Does the verse: “And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, it is they who are the disbelievers” apply to the rulers of today?

The questioner : A large group of brothers are asking; I say: a large group of brothers are asking, and they say: The saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): Does this apply to the rulers of today?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the rulers of today differ in every respect. Among them are those whose origin is known to have been non-Muslim, and who only became Muslim when they were imposed as heads of state in some of the Islamic countries. Others are known to be the sons of Muslims, but they fall short in many of the obligatory acts of worship and obedience required of them. In addition to that, they do not judge by what Allah has revealed. There is another type of ruler who maintains the prayers and the symbols of Islam, but they are certainly falling short in applying many of the Islamic rulings. Therefore, it is a grave error, both in terms of the Shari'ah and reality, to equate in judgment all these rulers, of whom we can say: they do not judge by what Allah has revealed. To be specific, as mentioned previously, some do not judge by it at all, but have made the disbelieving Western laws their system, constitution, and methodology. Some strive to apply some of the Islamic rulings, and some do so more than others, each according to his own measure.
And what we can say definitively about, and what every Muslim must believe with firm conviction, is that disbelief is not a matter related to action, but rather disbelief is related to the heart. Because the root “k-f-r” in the language means covering, and covering a thing means denying it. Why? Because he covers it to hide the reality of that matter. Therefore, many scholars have explained this reality, and I recall now as an example Imam al-Ghazali in his book *Ihya* and in his first book, *The Book of Beliefs*, where he mentioned that the Muslim does not exit Islam except by denying what he entered it with. When does a Muslim become a disbeliever? When he denies something he used to believe from Islam and disbelieves in it. This reality is something every Muslim must believe: that disbelief is a matter of belief. And this belief is sometimes hidden, known only to our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), but the person holding this disbelieving belief may utter the word of Islam. So what does Islam rule regarding this speaker?