Part 12

Whoever desires the life of the world and its attractions, We shall repay

them for their actions in it, and in it they will not be wronged. These are

they for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter except the Fire.

Whatever they try in it is in vain and whatever they are used to doing is

Of those who associate a partner with Him when offering obedience, He

They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords instead of Allah.

Also, in the hadith related by Ibn Hatim who, when he heard the Prophet

recite this verse asked, ʹBut did they really worship them?' the Prophet, may

Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied,

ʹCertainly they did, for they forbade them what was permitted and they

permitted them what was forbidden, and in this they followed them;

this is how they worshipped them.ʹ 82

As for the Shirk connected to love, Allah says:

82 Tirmidhi, Kitab at‐Tafsir, 8/248, (3094); also Ibn Kathir, 4/77; al‐Albani classifies it as hassan.

And from among mankind are some who take for themselves (objects of

worship as) rivals to Allah, loving them as they should (only) love

Hypocrisy, too, may take a person out of the community. Ibn Taimiya

explains this, saying, ʹThere is a Greater Hypocrisy, the likes of which will take

you to the deepest pit of Hell, like the hypocrisy of Abdullah ibn Ubayy and

others. It includes denial of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him

peace, rejection of some part of the Revelation, failure to believe in the obligation

of obedience, joy at the setbacks of the Prophetʹs deen or displeasure at its

successes, or some other element that can only mean enmity towards Allah and

His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. 84

Apostasy is a type of disbelief that comes after belief. This is the case of

whoever declares disbelief and acts upon it, or takes pleasure in it willfully, even

though he may be acting against his own heart. The ulamaʹ have discussed this at

length and have said that an apostate is the one who disbelieves after having

previously submitted himself to Islam, whether by word, by deed, or by belief.

They have established that whoever declares his disbelief is a disbeliever even if

he has spoken without conviction, and does not act upon it. The only exception

to this is someone who has been compelled against his will.

In the same way, if someone performs an act of disbelief, he too is a

disbeliever, even if he acts without conviction and makes no declaration of

disbelief. This is also true if disbelief arises in his heart and overwhelms and

conquers him, even though he made no declaration of it and does not act upon it.

This is quite clear from what has been written on the subject. Anyone who has

any knowledge of the deen must have come across this at some time. 85

84 Ibn Taimiyah, Majmuʹ al‐Fatawaa, 28434.

85 Ahmad ibn ʹAtiq, ad‐Difaaʹ, p.28.

A Summary of What the Ulamaʹ Say

The ulamaʹ have mentioned ten actions that negate Islam. These are:

First, associating other deities with the worship of the One God Who has

Surely Allah does not forgive it when partners are ascribed to Him. He

forgives everything except this for whomever He wishes. (4:116)

Second, relying on an intermediary between oneself and Allah when

Third, refusal to condemn the kufr of those who rely on other deities

instead of Allah, or doubting that they are disbelievers, or approving of their

Fourth, belief that there is a more perfect guidance than that of the

Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or that there is a form of

governance that is preferable to this, such as someone who prefers the rule of

tyrants to that of the Prophet.

Fifth, dislike of any part of the Revelation, even though one may act upon

it, is disbelief. Allah says:

This is because they dislike what Allah has revealed, so He makes their

Sixth, disparaging any part of the deen or any aspect of reward or

Say: Was it Allah and His signs and His Messenger that you ridiculed?

Make no excuse. You have disbelieved after your belief. (9:65‐66)

Seventh, practising magic either black or white, is proof of disbelief:

And they did not teach it (magic) to anyone until they had said: ʹSurely

we are only a temptation, so do not disbelieve (in the guidance of

Eighth, helping and assisting the disbelievers in overcoming the Muslims:

Whoever among you takes them for friends is surely (one) of them.

Surely Allah does not guide wrongdoing people. (5:51)

Ninth, belief that it is not necessary to follow the Prophet, may Allah bless

him and grant him peace, and that it is permitted to step outside the law of

Allah, as al‐Khidr did when he exceeded what had been revealed to Moses. This

Tenth, willful neglect of Allahʹs deen, neither learning it nor acting upon

And who does greater wrong than he who is reminded of the signs of

his Lord, and then turns away from them. Surely We shall requite the

No distinction is made as regards these actions in terms of intention,

whether a person is joking or serious or even acts out of fear. The only excuse is

compulsion. These ten actions are extremely dangerous and exceedingly

common. Every Muslim should beware of them and feel a real fear in his heart of

even drawing near them. 86

We will now take a closer look at two of these matters which are

particularly relevant to our discussion, because of the significance and the

proximity of the danger that they represent, and because this will clarify matters

regarding political legitimacy, loyalty and opposition.

The first matter is the disbelief of someone who maintains that some other

guidance is preferable to that of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him

peace, or that some system of governance other than that which he established is

Ruling by Other than What Allah has Revealed

The marginalisation of the Shariʹah, its disappearance from the

mainstream of Islamic life and its replacement by laws formulated by ignorant

humans is a modern heresy that has arisen during the last few centuries of the

life of our Community. This has happened despite the fact that Muslim societies

had for centuries sheltered under the protection of the Shariʹah, which provided

for everyoneʹs security, whether the governor or the governed. Although some

86 Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, Muʹalafat , 5/212‐214.

people were disobedient, some more than others, nevertheless the guiding

principle, both in public and private life alike, was provided by the Shariʹah.

Similarly, the continuation of the Jihad, the pushing back of the frontiers

of disbelief and the raising up of the Word of Allah throughout the world,

carried on over and above this.

Thus the charge that the Shariʹah, that Islamic Law, is deficient,

reactionary, and incompatible with progress in the modern world, is something

that could not have been made until the rise of European colonialism and the

resulting forgetfulness of the Muslims: they forgot Allah and so He made them

We find, however, much guidance in the Qurʹan and in the Sunnah that

clearly speaks about the governance of the Community. This most surely

constitutes a part of our belief, and is one of the most essential elements of our

Whoever does not judge by what which Allah has revealed: such are

Whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed: such are

Whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed: such are corrupt.

Is it a judgement of the time of ignorance that they seek? And who is

better than Allah for judgement for a people who have certainty (in

But no, by your Lord, they will not believe (truly) until they make you

the judge of what is in dispute between them, and find within

themselves no dislike of what you decide, and submit with full

Or have they partners (with Allah) who have made lawful for them in

their religion what Allah has not allowed? (42:21)

And He says in Surat an‐Nur:

And they say: ʹWe believe in Allah and in the Messenger, and we obey.ʹ

Then after that a group of them turn away. Such are not believers. And

when they appeal to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them,

then a group of them dislike it; but if they had been in the right then

they would have come to him willingly. Is there a disease in their

hearts, or do they have doubts, or are they afraid that Allah and His

Messenger will wrong them in judgement? Certainly such are

wrongdoers. Surely the saying of (all true) believers when they appeal

to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them is only that they

say: ʹWe hear and we obey.ʹ And such are the successful. (24:47‐51)

And He says in Surat an‐Nisa:

And whoever opposes the Messenger after the guidance (of Allah) has

been made clear to him, and follows other than the way of the believers,

We appoint for him that to which he himself has turned, and expose

him to Hell a wretched journeyʹs end! (4:115)

Then Allah exposes the claims of those who say they are believers, but

who prefer to be ruled by disbelievers:

Have you not seen those who pretend that they believe in what is

revealed to you, and in what was revealed in the past, how they want to

go for judgement (in their disputes) to false deities even though they

have been ordered to reject them? Satan wishes to mislead them far

astray. And when it is said to them: ʹCome to what Allah has revealed

and to the Messenger,ʹ you see the hypocrites turn away from you in

One of our ulamaʹ summed this up nicely when he compared the person

who wishes to substitute secular law for the Shariʹah to a beetle that loves the

smell of urine and faeces but hates the fragrance of roses and musk. 87

Surely those who dispute with Allah and His Messenger will be among

The worst form of dispute is to oppose Allah and His Messenger and to

turn away from the Shariʹah of Allah, and the Sunnah of His Prophet, may Allah

bless him and grant him peace. The humiliation that the Muslims are today

experiencing throughout the world is only a natural consequence of their having

abandoned the Shariʹah. Muslims today are numerous but they are like flotsam

on a full tide. They have been seduced by the basest of nations and conquered by