Zohran Mamdani’s recent election victory has stirred a lot of excitement, especially among those who still believe that swapping politicians is the same as achieving the change.
Some are celebrating Mamdani’s background -his mother, a Hindu Indian filmmaker, his father, Ugandan-born Muslim. A mix that seems to symbolize modern representation for many. Some are happy that he is from an Indian background, others that he is a muslim, some are even calling him an “ameer” just because of his muslim name!
But people need to face reality, changing faces within the same framework doesn’t rewrite the script.
Every election cycle, we hear the same chorus, “This time it’s different.” Yet the machinery of governance remains same, the structure itself is flawed. It’s like swapping the faces on the coin and calling it a new currency.
The point is simpler, and more painful, to absorb the reality that no matter who sits in the chair, if the chair itself belongs to the same system, the outcome will not change!
We must also learn from the story of Prophet Lut عليه السلام. His wife wasn’t guilty of the acts of the people, but she shared their sympathies. She supported them, and that was enough for her to share their fate. In today’s context, when Muslims support ideologies or movements that openly oppose Allah’s commands, simply because they seem “progressive” we need to remember this example. Silent endorsement is still endorsement.
The right wing hates Muslims, and the left wing hates Islam. The right despises our identity, our existence, our visibility. The left, meanwhile, praises diversity while systematically attacking the very faith that gives us our moral compass.
One side wants us erased, the other wants us diluted. Both exploit us for political theatre.
So when Muslims celebrate “representation” within these camps, they’re often celebrating the illusion of belonging in spaces that fundamentally reject their worldview, their aqeedah!
And this leads to the most dangerous delusion of all, the idea of the “lesser evil.” People justify moral compromises by claiming they’re avoiding something worse. But let’s be honest-Evil is Evil. Diluting it doesn’t make it drinkable or even good!
The “lesser evil” narrative is how systems of corruption survive, by convincing good people that compromise is “wisdom.”
The future doesn’t belong to those who keep clapping for every “historic win.” It belongs to those who have the courage to say-
A corrupt system cannot yield righteous results. A poisoned well cannot be fixed just because the bucket has been changed!
And until we understand that, we’ll keep celebrating illusions while drowning in the same failures.