What is the ruling on one who adopts democracy?

The questioner : I mention some of the calls now; they defend democracy and advocate for it, and we know that democracy... and it is disbelief, as in any circle... one of them said, when he saw... he said, "Do you allow me..." Shaykh al-Albani... this means they adopt it and call to it.

The Shaykh : My brother... one must distinguish... this that you are referring to, if he had written a response to what the professor said... at that time you would find... or that he is weak in faith... this is enough, you know, and this is a matter that leads us to a discussion that may also be important. In the previous session, we mentioned the verse whose ends are three: and we pointed out that just as disbelief is divided into two categories, so is open sinfulness, and so is injustice. Now I want to mention a second division of a fourth term, and I think this division... also addresses a problem that may exist in the minds of some of our brothers among the students of knowledge when we read the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) regarding the hypocrites that they are in the lowest depth of the Fire, and then we read His saying (peace and blessings be upon him), we read His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): So will this hypocrite be in the lowest depth of the Fire? The verse says that they are in the lowest depth of the Fire, and the Messenger says, "The sign of the hypocrite is three: when he speaks, he lies." So is this one who lies when he speaking in the lowest depth of the Fire? Recall the previous division, recall with me the following division: this one who considers lying, or betrayal, or similar sins that I mentioned... permissible in his heart, he is in Hell with the hypocrites. He did not consider it permissible in practice. So how did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) make the sign of the hypocrite three in this hadith? This is like many of the verses: he did the deed of the hypocrites. This one who says, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," that necessitates that he forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. So if he considers what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden to be permissible, his action contradicts his heart; his action contradicts his belief... this differs from the contradiction of the apparent hypocrite, the disbeliever, between his inner and outer self. The hypocrite who is in the lowest depth of the Fire conceals disbelief and displays Islam; he conceals disbelief and displays Islam. This is the one about whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The sign of the hypocrite is three." He conceals faith and displays an action contrary to what Islam commanded... in this case, it is not the reality. The difference is very great. The hypocrite, like the disbeliever, is a disbeliever in his heart and a Muslim in appearance. This hypocrite, one of whose signs is that he lies when he speaks, is a believer in his heart, but he contradicts in his action the ruling of the religion he believes in. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "The sign of the hypocrite is three," and so on. So hypocrisy is also divided into two categories: hypocrisy that causes its owner to remain in the Fire forever, and hypocrisy that does not cause its owner to remain in the Fire forever. The hypocrisy that causes its owner to remain in the Fire forever is that which conceals disbelief and displays Islam. The hypocrisy that does not cause its owner to remain in the Fire forever is that which conceals faith and displays an action that contradicts Islam. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: and so on. These details are something we should be aware of so that we do not fall into excess or negligence, so that we do not declare a Muslim a disbeliever for a sin, in which case we would fall into contradicting all the righteous predecessors and the people of the Sunnah. And we should not be lenient either, saying, "It is no big deal," in which case we would fall into the position of the Murji'ah, who used to say, "A sin does not harm with faith, and a good deed does not benefit with shirk." We say that a good deed does not benefit with shirk, but we say that a sin harms faith. And faith, as you all know, accepts increase and decrease; increase through obedience and decrease through sin. So hypocrisy, like disbelief, like open sinfulness, like injustice, cannot be treated in a single manner, but rather according to what is present in the person. So this example that I mentioned, this may be a response to... or to someone else, but we should look at his response: is it a response that explicitly states that he rejects the Shari'ah of Allah in what He has established... did he reject a legal ruling? Did he reject, for example, what was said in the hadith, "The sign of the hypocrite is three," and say, for example, "This, my brother...".
Al-Halabi: Or is he interpreting... democracy in his chapters?
Another questioner: He says, "My creed is Salafi," heh heh.

The Shaykh : Heh heh, okay. Now, when he tells you that he encourages democracy... until you throw a stone at him, we cannot take the speech like this absolutely. We must inquire.
Another questioner: We are waiting for his response.

The Shaykh : Did you give him the space for that? May Allah guide you.
Al-Halabi: ...

The Shaykh : Salafiyyah in its entirety, yes.