Q&A: Lobbying Western Governments?

The following is a Q&A from the archives, during the time of Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zalloom:

Question: Is it allowed for Muslims in the West to form lobby groups that lobby the government? Is it allowed to ask them to adhere to their own laws and to use the style of lobbying to do this? Can Muslims in the West participate in marches which call for the lobbying of Western governments or institutions? What if these marches call for the Western governments to implement a right that Islam also recognises, such as preventing the war?

Answer: It is not allowed for Muslims to form pressure groups (lobbies) to put pressure on western governments or parliaments or to enter the political action by influencing the policy of the government and parliament by resorting to the western laws and values reliance on them to apply the pressure.

a)      It is not allowed to form Muslim lobbies with the aim of putting pressure on western governments via the western laws and values and through this to call for western governments to adhere to their own laws and values because the values and laws of the west are kufr laws.

b)      It is not allowed to participate in the marches which appeal to the governments and parliament of western countries to support our issues from the standpoint of the laws of western governments and parliaments.

c)      It is not allowed for these marches to demand the Security Council to stand with the issues of the Muslims based on its charter. Just as it is not allowed to implore the members of the Security Council whether to vote against or to abstain in our issues according to the Security Council charter.

d)     Acceptance of the above: appealing to the Security Council and western governments to issue resolutions supporting the issues of the Muslims based on their laws. Such actions are considered acceptance of these organisations and parliaments.

e)      If the organisers of these marches call for the above things ie support of our issues via the Security Council or western parliaments then it is not allowed to participate in these marches. However, if we can change their agenda for the march and to our agenda then we have changed the march to our agenda then this is allowed and this is one of the signs of the success of our work. However, if we participate in the march and they have their own agenda and slogans and we have our own agenda and slogans hoping to change their agenda then this is not allowed.