This paper examines the Quranic perspective on Muslim voting for non-Muslim candidate leader in the election. It discusses the position of non-Muslim in a majority Muslim and democratic Indonesia and serves as a response to contemporary political rallies against the candidacy of non-Muslim. The Jakarta Governor election in 2017 clearly demonstrated how Muslim politics define non-Muslim in democracy. Examining important concepts on leadership, mainly the doctrine of khali>fah, uli al-amr, ima>m, and awliya>’, explained in the Qur’an, this article further argues (...) that this holy scripture has defined criteria of leader for the Muslim. Faith and competencies of leadership candidate serve as main references when Muslim send their vote in the election. In political affairs or nashb al-ima>mah, Muslim is supposed to vote for Muslim candidate while also having obligation to guarantee the fulfillment of civic rights, particularly for non-Muslim. (shrink)

This paper examines how the law elects non-Muslim leaders from the Qur’an perspective. The issue raised was based on the Regional Head Election of the DKI Jakarta on February 6, 2017 where one of the candidates is non-Muslim. Then, the simultaneous local elections on June 27, 2018, and the Legislative Election and the Presidential Election on April 17, 2019. It has become interesting because the issue of ethnic, racial, and religious sentiments in the context of candidate leaders often becomes a (...) serious consideration for voters, in addition to capability and track record of the candidate. This paper uses the thematic interpretation method seeks to get a comprehensive genealogy of the verse choosing non-Muslim leaders. The results studies that in the Qur'an there are four terms related to leadership: khalȋfah, uli al-amr, imâm, and awliyâ’. The last term gives rise to various interpretations because it is mentioned 33 times with various meanings: salvation, friend, and leader. From these verses it can be understood that partiality for non-Muslims is not permitted in Islam, especially in the affairs of the nashb al-Imâmah. As for the fulfillment of the rights of non-Muslims as citizens, it is still guaranteed and highly upheld in Islam. (shrink)