—the core meaning of the testimony that there is no god but Allah.(1) One of the implications of that testimony is that the prerogative to declare things lawful or unlawful belongs exclusively to Him, exalted is He. If this verdict applies to those who obey scholars and devout worshippers in permitting and prohibiting matters that conflict with Allah’s law—even though those scholars are nearer to knowledge and piety, and their mistake may stem from an earnest ijtihād for which they will still be rewarded—then what of the person who submits to man-made statutes fashioned by unbelievers and atheists, imports them into Muslim lands, and judges between people by them? There is no power nor might except with Allah.

Such a person has indeed taken the disbelievers as lords besides Allah: they legislate for him, make the forbidden lawful, and arbitrate among humankind.