After completing this unit, you will be expected to understand the following:
The meaning of tauhid of obedience and following.
The difference between and isolated deviation from ruling by what Allah sent down and secularism.
Secularism negates the very foundation of Islam in several ways:
- shirk in the Lordship of Allah
Most High
- shirk in the Deityship of Allah Most High
- rebellion against the Prophethood of Muhammad (sas)
- rejection of iman (belief) generally
- holding ruling by other than what Allah send down to be
lawful
- it seeks to displace Islam as the foundation of life
- it is taghoot - that which Allah has commanded
us to worship Him by rejecting it and staying away from
it
Some fallacies and their refutation
Fatawa from some of the scholars about secularism in legislation.
It is to make Allah your only deity with your obedience and following. That is by implementing the shari'a of Allah and being in complete acceptance of that which was brought to us by the Prophet Muhammad (sas). It includes rejecting everything which is at odds with that such as human desires and inclinations as well as man-made philosophies, political parties, etc. Surely, the One who alone created mankind is the only one to rightfully guide them and whose commands to them are absolute and binding. There is nothing lawful but what Allah has made lawful, nothing forbidden but what Allah has made forbidden, nothing obligatory but what Allah has made obligatory and no din except that ordained by Allah Most High. Allah said:
{There is no sovereignty except Allah's. He commands you not to worship any but Him. That is the way which is straight but most of the people do not know.} Yusuf: 40
Allah here commands us to make Allah our only deity in sovereignty (al-hukm), judging, ruling and governing and informed us that that is part of making Allah our only deity in worship and that this is the way which is straight (ad-deen al-qayyim) of which many of the people are ignorant. There is no one - whoever they may be - who has any right to alter or oppose Allah's rulings or to associate others besides Allah in obedience. Allah said:
{Or do they have partners who have legislated for them in their din that for which Allah has given no permission? If it were not for the final word of judgement, their case would have been decided.} Ash-shooraa: 21
Here Allah condemns those who do not follow what Allah has legislated for us through His Prophet (sas) - the upright way of life - and who instead follow what their devils (shayateen) and false deities (taghoot) have designated as halal or haraam. This is what the mushrikeen of Makka had done long after Ibrahim: inventing laws for themselves for which Allah had sent no authority. Allah then mentions here that if it were not for the final judgement being set to happen on Qiyama, He would have finished them off here and now because of the heinous nature of their deeds. This verse clearly indicates that legislating - i.e., designating what is lawful and what is forbidden - without any authority from Allah and in that which is at odds with what Allah has legislated is to associate partners with Allah in worship (shirk).
This fact has been very basic in the understanding of the Muslims through the centuries. History has not recorded any significant difference of opinion in the fact that the right of legislation belong exclusively to Allah nor in the complete rejection and non-validity or any ruling, action or statement which is rejected by the sources of the shari'a. Muslim have understood that anyone who turns away from a clear ruling in the Message given to Muhammad (sas) and seeks a ruling from another source - even one of the preceding revelations of Allah - has rebelled against Allah and His Prophet (sas) and has removed the bond of Islam from himself by taking a partner with Allah in obedience and following.
In our times, the fitan which have afflicted this Ummah have obscured even this obvious truth. Many have people have entered into doubt and the Muslims have divided into two groups and differed. This makes it an important subject to be covered in detail, in hopes that correct understanding of Islam can be restored and differences can be ended.
There is no significant difference of opinion about the following: Whoever sticks to judging by the Shari'a generally and takes it as the final authority and reference in all issues, but fails to do so in a particular incident and judges by other than Allah's Shari'a in deference to personal desire, blood relations, etc., that such a one does not leave the fold of Islam by that act unless they hold it to be lawful for them to do that. That is act is regarded as a major sin - albeit one of the most major sins of all. This is the way in which we should understand statements of the earliest generations of scholars when they referred to those who fail to rule by what Allah sent down, the ones mentioned in Allah's statement:
{And whoever did not rule by what Allah sent down, these are the disbelievers.} Al-Ma'idah: 44
They said things like: "This is [a] kufr less than [the] kufr." or "...a kufr which does not remove one from Islam.", etc.
The confusion has come these days regarding those who refuse generally to rule by the Shari'a and take something else as the primary authority in criminal, legal, economic and other areas of law and who reject the primacy of the Shari'a in matters of law and state. This is a warmed-over version of what the Christian West calls "separation of church and state" and it entered the Muslim world with colonialism and neo-colonialism. Although this principle saved the West in some sense from the falsehood and opperssion of man-made "Christianity" run amuck, it has done nothing but destroy and degrade the Muslim nation. This is the subject of discussion here and we will start by pointing out the differences between this and the issues commented on by the salaf in the interpretation of the above verse.
In the first case the final authority belongs to the Shari'a. Nothing is regarded as lawful or unlawful except according to the Shari'a. When new issues arise, consultation is directed to the scholars of the Shari'a and rulings are sought in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the Companions and the writings of the imams and scholars through the ages. When a ruler strays from this to some other consideration and rules with other than the dictates of the Shari'a, this is a partial deviation, not the rejection of the Shari'a or the replacing of it with something else. It does not affect the general overarching principles of law mentioned above. The general principle remains that the ruler is under and bound by the Shari'a. He will face Allah with his sin of deviating from the truth in a particular incident, but he has not destroyed the entire structure by this sin.
As for secularism, in this case the final authority belongs to other than Allah and the Shari'a. It may be described as the "public interest" or "the will of the people" or other names and it is not bound by the shari'a. It is based solely on desires and inclinations or reasoning without the light of revelation - all of which has been called hawaa in the Qur'an. When new or difficult issues arise, consultation is directed to those trained in French Law or German Law or International Law and to commentaries on the fundamental documents of these disciplines. Such states have rejected the primacy and the authority of the shari'a altogether in all matters of law and the state and removed its authority from all affairs of public and private life.
In the first case, the criterion for measuring the justice and validity of a ruling, decision or policy is searching for the intention and ruling of Allah from the textual sources. As for the second case, the criterion for measuring the correctness of such actions is one's opinion of the "public interest" and the degree to which it is in harmony with the spirit and letter of the textual sources of the man-made body of law. In this society, ruling by Allah sent down is not only the norm, it is a criminal offense. So, for example, if a judge ruled for a thief's hand to be cut off, he would have broken the man-made law and be subject to criminal prosecution.
There is a clear difference between these two cases: in the first case the ruling of Allah is regarded as the truth and the right while in the second one it is something rejected and a criminal offense. In fact, secularism is diametrically opposed to the most fundamental principles of Islam, as we will see in the coming sections, insha Allah.
The Arabic word 'almaaniya or 'ilmaaniya is a modern term, unknown in earlier times. It first appeared in a French-Arabic dictionary by Luis Bachter printed in 1828. Subsequently, it appeared in an Arabic dictionary Al-Mu'jam Al-Waseet published in Cairo. Originally, the word was 'almaaniya which is derived from the work 'alam or "world". It was described in the Al-Mu'jam in 1960 in this way i.e., a "worldly" perspective as opposed to a "religious" or "superstitious" way of looking at the world.. In the 1985 edition, the word has changed to 'ilmaaniya which makes it a reference not to the "world", but to 'ilm or "knowledge" - and by that they mean modern experimental science and the creeds and beliefs which go with it.
The latest form of this word (which relates to "knowledge") contains a large element of error and deception. It is incorrect as a translation because the original word "secularism" in English has nothing to do with knowledge. It simply means the separation between "religious" and "temporal" issues in all areas of life especially law and government. This would be called laadeeniya or dunyawiya in Arabic. It is also hightly deceptive since relating this concept to "knowledge" conceals its true meaning and makes it seem like something positive. Similarly, Iblis has encouraged us to confuse one another by naming evil things with good-sounding names such as calling riba (interest) fa'ida (benefit) or calling scantily-dressed dancing women fann (art), etc. If called by their origina names, Muslims would instinctively understand their nature, so they must be disguised in this way to make them easy to swallow.
The true meaning of secularism is the separation between Islam and the state and legal system or more accurately, the separation of Islam from real life and relegating it to ritual aspects of worship and viewing it as a personal relationship between and individual and his Creator. Islam is then viewed as a mere inheritance or anthopological curiosity or relic.
There is no lawful but what Allah has called lawful and no forbidden but what Allah as forbidden and no din except the one prescribed by Allah and His Messenger (sas). Whoever makes lawful something agreed upon its prohibition in the shari'a or vice-versa or changes the shari'a or refuses to submit to ruling by it and seeking rulings from it has exited from Islam in the concensus of the Muslims. In the coming sections, we will detail how secularism negates the fundamentals of Islam insha Allah.