The Doubts Regarding the Ruling of Democracy In Islam pdf

THE DOUBTS REGARDING THE RULING OF DEMOCRACY IN ISLAM – Book Sample

A Brief Explanation of Democracy and its Inherent Kufr and Manifest Shirk:

The word Democracy comes from the Greek words ‘demos’, which means ‘people’ and ‘cratus’, which means ‘governance’. It is a system wherein the people legislate for themselves, by means of their appointed representatives, in a council or parliament, which is established for the purpose of implementing the laws and policies that reflect the desires of the majority of people of that region.

‘AbdulWahhāb Al-Kilālī said, “All the democratic systems are based on one ideology, which is that the authority is ascribed to the people, to whom the mastership belongs. In conclusion, democracy is the principle of the mastership of the people.” 1 It is, as Abraham Lincoln put it, ‘The rule of the people, by the people, for the people’.

Therefore it is a system, which is at odds with the very essence of Allāh’s exclusive right of legislation and as such it steps outside the mere disobedience of Allāh into the realm of Shirk, in that it seeks to elevate mankind to the level of the Legislator (i.e. Allāh).

Allāh, the Most High, said:

“And Allāh judges, there is none to put back His Judgment and He is swift at reckoning.” 2

And He, the Most High, said:

“Have they other associates who have prescribed another law for them that has not been issued by Allāh?” 3

And because the people are the ones who select the laws, by means of their representatives, these laws are based upon what the people wish and they are in accordance with the desires of the majority, rather than what Allāh has revealed. Allāh, the Most High, said:

“Have you seen him who has taken as his Ilāh (god) his own desire? Would you then be a Wakīl (a protecting guide) over him? Or do you think that most of them hear and understand? They are only like cattle – nay; they are even farther astray from the path.” 4

Therefore the usurpation of this right by humanity sets them up as false deities (Tawāghīt) besides Allāh, by which they legislate laws and judge upon matters in opposition to His revelation. And for this reason, Allāh, the Most High, referred to any person or system that does not rule by what Allāh has revealed, as a ‘Tāghūt’(i.e. false deity):

• 1 “Mawsū’at As-Siyāsah”, Vol. 2/756
• 2 Ar-R’ād, 41
• 3 Ash-Shurah, 21
• 4 Al-Furqān, 43-44

Allāh, the Most High, said:

“Have you seen those (hypocrites) who claim that they believe in that which has been sent down to you, and that which was sent down before you, and they wish to go for judgment (in their disputes) to the Tāghūt (false judges, etc.) while they have been ordered to reject them.” 5

Shaykh Al-Islām, Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh be merciful to him, said: “The person who is obeyed in disobedience of Allāh or the person who is obeyed in following other than the guidance of the religion of truth; in either case, if what he orders mankind is in opposition to Allāh’s orders, then he is a Tāghūt. For this reason, we call the people who rule by other than what Allāh revealed, a ‘Tāghūt’.” 6

And Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allāh be merciful to him, said: “So a Tāghūt refers to all people who rule by other than what Allāh or His Messenger rule. This would also apply in the case that the people worship him besides Allāh or they follow him without sight from Allāh or they obey him when they aren’t sure if they are obeying Allāh. So these are the Tawāghīt of the world and if you look at them and see the condition of the people with them, you will see that most of them have switched from worshipping Allāh to worshipping the Tāghūt; from ruling by what Allāh and His Messenger ruled, to the ruling of the Tāghūt, and from obeying Him and His Messenger to obeying the Tāghūt and following him.” 7

Muhammad Al-Amīn Ash-Shanqītī may Allāh be merciful to him, said, “And with these Heavenly texts that we have mentioned, it becomes quite clear that the ones who follow the fabricated laws, which the Shaytān has legislated upon the tongues of his allies and which oppose that which Allāh, the Powerful, the Most High, has legislated upon the tongues of His Messengers, peace be upon them, that no one doubts their Kufr and their Shirk except he whom Allāh has removed his sight and has blinded them to the light of the revelation as they are.” 8

And because most religiously-committed Muslims are aware that the fundamental goal of democracy is to rule the masses based on the desires of the majority, as opposed to the revelation of Allāh, we do not need to spend much time explaining the Kufr of this system in general. 9

• 5 An-Nisā’, 60
• 6 “Al-Fatāwa”, Vol. 28/200
• 7 “‘I’lām Al-Muwāqqi’īn”, Vol. 1/50
• 8 Look to “Adhwā’ Al-Bayān”, Vol. 4/82-85

And if the reader is not sufficiently convinced of this from the beginning, then I recommend that he read a more basic and comprehensive essay or book dealing with the Islāmic ruling on Democracy, because our goal here is to specifically address the issue of participating in democratic elections and not to delve into the more complex and detailed subject of the entire democratic system. 10

The Electoral Process and its Implications Upon the Voters

Certainly, the system of Democracy is dependant upon the masses to participate in elections so that it can be clarified which candidates are to represent them in the councils and parliaments. This electoral process is also essential in determining the ruling party and the President or Prime Minister of the country.

Because the system is founded on the masses choosing leaders to legislate laws and implement policies on their behalf, the entire democratic process could not exist without elections. If it weren’t for the participation of the masses in the electoral process, Democracy would not be possible to implement as there would be no one to vote for any candidates and therefore their would be no elected members of parliament to act on the people’s behalf in legislation and government policy.

‘Abdulwahhāb Al-Kilālī said, “It means that the people, to whom the mastership belongs, do not practice the authority of legislating themselves. Rather, they grant it to the Members of Parliament whom they elect for a specific period and appoint to represent them in practicing this authority on their behalf.” 11

9 Even the author of “To Vote or Not to Vote” seemed to at least concede that fundamentally, it is impermissible to enter into a democratic system, at the outset when he said: “This modern day construct is very different from the Islāmic position, for indeed the right of legislation is due only to our Creator, the Al-Mighty. Therefore, by entering a system of rule which is based upon other than the Sharī’ah and more importantly, often contradicts and sometimes even opposes the Sharī’ah, then it is a consensus of the Muslim scholars that ruling by it is impermissible.”

The Doubts Regarding the Ruling of Democracy In Islam, The Doubts Regarding the Ruling of Democracy In Islam

10 Some of these more comprehensive works on the general subject of Democracy include “Ad- Dīmuqrātiyyah Dīn” (i.e. “Democracy: A Religion”) by the Shaykh, Abū Muhammad ‘Āsim Al- Maqdisī, and the book “Hukm Al-Islām Fī Ad-Dīmuqrātiyyah Wa At-Ta’ddudiyyah Al-Hizbiyyah ”, by the Shaykh, Abū Basīr Mustafā Halīmah and the essay of the Shaykh, ‘Abdul-Qādir Ibn ‘Abdil- ‘Azīz, within his chapter on “The Intention” from “Al-Jāmi Fī Talab Al-‘Ilm Ash-Sahrīf ” volume 1, pages 146 and what follows it (to be fully translated soon, Inshā’ Allāh). And in them is a reply to other doubts which have been brought up, e.g. that democracy is Shūrah and the story of Negus amongst several others.

Shaykh Abū Basīr Mustafā Halīmah said, “Firstly, Democracy is founded upon the principle that the masses are the source of power. And included in that is the power of legislation and that takes place by means of selecting representatives for the general population who take their place in the duty of legislation and the creation of laws. And in other words, the legislator and the obeyed one in Democracy is the human and not Allāh. And this means that the one who is worshipped and obeyed in the issue of legislation and the permitting and the prohibiting is the masses and the human and the creation and not Allāh, the Most High. And this is the essence of Kufr and Shirk and misguidance, due to its contradiction to the fundamentals of the religion and its Tawhīd. And it results in the association of the weak, ignorant human with Allāh in the most unique characteristic of Ilāhiyyah (i.e. devoted worship), which is the ruling and the legislation.” 12

The Doubts Regarding the Ruling of Democracy In Islam

So the reality is that these Members of Parliament, which act upon the will of the majority and take their place to legislate laws etc., can only do so when the masses elect them to the positions to do so. And if we conclude that these Members of Parliament commit Shirk and Kufr by legislating laws besides Allāh, then what would be said about the people who elect them for this job, knowing that this candidate will be engaging in  the formation of  man-made laws on behalf of the people who elect him?

And the Shaykh, ‘Abdul-Qādir Ibn ‘Abdil-‘Azīz, said, “As for those amongst the people who vote for them (i.e. Members of Parliament), they are committing Kufr as well, because according to the representative democracy, the voters are in reality delegating them to practice the mastership of Shirk – legislating beside Allāh – on their behalf

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