Is it permissible to use the terms "secular" or "liberal" for one who takes pride in them?
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The questioner : O our esteemed Shaykh, is it permissible to use the term "secular" or "liberal" for one who boasts of this designation and says: "I am secular and liberal," and opposes [it]?
The Shaykh : Secular, secular. Do you see? It is with a kasrah on the 'ayn!
The questioner : Secular, and he opposes openly!
The Shaykh : The second, the second, what is it?
The questioner : Liberal.
The Shaykh : What is this liberal?
The questioner : It means he calls for absolute freedom without any restrictions.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And he openly opposes the application of the Shari'ah?
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for the rulers that such people be tried and judged according to what the Shari'ah requires, because the one who calls for absolute liberation from every restraint, even if it is religious, is a disbeliever. What does it mean when he says: "You are free, pray or do not pray, fast or do not fast, pay zakah or do not pay zakah"? It means he has denied an obligation of the obligations of Islam, indeed all the obligations of Islam, and he has made unlawful zina, sodomy, and intoxicants, is that not so?
How can this person be a Muslim?
This is an apostate disbeliever. He is to be tried, and if he returns to the religion of Islam and restrains his harm from the Muslims, otherwise, the sword.
As for the seculars, I do not have a conception of them, and if you have one, describe it to us and we will issue a ruling on what we see to be obligatory.
The questioner : Shaykh, they are those who see the separation of religion from the state.
The Shaykh : Yes, these are less severe than the first group, because these have erred, and if the state does not act according to the religion, it is a loser. And Glorified and Exalted is Allah, all the verses of the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Sunnah indicate that Islam is the state, in the sense that it is obligatory for the state to apply Islam in itself, its laws, and its people. In any case, I advise my believing brothers, truly, to be firm against these currents, because the disbelievers, with the strength of industry and control over people that Allah the Exalted has given them, now want to take the Muslims out of their religion with terms that resemble the truth but are not the truth, such as globalization, for example. Globalization means: that all people are free and equal, the markets of the capitals of disbelief and the markets of the capitals of Islam are on the same footing, sell what you wish and buy what you wish, and you have freedom in everything. For this reason, it is obligatory for the Muslims, first for the rulers and then for the peoples, to fight globalization and not to accept it easily, because in the end it leads to the Jews, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, the atheists, the Muslims, and the hypocrites all being equal, a global globalization. So it is obligatory for us to reject this thought. Praise be to Allah, the rulers, perhaps if they find pressure from the people, they will respond to it, even the rulers who do not care about applying the Shari'ah. As for the rulers who care about applying the Shari'ah and call for it on every occasion, we hope that the medicine is in their stomachs and they do not need medicine from the outside.
The questioner : Shaykh!
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Liberal?
The Shaykh : The liberal. We always hear liberal, liberal. Has its meaning become dissolution from the religion, like that?
Do you say this from knowledge?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : Secular, secular. Do you see? It is with a kasrah on the 'ayn!
The questioner : Secular, and he opposes openly!
The Shaykh : The second, the second, what is it?
The questioner : Liberal.
The Shaykh : What is this liberal?
The questioner : It means he calls for absolute freedom without any restrictions.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And he openly opposes the application of the Shari'ah?
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for the rulers that such people be tried and judged according to what the Shari'ah requires, because the one who calls for absolute liberation from every restraint, even if it is religious, is a disbeliever. What does it mean when he says: "You are free, pray or do not pray, fast or do not fast, pay zakah or do not pay zakah"? It means he has denied an obligation of the obligations of Islam, indeed all the obligations of Islam, and he has made unlawful zina, sodomy, and intoxicants, is that not so?
How can this person be a Muslim?
This is an apostate disbeliever. He is to be tried, and if he returns to the religion of Islam and restrains his harm from the Muslims, otherwise, the sword.
As for the seculars, I do not have a conception of them, and if you have one, describe it to us and we will issue a ruling on what we see to be obligatory.
The questioner : Shaykh, they are those who see the separation of religion from the state.
The Shaykh : Yes, these are less severe than the first group, because these have erred, and if the state does not act according to the religion, it is a loser. And Glorified and Exalted is Allah, all the verses of the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Sunnah indicate that Islam is the state, in the sense that it is obligatory for the state to apply Islam in itself, its laws, and its people. In any case, I advise my believing brothers, truly, to be firm against these currents, because the disbelievers, with the strength of industry and control over people that Allah the Exalted has given them, now want to take the Muslims out of their religion with terms that resemble the truth but are not the truth, such as globalization, for example. Globalization means: that all people are free and equal, the markets of the capitals of disbelief and the markets of the capitals of Islam are on the same footing, sell what you wish and buy what you wish, and you have freedom in everything. For this reason, it is obligatory for the Muslims, first for the rulers and then for the peoples, to fight globalization and not to accept it easily, because in the end it leads to the Jews, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, the atheists, the Muslims, and the hypocrites all being equal, a global globalization. So it is obligatory for us to reject this thought. Praise be to Allah, the rulers, perhaps if they find pressure from the people, they will respond to it, even the rulers who do not care about applying the Shari'ah. As for the rulers who care about applying the Shari'ah and call for it on every occasion, we hope that the medicine is in their stomachs and they do not need medicine from the outside.
The questioner : Shaykh!
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Liberal?
The Shaykh : The liberal. We always hear liberal, liberal. Has its meaning become dissolution from the religion, like that?
Do you say this from knowledge?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.