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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is meant by the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed—those are the disbelievers,” and “the wrongdoers,” and “the transgressors”?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
... those are the disbelievers ... أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ
,
... those are the wrongdoers ... أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ
, and those, I mean, is this ruling absolute for all actions and belief and everything, or is it specific to the legal ruling?

The Shaykh: No, it is specific to the legal ruling alone, and it concerns belief, meaning: whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, believing that not judging by what Allah has revealed is the correct path, believing so.

The questioner: Believing so!

The Shaykh: That judging by other than what Allah has revealed is the correct path; he is the wrongdoer, he is the disbeliever, and he is the transgressor. As for the one who judges by a ruling in which he contradicted the Shari'ah.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: It does not concern me whether it is customary or not; he contradicted the Shari'ah, but he believes that it is contrary to the Shari'ah, and that the correct path is the Shari'ah. This person is not a disbeliever, but rather he is among the sinners, like those who consume riba (usury or interest), steal, commit zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), and so on. These people contradict the Shari'ah every day. So, if this contradiction is accompanied by a contradiction of the heart.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh: As they say in some countries: you tell him, for example, “Pray,” and he says, “No prayer, no ritual purity.” This was in a past time that has passed. This is disbelief, because he believes in his heart the opposite of what our Lord—Blessed and Exalted is He—has prescribed. If, for example, one is asked why he consumes the haram (forbidden), and he says, “May Allah accept our repentance; we need to live,” this person is not a disbeliever. But if he says, “No haram, no halal,” then he has committed disbelief. In brief, this is a very long discussion, and I ask Allah to gather us on another occasion.

The questioner : If Allah wills.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: Disbelief is of two types: doctrinal disbelief and practical disbelief. Doctrinal disbelief is that in which one holds the belief of the disbelievers, so he is an apostate. Practical disbelief is that in which one performs the actions of the disbelievers but does not hold their belief.

The questioner: He believes himself to be negligent.

The Shaykh: Negligent and mistaken. And Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise; I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.
Yes?
Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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