The Prohibition of Adjudicating by Man-Made Laws

Question:
Is the issue of Mawlid more important than the issue of adjudicating by man-made laws, which is a form of disbelief and is practiced in many Islamic countries? What is Your Eminence’s opinion on this?

Answer:
Adjudicating by rules is a major evil. It is also major shirk (associating partners with Allah) if one considers it permissible. If one rules by the systems and customs established by men and considers that permissible, he has committed disbelief. If he does it out of considering it permissible, it becomes a great evil and a type of minor shirk and minor injustice. However, this is ongoing, and its condemnation is ongoing. As for Mawlid, it comes and goes every year, coming and going every year in the name of religion, so it must be condemned. As for what concerns the systems that are adjudicating by tranquility, their matter is clearer for people; they know that it is an evil, that it is false, and that it is a great evil. But the states are not like that; they are insistent on it. We ask Allah to guide them and return them to the truth from their excess.