Continuation of the Debate: There is No Difference Between Sins and Judging by Other Than What Allah Has Revealed Regarding the Condition of Deeming It Permissible for Declaring Someone a Disbeliever
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The questioner: May Allah bless you. It is correct, but the reality I heard from you, for example, is that you say: One who judges by other than what Allah has revealed.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Voluntarily.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Like this.
The Shaykh: Voluntarily.
The questioner: If I erred in my expression.
The Shaykh: Please, go ahead and finish your statement.
The questioner: One who judges by other than what Allah has revealed, voluntarily, without deeming it permissible, is not a disbeliever in a disbelief that takes him out of the religion.
The Shaykh: Yes, voluntarily, without deeming it permissible. And I said that all sins are like this, and you say exactly the same thing.
The questioner: Excellent. So, what takes this judge out of the religion is only his deeming it permissible.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Only?
The Shaykh: His deeming permissible what Allah has forbidden.
The questioner: His deeming it permissible.
The Shaykh: By rejecting what Allah has legislated in his heart.
The questioner: In his heart.
The Shaykh: Otherwise, what about the one who steals and commits unlawful sexual intercourse? He has rejected the Shari'ah, so why do you not declare him a disbeliever?
The questioner: We do not declare him a disbeliever because the texts do not declare him a disbeliever, even if he commits unlawful sexual intercourse or steals, as long as...
The Shaykh: My professor, we do not need evidence right now. The summary of these texts is that he believes, even if he commits unlawful sexual intercourse or steals. Why? Because he is a believer. That is the summary of all these texts.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: When I ask you this question: The thief, the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse, the one who deals in usury, and so on, the perpetrators of the greatest of major sins after associating partners with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), why do we not declare them disbelievers? Because they still believe in everything Allah has legislated in their belief. As for their actions, they have rejected what Allah has legislated. Is this correct or not?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: There is absolutely no difference between all these sins and judging by other than what Allah has revealed. And I give you a completely clarifying example: A learned Muslim man judges by what Allah has revealed. We all know that this lawful judge judges by what Allah has revealed. He is not infallible, and it is not impossible that he might follow his desire in a ruling, even once. So, for example, two men come to him to seek judgment, and he gives the right to the one who is in the wrong, while he knows it. He gives the right to the one who is in the wrong, while he knows it, and conversely, he deprives the one who is in the right of his right. In this particular case, did he judge by other than what Allah has revealed, or by what Allah has revealed?
The questioner: He judged by other than what Allah has revealed.
The Shaykh: Is that disbelief?
The questioner : No, he did not become a kafir (disbeliever).
The Shaykh: May Allah bless you. So, why was he not declared a disbeliever, even though he judged by other than what Allah has revealed? The answer.
The questioner: He did not deem it permissible.
The Shaykh: Yes. The answer is that as long as he still believes that his ruling is wrong because it contradicts the Shari'ah in which he believes, he is a believer in his heart, but an open sinner in his action. And if you call it practical disbelief, as Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) term it, there is no harm. These are terminological usages, but we are now discussing realities. So, the one who originally believes in the Shari'ah and judges by the Shari'ah, but then follows his desire and judges in a ruling by other than what Allah has revealed, none of us says this is disbelief. Why? We want to circle around the point and the cause, because we have been discussing the point and the cause.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Why did we not declare this person a disbeliever? Because he did not deem his ruling by falsehood, his ruling by contradiction of the Shari'ah, permissible in his heart. Please, this is clear.
The questioner : Is that clear?
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Voluntarily.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Like this.
The Shaykh: Voluntarily.
The questioner: If I erred in my expression.
The Shaykh: Please, go ahead and finish your statement.
The questioner: One who judges by other than what Allah has revealed, voluntarily, without deeming it permissible, is not a disbeliever in a disbelief that takes him out of the religion.
The Shaykh: Yes, voluntarily, without deeming it permissible. And I said that all sins are like this, and you say exactly the same thing.
The questioner: Excellent. So, what takes this judge out of the religion is only his deeming it permissible.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Only?
The Shaykh: His deeming permissible what Allah has forbidden.
The questioner: His deeming it permissible.
The Shaykh: By rejecting what Allah has legislated in his heart.
The questioner: In his heart.
The Shaykh: Otherwise, what about the one who steals and commits unlawful sexual intercourse? He has rejected the Shari'ah, so why do you not declare him a disbeliever?
The questioner: We do not declare him a disbeliever because the texts do not declare him a disbeliever, even if he commits unlawful sexual intercourse or steals, as long as...
The Shaykh: My professor, we do not need evidence right now. The summary of these texts is that he believes, even if he commits unlawful sexual intercourse or steals. Why? Because he is a believer. That is the summary of all these texts.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: When I ask you this question: The thief, the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse, the one who deals in usury, and so on, the perpetrators of the greatest of major sins after associating partners with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), why do we not declare them disbelievers? Because they still believe in everything Allah has legislated in their belief. As for their actions, they have rejected what Allah has legislated. Is this correct or not?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: There is absolutely no difference between all these sins and judging by other than what Allah has revealed. And I give you a completely clarifying example: A learned Muslim man judges by what Allah has revealed. We all know that this lawful judge judges by what Allah has revealed. He is not infallible, and it is not impossible that he might follow his desire in a ruling, even once. So, for example, two men come to him to seek judgment, and he gives the right to the one who is in the wrong, while he knows it. He gives the right to the one who is in the wrong, while he knows it, and conversely, he deprives the one who is in the right of his right. In this particular case, did he judge by other than what Allah has revealed, or by what Allah has revealed?
The questioner: He judged by other than what Allah has revealed.
The Shaykh: Is that disbelief?
The questioner : No, he did not become a kafir (disbeliever).
The Shaykh: May Allah bless you. So, why was he not declared a disbeliever, even though he judged by other than what Allah has revealed? The answer.
The questioner: He did not deem it permissible.
The Shaykh: Yes. The answer is that as long as he still believes that his ruling is wrong because it contradicts the Shari'ah in which he believes, he is a believer in his heart, but an open sinner in his action. And if you call it practical disbelief, as Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) term it, there is no harm. These are terminological usages, but we are now discussing realities. So, the one who originally believes in the Shari'ah and judges by the Shari'ah, but then follows his desire and judges in a ruling by other than what Allah has revealed, none of us says this is disbelief. Why? We want to circle around the point and the cause, because we have been discussing the point and the cause.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Why did we not declare this person a disbeliever? Because he did not deem his ruling by falsehood, his ruling by contradiction of the Shari'ah, permissible in his heart. Please, this is clear.
The questioner : Is that clear?
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.