Is it OK for a Muslim to take the oath of allegiance to the United States to become a citizen?

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[dennisw]

Ask-Imam.com > Islamic Politics > Question 8471 from United States

To become a citizen of US one has to take an oath of allegiance. is it ok to take the oath.

The oath of allegiance is as follows: I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God. They also ask on the citizenship form the following questions: If the law requires it, are you willing to bear arms on behalf of US? If the law requires it, are you willing to perform noncombatant service in the US Armed Forces? If the law requires it, are you willing to perform work of national importance under civilian direction? My question is can we answer yes to these questions? is there anything wrong in doing that. what should the answer be: yes or no? could you please kindly give an urgent answer. jazakallah.

Answer 8471

2003-04-25

As Muslims, we are duty bound to follow our lives strictly according to Shari’ah. Whatever Shari’ah allows us to do, we will abide by that and whatever Shari’ah has restricted us from, we will refrain from it. Hence, we are not allowed to obey anybody if it is resulting in the disobedience of the Creator, Allah. Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘There is no obedience for the creation by disobeying the Creator.’ (Mirqaat vol.7 pg.217; Imdadiyyah).

Hence, keeping this in mind if one is forced to sign the above in order to become a citizen or the only way of attaining citizenship is by acknowledging the above, then one may sign it with the intention that Shari’ah and Deen will always be his yardstick and that he will never sacrifice any of the teachings of Deen.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

[RIGHT IN SEATTLE]

Only when the flash of hell lands on mecca!!!!!!

[bootless]

I love these. So, it boils down to "Lie if you have to." How honorable. /sarcasm

[The Grammarian]

That certainly doesn't make them sound very trustworthy as citizens.

On the other hand, we Christians are called to follow God first, not the state. So the potential for a conflict of interests exists for us as well, even if it is vastly less than that of the Muslim.

[dighton]

Swear without reservation, or be damned.

[Coeur de Lion]

Render unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's and render unto God those things which are God's.

[The Grammarian]

Render unto Caesar those things which are Caesar's and render unto God those things which are God's.

Good argument for paying my taxes. Thanks. ;P I had Acts 4:19,20 in mind more than anything. In the New Living Translation, it runs something like this "Do you think that God wants us to obey you rather than him?"

[Terridan]

You see what happened at Guantanamo, with our "own" US Military "muslims"... jailed!!! Should be shot for treason.
PS. Classified docs were confiscated that were headed to Syria... Iran and Syria next cross hairs...
God Bless.

[Salman]

And where exactly does the Jewish 'American's' loyalty lie?

None of my Jewish ancestors had any reservations taking that oath. Nor anyone I know about.

[river rat]

Horrors of horrors....

Must we now assume that there can never be trust between infidels and Muslims?

Does this mean that a Muslim may lie, swear, promise, contract, deceive or commmit any deception to gain entry or trust -- but may revoke any committment to serve directives from some Islamic cleric?

Doesn't sound like a plan for living with these folks...

Semper Fi

[Coeur de Lion]

Good argument for paying my taxes. Thanks. ;P I had Acts 4:19,20 in mind more than anything. In the New Living Translation, it runs something like this "Do you think that God wants us to obey you rather than him?"

I find it rather difficult to believe that Matthew 22:21's original Greek translates into "Do you think that God wants us to obey you rather than him?" This actually seems to be nothing more than a paraphrasing of Acts 4:19.

[Arthur McGowan]

Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘There is no obedience for the creation by disobeying the Creator.’ (Mirqaat vol.7 pg.217; Imdadiyyah).

So profound.

[Elsie]

On the other hand, we Christians are called to follow God first, not the state.

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Then how do we explain this?

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Romans 13
1. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
4. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
6. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.

[Aquinasfan]

So the potential for a conflict of interests exists for us as well, even if it is vastly less than that of the Muslim.

True, although Christians follow the natural law which is universal and intuitive to all people, as opposed to Sharia law. The larger problem that I see, from what little I know of Mohammedanism, is that the religion demands the unity of state and religion. That is, it is the obligation of every Mohammedan to bring about a Mohammedan state until the entire world is Mohammedan.

The old Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes the situation nicely:

In matters political Islam is a system of despotism at home and aggression abroad. The Prophet commanded absolute submission to the imâm. In no case was the sword to be raised against him. The rights of non-Moslem subjects are of the vaguest and most limited kind, and a religious war is a sacred duty whenever there is a chance of success against the "Infidel". Medieval and modern Mohammedan, especially Turkish, persecutions of both Jews and Christians are perhaps the best illustration of this fanatical religious and political spirit.

Has anything changed since this was written in 1911, except for the rise of even more fanatical Mohammedan sects like Wahabism?

[freeangel]

The way the pledge reads now, it IS one nation under God, clearly putting God in the drivers seat. This is what "offends" so many aetheists and cult worshippers such as Islam who insist that the God behind this country and OUR code of laws be dismanteled and His followers be eliminated one way or another.

[Kingasaurus]

"2. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. "

I suppose the American Revolution was against God's will, then?

[CodeMonkey]

And those of us who are just generic monotheists can pledge allegiance to the US without reservation.

[CodeMonkey]

I have seen a few hardliners argue exactly that and that our constitution should be abolished because it doesn't acknowledge God's sovereignty over the US and it is now a "pagan idol" because of how much reverence it has from the people.

[ArGee]

I love these. So, it boils down to "Lie if you have to." How honorable. /sarcasm

I'm not sure I agree. As a Christian, I honestly believe I could answer yes to all those questions (Born in the USA so not a personal issue). However, I also understand there may be circumstances where I may receive a lawful order which I belive G-d commands me to violate. Just, for example, if I were told to go into a peaceful house full of peaceful people and remove a six-year-old child at gunpoint. I might never have thought I would be asked to do such a thing when swearing an oath. But I would not consider myself in violation of that oath when such an unusual order came in and I could not, in good conscience, comply.

Now if Sharia specifically requires that Muslims maintain allegiance to Arab princes, then it is an outright lie.

Shalom.

[Redwood71]

"On the other hand, we Christians are called to follow God first, not the state."

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Agree, but as a concientious objector wishing not to represent the US in an action that was contrary to your worship or beliefs but not trying to harm others to represent those beliefs. In a number of cases, this is not happening like the soldier who rolled grenades into a few tents and the chaplain that was caught carrying sensitive information concerning Quantanamo, and with the many cells and arrests in the US of people trying to overthrow the US government in representation of Islam.

[Publius6961]

I don't really care if it's OK with them or not.

It is a requirement. Or should be.

No oath. No citizenship.

And if they lie? Citizenship revoked. And all the privileges.

[Happy2BMe]

I, Akmed Mohammed Ikbar Nufta Intifad do solemly swear to convert (or kill) as many (American)infidels as Allah will permt me to in this lifetime.

So help me Allah!

[Kingasaurus]

"I have seen a few hardliners argue exactly that and that our constitution should be abolished because it doesn't acknowledge God's sovereignty over the US and it is now a "pagan idol" because of how much reverence it has from the people."

Whether our Constitution acknowledges that or doesn't is less of an issue for me than the whole idea the revolution against a government is always contrary to what God supposedly wants.

If a government is persecuting you and making you suffer, just sit there and take it because that is the instrument God is using to punish you for being a miserable sinner.

Does anyone honestly believe that Soviet tanks were God's instrument for punishing the sins of Czechs and Hungarians? How about the Nazis?

When it comes to siding with Paul of Tarsus or George Washington on this, I'm with George every time. Sorry.

[ArrogantBustard]

1. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

So would you "submit to the governing authorities", and tell them where the Jews are hiding? Would you "submit to the governing authorities" and tell them where the runaway slaves are hiding? Would you "submit to the governing authorities" and abort your second conceived child? Enquiring minds...

[aristeides]

If you look at the federal court reporters for the 1940's, you will find that several naturalized Germans lost their U.S. citizenship in that period. The theory of those decisions was that those persons' subsequent pro-Nazi conduct indicated that their oaths of loyalty to the U.S. had been fraudulent.

[DTA]

worth repeating until it becomes a public knowledge:

"if one is forced to sign the above in order to become a citizen or the only way of attaining citizenship is by acknowledging the above, then one may sign it with the intention that Shari’ah and Deen will always be his yardstick"

[Gritty]

one may sign it with the intention that Shari’ah and Deen will always be his yardstick and that he will never sacrifice any of the teachings of Deen.

If they believe this, he/she can't take the oath in good faith.

They are mutually incompatable. Sahri'ah Law is not, can not!, be accommodated within our Constitution and Law and vice versa.

Period!!

Is that so hard to understand, or is almost everybody in postitions of power in America still in denial?