The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

Fourth: Whoever believes that any guidance is more perfect than the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ, or that any ruling is better than his ruling—such as the one who prefers the judgments of the tawāghīt (false authorities) to his judgments—has disbelieved.

Concerning his words, “such as the one who prefers the judgments of the tawāghīt,” the tawāghīt are those who judge between people on the basis of customs and traditions they call al-sulūm. Every judgment that contradicts the Law of Allah is invalid. Included in this are the statutes that oppose the Law of Allah and the religion with which He sent His messengers; such statutes are pagan, tāghūtī rulings. Allah the Exalted says: “Have you not seen those who claim to believe in what has been revealed to you and to those before you, yet they wish to seek judgment from the tāghūt, although they were commanded to reject it? And Satan desires to lead them far astray.” (al-Nisāʾ 4:60). He also says: “Is it the judgment of the age of ignorance that they seek? Who is better than Allah in judgment for a people who are certain?” (al-Māʾidah 5:50). Thus, whoever prefers such rulings to the ruling of Allah and His Messenger, or regards them as equal, or deems it permissible to judge by them—even while acknowledging that the ruling of Allah and His Messenger is superior—has, by definition, fallen into disbelief.

As for hady (guidance), it means conduct and way of life. Those who claim that anyone’s guidance is more perfect than that of the Messenger ﷺ have uttered something that nullifies the testimony that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, for this testimony requires belief that he is truly Allah’s Messenger, that what he brought is from Allah, that he is the Messenger of Allah to all people, and that he