The Ruling on Referring to Judgment Other Than What Allah Has Revealed

Question:
Abu 'Ubaydah, the Shaykh, may Allah keep you safe. Regarding the referral of judges, scholars, extremists, and individuals to judgment other than what Allah has revealed, where I have heard that some of them declare others disbelievers, and some declare them open sinners, and so on, is this correct?

Answer:
This is the chapter and the verses concerning referring to judgment other than what Allah has revealed. As for the judges who rule by other than what Allah has revealed, Allah the Exalted said about them: .
Ruling by other than what Allah has revealed: the scholars have detailed the ruling for the one who rules by other than what Allah has revealed. They said: If he believes that Allah’s ruling is not suitable, and that the ruling of others is what is suitable for people, or that he is free to choose, ruling by what Allah has revealed if he wishes, or by other than what Allah has revealed if he wishes—meaning he considers this permissible—then he is a disbeliever. He is a disbeliever whose disbelief takes him out of the religion. If he considers ruling by other than what Allah has revealed permissible, and says it is permissible to rule by the Shari'ah and by the law, that all is permissible, that the court has this and that, ruling by the Shari'ah and ruling by the law, and that people are free to choose, and that the whole matter is a toss-up, then he is a disbeliever in Allah the Mighty and Majestic. And a fortiori, if he says that Allah’s ruling is not suitable for this time, and that what is suitable for this time is ruling by man-made laws, because people have developed, civilization has advanced, and knowledge, as they call it—which is actually ignorance, not knowledge—has advanced, and the people of this time are different from the people of the first generations, so we must organize affairs and bring in the systems of advanced nations to be the ruling among people in the courts, then he is a disbeliever. This is the most severe of disbelievers, and I seek refuge in Allah, more severe than the one who considers both permissible. This is disbelief, the disbelief that takes one out of the religion.
The third case is if he believes that Allah’s ruling is obligatory, and that he is wrong in referring to judgment other than what Allah has revealed, but he did this either for a desire in his soul, or for a benefit he seeks in this world. Then this is disbelief less than disbelief. He is a committer of a major sin among the major sins, because he did not consider referring to judgment other than what Allah has revealed permissible; he did not consider it permissible. He believes in its prohibition, and believes that Allah’s ruling is the truth and the obligation. So this person is a committer of a major sin among the major sins, and a disbeliever in the minor disbelief that does not take one out of the religion. He must repent to Allah the Exalted and Sublime. Exactly. This is the type of publicizing we mentioned. Yes.