The Ruling of the Judge Who Rules by Other Than What Allah Has Revealed

Question:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you. You mentioned that the one who abandons ruling by Allah and His Messenger is a disbeliever. The question is: If a judge rules on a matter by a judgment that is not the correct legal ruling, or if the judgment against the defendant is valid, is this considered disbelief in Allah because he abandoned ruling by what Allah has revealed?

Answer:
Yes, the scholars have mentioned this. If a judge rules by other than what Allah has revealed out of personal desire, or for worldly greed, such as taking a bribe, but he does not consider this act permissible—he believes that what he did is forbidden—like one who consumes riba (usury or interest) or commits zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), if he does not consider zina or riba permissible, he is considered a major sinner. However, if he considers it permissible, he becomes a disbeliever. So, if the judge does this out of desire and lust only, and does not consider it permissible, but rather admits that it is forbidden, he is among the major sinners and is not declared a disbeliever. The detail in this matter of ruling by other than what Allah has revealed has three cases. The first case is that he considers this matter permissible; in that case, he is a disbeliever.
The second case is when the person does not consider this matter permissible, but rather he did it solely due to a desire within himself; he is like the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse or the one who steals, and he is considered a major sinner, but he is not declared a disbeliever. The third case is when he rules by other than what Allah has revealed out of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad); he exerted effort, but he did not hit the truth. In this case, he is rewarded; he is rewarded for his intention, and his mistake is forgiven for him. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If the judge exerts effort and hits the mark, he has two rewards, and if ." This distinction in this great matter is that sometimes it is disbelief, sometimes it is a sin, and sometimes he is rewarded for it if his intention was the truth and he exerted his utmost effort to seek it, but he did not align with the truth after his search; in that case, he is considered rewarded for his ijtihad and his mistake is forgiven for him. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith: , or Allah the Exalted says: "Fear Allah as much as you are able," not . This is for the one who did not leave the truth out of desire for it or greed for wealth or anything else, but rather he did not find it and was not guided to it, so he is excused.