral promises, I am afraid we are once again setting ourselves up for disappointment.
While the period leading up to and including our national elections was intense, our real work as active citizens starts now. In the next few weeks and months, we need to work hard to put mechanisms in place that will assist us in holding our newly elected leaders accountable for their political and moral mandates.
Contemporary Muslim scholars, such as the late Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the 80-year imprisoned Tunisian leader Shaykh Rashid al-Ghanouchi, have produced an innovative concept in the field of Muslim political philosophy & ethics known as Fiqh al-Muwatana (i.e., the jurisprudence of citizenship). Three of the most important principles that undergird fiqh al-muwatana are `adala or justice, shura or mutual consultation and hisbah or accountability. By cojoining and linking the principle of Shura to that of `Adl, justice, and Hisbah accountability, Fiqh al-Muwatana holds that the Islamic system of governance is closer to that of the modern concept of participatory democracy, which is different from representative democracy. In representative democracy, the entire system rests on elections, whereas in participatory democracy, the emphasis is on citizen empowerment and civic engagement.
Fiqh al-Muwatana (i.e., the Muslim ethic of citizenship) furthermore holds that the critical motor of social change does not lie in voting or supporting this or that political party but rather in holding politicians and parties accountable for their actions. In other words, in terms of Fiqh al-muwatana, citizenship does not begin and end with casting one’s vote. Fiqh al-muwatana demands that we become active citizens who contribute to the building of consultative and transparent social institutions that can assist in holding those in power accountable for their moral and political mandate.
Applying the above three key principles of fiqh al-muwatana to the South African context, I have for a long time now proposed that we can only hold our elected leaders accountable if we become active citizens by joining and capacitating our local organizations, whether they be civic associations, school committees, trade unions, sports clubs or religious institutions. In this regard, I would like to remind us all about a forgotten but critically important sunnah of our exemplar and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). When he was a young man, many years before he became a Prophet, he joined an organization in Makkah together with his best friend, Abubakr (ra), called Hilf al-Fudul, the pact of the virtuous.
This organization was established to combat unjust business practices inflicted on the marginalised in the city of Makkah. Many years later, when he (SAW) adorned the mantle of prophethood, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) praised the virtues of this organization. Hilf al-Fudul thus holds great significance in Islamic teachings, not least the fact that it makes the joining of organizations whose primary aim is the promotion of human dignity and socio-economic justice a great sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH).
In conclusion, now that we have successfully convened our seventh national elections, I advise myself and you to become active South African citizens by holding our elected representatives accountable by embracing the Sunnah of Hilf al-Fudul by joining our local organizations. We pray that our newly elected leaders will not merely serve their own personal interests but rather that of all citizens and for caring and active citizens who will hold our elected leaders accountable for their political and moral mandates.
