What do you say about a state that rules by what Allah has revealed, yet has apparent errors and sins, and a state that rules by an imported constitution? Which of them is a disbeliever?

The Shaykh : ... , , As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
I ask the professor, al-Banna, to repeat the question for me.

The questioner : He says: What do you say about a state that rules by what Allah has revealed, yet has apparent errors and sins, and a state that rules by an imported constitution? Which of them is a disbeliever? That is what he says.

The Shaykh : Perhaps we spoke in a previous session about disbelief or shirk (associating partners with Allah), and that it is of two types: one is creedal disbelief, and the other is practical disbelief. Creedal disbelief is related to a person's belief. So, whoever deems permissible in his heart and adopts a system, law, or shari'ah that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) did not bring and did not legislate for His servants, his disbelief is disbelief of apostasy; his disbelief is creedal disbelief; meaning his person is not a Muslim, because he adopted and believed in his heart the opposite of his Lord's shari'ah. As for whoever adopts the shari'ah of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) as a system and ruling, he is a Muslim who has what we have and owes what we owe. Among what he has, we have what came in the authentic hadith from the hadith of Tamim al-Dari (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . They said: For whom, O Messenger of Allah? He said: . So, whoever adopts Islam as a religion, system, and law, and we see in him what no ruler is free from, such as negligence or error or the like, our duty is to advise him, and to enjoin good and forbid evil as much as we are able to do so. As for the first ruler who adopted other than Islam as a constitution and system, it is obligatory for whoever is under his banner to leave and migrate from him to a land where the ruling of Islam prevails. And this is also within the limits of the general rule, which is ability: , and as he (peace be upon him) said: .

The questioner : And if he does not deem it permissible?

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : And if he does not deem it permissible; meaning, if he sees that that ruling is a necessity, and he believes that the ruling not revealed by Allah is the obligatory one?

The Shaykh : I do not see that we should repeat the previous discussion in detail, for fear of boredom.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, especially since he seems to have questions, and our brothers, the others, also have questions.

Another questioner : A gesture.

The questioner : A clarification, even if just a reference?

Another questioner : A clarification is better.

The Shaykh : We say: Whoever adopts other than Islam as a belief, his disbelief is disbelief of apostasy. And whoever adopts Islam as a belief, whether he is a ruler or a subject, he is a Muslim, as I mentioned earlier. But if this ruler or subject opposes something of what Islam brought, this opposition is considered a sin, and is not considered disbelief, no matter how much this sinner deviates, or no matter how great his sin is, as long as he does not deem that sin permissible in his heart; meaning, he does not say: This thing that I am committing is not a sin, and what is haram (forbidden) and what is halal (lawful)? He does not say this. If he says this, he has disbelieved and apostatized from his religion. And on this basis, we must distinguish between disbelief that is disbelief of apostasy, and disbelief that is disbelief of sin. Disbelief of apostasy is related to the heart; his heart opposes the shari'ah of Allah. Disbelief of sin: his heart is with the shari'ah of Allah, but his action is with his desire. Otherwise, everyone who disobeys Allah (Mighty and Majestic) would be a disbeliever of apostasy, and this is what no Muslim says.
And of this type is hypocrisy, which is of the type of disbelief. And this is also something hidden from many people today. Hypocrisy is like disbelief; of it is creedal hypocrisy, and of it is practical hypocrisy. And when we remember this reality, it becomes easy for us to understand some of the hadiths of the shari'ah, and without it, the student of knowledge remains confused. For example, the famous hadith: , a sign of the hypocrite; how do we understand this name here in this hadith, the hypocrite? Is it as it came in the Noble Qur'an: ? Do we say that whoever promises and then breaks his promise is in the lowest depth of the Fire? One who is ignorant of the legal realities in legal terms might say this!
The hypocrite may have practical hypocrisy or creedal hypocrisy. You know that those about whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said that they are are those who conceal disbelief and display Islam. So, in terms of what is settled in their hearts, they are disbelievers; because they concealed in their hearts disbelief in what Allah revealed. But in what they display to people, they display Islam, so they pray with them and fast with them and pretend to the rulings of Islam, but in their hearts they are disbelievers. So they were called hypocrites because they display the opposite of what they conceal, but what they display is good and beautiful, which is Islam, and what they conceal and hide in their heart is the vile disbelief. This is a disbelief that keeps one in the Fire forever, and its person is in the lowest depth of the Fire.
Is the hypocrite mentioned in this hadith and others, such as his saying (peace be upon him): ? Is this the hypocrisy whose people are in the lowest depth of the Fire in this hadith and the one before it?
The answer is no. So how do we understand our hadith: ? This hypocrite has practical hypocrisy, like practical disbelief; meaning, he acts contrary to his belief. The Muslim believes in the depths of his heart that lying is haram (forbidden) and not permissible, so it is in his heart. But what does he do? He does the opposite of what he concealed. The disbelieving, apostate hypocrite also displayed the opposite of what he concealed, but that one concealed evil and displayed good, whereas the Muslim hypocrite concealed good and displayed evil, believed in good and did evil, believed that lying is haram and that litigation is haram, but he opposes his belief. So, in terms of the Muslim's action opposing his belief, in terms of the non-righteous Muslim's action opposing his righteous belief, the Wise Lawgiver called him a hypocrite. He shares with the disbelieving, apostate hypocrite in that the apparent of his action is the opposite of the inner of his heart. So, we can now say and understand... Hypocrisy is of two types: creedal hypocrisy, where one conceals disbelief and displays Islam, this is in the lowest depth of the Fire. As for the Muslim who conceals faith in everything that came from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but opposes his words with his actions, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called him a hypocrite.
So, there is no difference at all between the ruler and the subject. Whoever has a sound belief, but falls into something in his actions that opposes his shari'ah, his disbelief is practical disbelief, and his hypocrisy is practical hypocrisy. As for whoever displays Islam and conceals disbelief, displays Islam in speech, then adopts... Islam as a system, but in the depths of his heart he does not recognize Islam and calls it regression... and the like. How vast is the difference between this one, who is a disbeliever and a hypocrite kept in the lowest depth of the Fire, and the one who believed in what Allah revealed but opposed Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in a little or a lot of his actions; he is thereby a sinner and not a disbeliever of apostasy.
This is what can be said on the occasion of this question.