South Africa’s Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) fatwa committee has issued a formal religious edict declaring that knowingly voting for or assisting any political entity that justifies or facilitates unlawful killing is strictly prohibited in Islamic law.
Issued by Mufti Yaaseen Abbas on 27 October 2026, just eight days prior to the 4 November municipal polls across all 257 municipalities, the ruling establishes that extending support through votes, campaigning, endorsements, or financial aid amounts to sinful cooperation in aggression.
Contextualising the theological decision on Salaamedia, MJC representative Moulana Zakariyya Harneker explained that the ruling arose directly from a query submitted by a community member seeking ethical clarity before casting their ballot.
Moulana Harneker clarified that while a voter is not personally blamed for the independent crimes committed by politicians, the voter is held religiously accountable for their own decision to empower those leaders.
Accountability and apparent evidence
Moulana Harneker noted that Muslims must judge contenders by apparent actions and public statements rather than unscrutinised party manifestos.
“When we are voting, we are making our opinion known and counted that we endorse certain people… but those parties are made up of people, and in the sharia, we pierce the veil,” Moulana Harneker remarked. “It is our responsibility to not only consider the promises that are made with the manifestos, but to consider what the people that lead that party are actually doing.”
Addressing the reach of municipal governance, Moulana Harneker rejected arguments that local council elections can be isolated from international human rights issues. Because ward councillors inevitably secure seats in wider legislative structures and elevate party power broadly, voters cannot detach domestic administration from foreign policy records.
He reiterated that the preservation of human life occupies the highest tier in Islamic legal values, without distinction between domestic lives and victims abroad.
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