With the presidential elections fast approaching, various American organizations of Muslims are urging them to come out in large numbers to vote on Election Day. Since the polls indicate that margin between the two top contenders is very small, the Muslims have an unprecedented opportunity to impact the outcome of these elections this year.

But the outcome of this possibility will depend on their voting together as one bloc. A coalition of Muslim organizations has announced that they will support George W. Bush. It is crucial that Muslims listen to them and act accordingly. The American Muslim Political Coordinating Council (AMPCC), an umbrella organization and its constituents AMA, AMC, CAIR and MPAC and others have focused their efforts in the key swing states and metropolitan areas where Muslims are also concentrated - New York city, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and California.

If Muslim votes are cast in these states as a bloc, it may well determine who wins in these states. Under the Electoral College system and the rule of 'winner takes all', whoever gets a majority of popular votes, gets all of the state's votes. And the winner in these swing states may win elections in the U.S. This is not only emphasized by Muslim leaders such as Professor Agha Saeed, Chairman, AMPCC but also by other American friends of Muslims such as Richard Curtis, Executive Editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

Other states where Muslim votes can have effect are Texas, Florida, Virginia and Washington, DC area. For now, neither the Democratic nor the Republican Party has wooed Muslims in any significant way. But by voting in high percentages, they could show their powerful effect on voting results and this will be a good omen for their future. If Muslims throughout the U.S. can demonstrate their unity and discipline, turn out to vote, vote as a bloc and their organizations publicize their voting results, they can make a permanent difference in the ways things are today to what they could be in acceding to their rightful demands. This could change the future course of events in America's policies towards the Islamic Ummah the world over.

This is not mere wishful thinking. Muslims have previously shown a remarkable effect on the local level. In 1996, Muslims endorsed Richard Zimmer, a Republican candidate from New Jersey. But afraid of Jewish criticism, Zimmer announced that he did not seek Muslim endorsement. Muslims then withdrew their support and announced they were supporting his opponent, Robert Torricelli who narrowly won and said he owed his victory to the Muslims. Senator Torricelli is very different from other senators on matters that affect Muslims in being careful to avoid stances could potentially offend his Muslim constituency.

Another significant example is that of Senator Larry Pressler from North Dakota who had proposed a legislative amendment to cut U.S. aid to Pakistan because of its nuclear weapons program. At the time of his re-election, the Pakistani community collected campaign donations to support his rival who won. There are other success stories of Muslims working together at the local level. It is time now that this collective effort is urgently extended to the national level for the good of Muslim community.

Muslims often complain that the American Jews are controlling the United States and as a result it adopts policies that are inimical to them. The American Jews are able to do this because of they are organized and vote with almost perfect record. They have also been using bloc voting on the national level. This bloc vote is centered on a single agenda of support for the State of Israel. By voting as a bloc, Muslims could negate much of their effect. By voting as a bloc, they will also be leading America to its good by making it realize that its real interests lie with the much larger Muslim Ummah with its vast resources and strategic significance.

Working and acting together as a bloc is in accord with the Qur'anic injunction that "the believers are but a single brotherhood (ikhwa)" (49:10) and that they constitute a "solid cemented structure (bunyan marsoos)" (61:4). Recently, Dr. Taha Jabir al Alwani, Chairman of the American Fiqh Council and President of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences voicing other renowned Islamic scholars called it a duty of American Muslims to protect their rights and support other views and causes that favor them. He emphasized that safeguarding their necessities and ensuring betterment of the Muslim community is a duty that cannot be abandoned or ignored. It is also their responsibility to provide the American public accurate information about Islam. In order to accomplish this, they should participate themselves in all the American systems, as well as support non-Muslims who work for causes that work toward building a moral and just American society.

The Islamic system of shura (consultation) requires that the community critically discuss issues openly and thoroughly. But the decision-making process demands that once a consensus (ijma) is reached, each and every member of the community should give up his or her own idea and instead adopt the collective decision that amounts to community approval. The collective decision by these Muslim organizations was arduously investigated, weighing every possible pro and con. Thus the decision to support Bush must be respected by each and every individual. Muslims are asked to come together and unite in their actions and any deliberate spreading of dissension, discord, or breaking of unity is severely reprimanded by both the Qur'an and Sunnah.

(Dr. Siraj Mufti recently retired as a chaplain from the U.S. Department of Justice. Previous to this, he was Research Professor at the University of Arizona. He now lives with his wife in Tucson, Arizona.)