Treat voting as a trust for the community
“If you remain uninvolved, then you're part of the problem.”
Muslims should treat participation in municipal elections as a religiously grounded civic trust: research candidates, support competent and trustworthy servants, vote, and act for the community while leaving outcomes to Allah.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Opens with taqwa and accountability, framing enjoining good and opposing wrong as a communal duty.
- Surveys local and global crises, including job insecurity, Gaza, Sudan, school threats, and civic instability.
- Uses Qur'anic examples to argue that believers must oppose corruption, act proactively, and leave results to Allah.
- Explains how municipal decisions shape mosques, zoning, roads, parks, libraries, transit, utilities, and garbage collection.
- Grounds civic organization and leadership selection in consultation, Umar's succession process, and prophetic guidance.
- Urges voters to research candidates' integrity, history, reliability, competence, and service, then gives election dates before closing with prayers.
In the khateeb's words
“And even if we're not successful, what we ought to do is what we can.”
“If you remain uninvolved, then you're part of the problem.”
“We have to look at their integrity. We have to look at their history. We have to see their reliability.”
For the dinner table
Today the imam reminded us that being a Muslim is not only about how we pray, dress or eat. It also means caring about what happens around us and standing up for what is good and fair. He explained that the mosque we pray in, our roads, parks, libraries and buses all depend on decisions made by the city council, so the municipal election really matters to our lives. He said voting is like giving testimony: we should choose people who are strong and capable and also honest and trustworthy, like the qualities praised in the stories of Musa and Yusuf, and staying home is still a choice. He also taught that our job is to make the effort, and the results are always in Allah's hands. Finally, he asked us to make dua for those who are sick, for those who have passed away, and for oppressed people everywhere.
- What is one thing in our neighbourhood, like a park, library or bus, that you would want a good city leader to take care of?
- The imam said a good leader should be strong and trustworthy. Who is someone you know who is both, and why?
- If we try our best at something good but it doesn't work out, why do you think Allah still values our effort?
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