Do heads of families and party leaders fall under the general ruling of judging by other than what Allah has revealed?

The questioner : Does this include, may Allah bless you, heads of families and heads of businesses, for example?

The Shaykh : Without a doubt. But I want to say that the issue is specific in one aspect and general in another. It is specific in the ruling, in issuing the ruling; it is not specific in the application. So, for example, the well-known thing—what do they call these Bedouins when they reconcile among themselves?

Another questioner : Tribal reconciliation.

The Shaykh : So these people reconcile on rulings by which Allah has not sent down any authority. These people are without a doubt included in the verse. But for example, the one who steals, the one who plunders, and the one who does everything that contradicts the Shari'ah, it is not said of him that he is judging by other than what Allah has revealed. It is not said of him because...

The questioner : ... Shaykh, may Allah bless you.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : For example, a head of a family asks his daughters to adorn themselves and to wear short clothing, and that they should reject those who wear the hijab, and he says to his daughters: This is ugly clothing. This is commanding them to do what is wrong. This is one of the images, Shaykh, may Allah bless you. Does this include this?

The Shaykh : No, no. This does not fall under the ruling. This falls under...

Another questioner : The judiciary.

The Shaykh : In following desires. Following desires falls under the ruling. As we said, it is the judiciary, as he said. And therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith in al-Bukhari: , excuse me: This is related to the ruling, which is the judiciary. But if a person knows the ruling of Allah and the Shari'ah of Allah, and then follows his desire, contradicting the Shari'ah of Allah, here the issue takes another form. As you know, from the division of disbelief into creedal disbelief and practical disbelief. If this person you referred to, who disparages the Shari'ah hijab and beautifies tabarruj (display of adornment) for women and the like, sees this in the depths of his heart, then he is an apostate from his religion. But if he says: There is no power and no strength except in Allah, and Allah, this is a Bedouin of jihad and a Bedouin of patience, and so on, and we have no...

The questioner : The girls get delayed and don't get married, for example!

The Shaykh : And so on. Then his disbelief is practical disbelief, not creedal disbelief. The summary of the last example you raised is that it does not fall under what we are discussing. Rather, what we must understand is what I mentioned earlier, and its summary is that I append to it something else. The summary is that this noble verse includes every ruler, whether he is a president or a subordinate, as long as he contradicts the Shari'ah of Allah and he knows it. As for the appendix I referred to, it is that we were found in a time in which we were afflicted with various trials that the early Muslims, despite the differences and trials among them, did not know these types of trials. Without a doubt, you know that the Muslims differed since the first century, from the Khawarij and those below them, and they split in their religion into sects and parties. But the calamity today has expanded greatly, such that the Muslims, in addition to what they inherited of different and divergent and hostile schools and paths, and every party is pleased with what is with them, a new party affiliation and grouping has emerged among them. It is associated with the fact that every individual now belongs to a party that adopts certain ideas, not because he is knowledgeable of the Book and the Sunnah, but because the party he belongs to holds this opinion. So I wanted to append this appendix based on what I heard earlier from the question. The Tahrir Party adopts an opinion, for example, or the Tabligh Jama'ah, or the Muslim Brotherhood, and so on. This party affiliation and this grouping that has occurred among the Islamic groups is an expansion of the circle of division that we inherited from predecessor to successor. So the single individual who belongs to a party, who may number in the thousands or even millions, adopts the opinion of the president who founded this group or was placed in charge of this group, without being knowledgeable of the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The examples are many, and I do not want to delve into them, but I wanted to remind you. The example is before you now. The verse is absolute, but such-and-such a party restricted its meaning to the supreme ruler. Why? Because this party or that party appointed itself to fight the ruler who judges by other than what Allah has revealed, and then forgot that judging by other than what Allah has revealed is not only condemned for this president, but is also condemned for everyone who has authority over a group or community. Let us say the president of such-and-such a party; he is also subject to that same verse if he judges by other than what Allah the Exalted and Majestic has revealed. So this individual from the individuals of the party adopted an understanding of the verse contrary to what the scholars of the Muslims are upon, as I mentioned to you earlier. The generality of the text indicates that whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed includes every ruler. And the reason for the coming of the text also includes those below the supreme ruler. Therefore, we advise all Muslims to remember such as His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: It is obligatory for every Muslim to understand this verse as it came in the books of tafsir. But if we focus on this verse or others with personal partisan opinions, this is what the same verse applies to This is what I wanted to point out.