Men cannot make election decision for their wives

Sheikh Abdel Hamid al Atrash Cairo – Akram Ali As Egyptian voters revel in the country\'s first democratic elections in more than six decades, an online theological debate has begun amongst Islamic Sheikhs and researchers regarding the extent a husband can influence his wife in her decision over who to vote for.
Islamic website \'Salafi Dawah\' ruled that a husband cannot order his wife to vote for a certain candidate, and that if he does, she is not obliged to obey him.
The answer came after \'Salafi Dawah\' received the following questions on their website: \"If the husband orders his wife to vote for a particular presidential candidate the she doesn\'t want, is she obliged to obey him?\"
Sheikh Yasser Berhamy, Vice President of \'Salafi Dawah\' answered: \"It is not permitted for the husband to force his wife to choose a candidate she doesn\'t accept\"
The President of the Fatwa Committee at al-Azhar University, Sheikh Abdel Hamid al Atrash, explained to Arabstoday: \"God ordered the wife to obey her husband in everything except what is contrary to the Law of God, and this opinion is controversial as the vote is considered to be \'a trust\' that God will question her about. So, here the husband should only discuss with his wife and try to convince her of his argument.  It should only be a request from him not an order. If she is not convinced, she is free to decide on her own and it is not considered disobedient in this case.\"
Atrash added that a frank discussion between a couple about the pros and cons of the candidates was in fact the best way to choose, instead resorting to orders, which may result in arguments.
However, Islamic researcher Hussein Youssef disagreed with Atrash, saying that the wife must obey her husband\'s orders as long as he did not ask her to do something contrary to God\'s will, and therefore he should order her to choose the best from his point of view, and if she doesn\'t, she is being disobedient.
Youssef quoted hadith of Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in which he said: \"If a woman prays five times a day, fasts her month, preserves her chastity and obeys her husband, she enters paradise from any gate she prefers\".
Sheikh Yasser Berhamy, Vice President of \'Salafi Dawah\' answered: \"It is not permitted for the husband to force his wife to choose a candidate she doesn\'t accept\"
Researcher in Islamic affairs Ali Youssef also waded into the argument and told Arabstoday: \"This fatwa or invitation doesn’t commit the husband to force his wife to choose a specific candidate. According to the theory of obedience to the husband, the wife is totally free to choose what she wants, as it is something of her own.\"
Youssef also stated that it is not a sin for the wife to choose whoever she deems appropriate of the candidates, even if its different to her husband\'s choice, as her vote is a trust that only God will question her about.