Course Description:
What does it mean to engage in politics as a Muslim—especially in a non-Muslim society like the United States? Should Muslims participate in elections, advocate for social causes, or challenge unjust laws? Or does true faith require political withdrawal?

For many Muslims, these questions stir deep tension between loyalty to divine guidance and the realities of modern governance. Yet Islamic tradition offers a framework not of retreat, but of principled engagement. Rooted in Qur’anic imperatives to command good, forbid evil, and stand for justice, civic participation can be understood as part of our divine mandate of khilāfah—to act as God’s stewards on earth.

In this course, Imam Tom Facchine explores how classical Islamic legal concepts—such as al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ, territorial classifications, and the duty to uphold justice—intersect with contemporary political realities. You’ll see how the freedoms afforded by the U.S. Constitution, especially the First Amendment, create a unique opportunity for Muslims to live, advocate, and share their faith publicly—an opportunity that demands both gratitude and vigilance.

Through this study, you’ll gain a framework for engaging in civic life with conviction, strategy, and sincerity—rooting your activism not in partisanship, but in prophecy.

Join us to discover how prophetic values can guide Muslim participation in shaping a more just and faithful society.

About The Instructor:

Imam Tom completed his BA in Political Science from Vassar College in 2011 and was granted the opportunity to study at the Islamic University of Madinah from 2015-2020, where he obtained his BA from the Faculty of Shariah. Imam Tom is from Southern New Jersey. Brought up a Christian, he left Christianity as a teenager and became an atheist. During this period he had a political awakening and developed a passion for leftist political theory and activism, particularly Marxism, anarchism, and feminism. It wasn’t until he reached university and began studying European colonialism and secularism that his commitments started to loosen, leaving him open to the influence of Malcolm X and Islam. This culminated in his conversion to Islam in 2010.

Imam Tom’s research interests remain secularism, European colonialism, feminism, and all things political theory, but now his research is anchored in an Islamic paradigm and informed by the Islamic scholarly tradition. He serves as Research Director of Islam and Society at Yaqeen Institute.