Why are mosque elections held openly by show of hands?

Because everyone should show openly what they stand for. Those who have the courage to stand by their convictions before everyone protect the community from hypocrisy and from the decay that afflicts many political systems.

Many countries introduced the secret ballot to protect voters from pressure. A powerful landowner was no longer to be able to check who voted against him. That is understandable. But it comes at a price. People can say one thing in public and do another in secret, and no one ever knows.

If everyone had been encouraged from the start to stand courageously by their principles, political life today would not be so corrupted. When you raise your hand, everyone sees it. And that is exactly the point. Everyone should have the courage and honesty to show the whole world what they stand for.

The Holy Qur’an treats a vote like a testimony. The verses above ask us to stand up for the truth even when it harms ourselves, and not to hide our testimony. An office is a trust. Whoever casts a vote helps decide to whom that trust is handed, and should answer for it openly.

That is why in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat elections are held this way at every level, from the smallest local branch up to the election of its spiritual head. Everyone present raises their hand so that it is seen whom they support. This has grown into a healthy and lively form of shared decision making, built on trust and sincerity.