Continuation of the answer regarding those who replace the laws: He says regarding the rulers, "They are not ruling by other than what Allah has revealed; rather, they have replaced the laws in..."

The questioner : Some of them play with words and say now that the rulers in this era are replacing the laws, not ruling by other than what Allah has revealed.

The Shaykh : We are aware of their wordplay and their terms, and we say to him, "What do you believe about his intention?" Or before we say this to him, we ask him, "Do you distinguish between one who deems a forbidden thing permissible by his action without his heart, and one who deems a forbidden thing permissible by his action and his heart, or do you not distinguish?" If he says, "I distinguish," then he is ignorant, and the declaration of disbelief falls back on him, meaning the takfir returns to him. But we are not like him. "And whoever sees the lesson in others, let him take the lesson." We are not like him; we do not rush to declare him a disbeliever because he is ignorant. So we say to him, "What is the ruling on the fornicator? Is he a disbeliever?" He will say, "No." We say to him, "What is your opinion if he says fornication is lawful?" He will say, "He is a disbeliever." So he distinguishes between one who commits a forbidden act but does not deem it permissible in his heart, and one who commits this forbidden act and deems it permissible in his heart. At that point, the injustice of these people becomes apparent, who are known in the present era as the group of takfir, because they appointed themselves to declare the rulers disbelievers. If they had applied their rule, they would have declared the majority of Muslims disbelievers, because the majority of Muslims share with the rulers in that they contradict the Shari'ah in dozens of legal rulings. This is the man about whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, what is the hadith of the *diwth* who does not guard his family?

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : Yes, this hadith says Now, this man whom you see walking on the road with his wife beside him, as if she is a disbeliever, you do not know if she is a Muslim or a disbeliever, displaying her adornment in the most beautiful of her ornaments, and perhaps some of his attractive daughters are with him, also in their adornment. You might see this in the morning and evening in the mosque. What is your ruling, O you who declare the rulers disbelievers for contradicting the Shari'ah of Islam in their laws? What is your ruling on this man if he rushes to declare him a disbeliever? He falls into the previous error, because we will soften the image for him. This image is among the ugliest of images. We will say to him, "Can any person commit any forbidden act, for example today, can you say that a specific person cannot backbite another, even in his lifetime, even once?" Yes.

The questioner : It is inconceivable.

The Shaykh : It is inconceivable. So, has the one who backbitten his Muslim brother become a disbeliever or not? It returns to the same previous method. What do you think? He will say, "He does not become a disbeliever." We will repeat the question to him: "This one who backbitten once, if he said this is lawful and permissible, even though Islam has forbidden it, does he become a disbeliever?" So what is the meaning of us directing all our efforts against the rulers who rule by other than what Allah has revealed, and forgetting ourselves? This is the problem of the youth. Many of the youth in the present era are known as the group of takfir. These people forgot themselves and always placed their weight on the rulers, thinking that they do not meet the rulers in what they rule by. The rulers meet them, whether they wish it or not, either by the disbelief we call practical disbelief, or by creedal disbelief, God forbid. Therefore, it is sufficient for us to warn the Muslims, both rulers and the ruled, from ruling by other than what Allah has revealed, because Allah said so and so and so, the three known verses. But as for intervening in the hearts of these people who contradicted the rulings of Allah the Exalted once or many times, and saying, "So-and-so is a disbeliever, so-and-so is a disbeliever," then we fear that at least His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) applies to them: And in the concise hadith: meaning without right. Therefore, resorting to the laws is like ruling by these laws; there is no difference. If it is accompanied by deeming it permissible in the heart, then the rulers and the ruled are disbelievers. And if it is not accompanied by deeming it permissible in the heart, then their deeming it permissible practically is sufficient, and it is forbidden in any case. Yes.