you are indeed idolaters ⦗1⦘.”
Allah has denied the reality of faith to anyone who seeks judgment from other than His law. He, exalted be He, says, “Have you not seen those who claim that they believe in what was sent down to you and what was sent down before you, yet they wish to seek judgment from the ṭāghūt, though they were commanded to reject it …” until His words, “…But no—by your Lord! They will not believe until they make you the judge in all that they dispute among themselves, then find within themselves no discomfort concerning what you have decided and submit with complete submission” ⦗2⦘.
Whoever calls for the adoption of man-made statutes has set up a partner with Allah in obedience and legislation. And whoever rules by anything other than what Allah has revealed—regarding it as better than, equal to, or even merely permissible alongside what Allah has revealed—is a disbeliever in Allah, even if he claims to be a believer. Allah censures those who wish to take their disputes to a law other than His and rejects their claim to faith; the phrase “they claim” in the verse inherently negates their belief, for this expression is normally used of someone whose assertion is false. Moreover, adjudicating by secular laws is adjudicating by the ṭāghūt, whereas Allah has commanded that the ṭāghūt be rejected and has made this rejection a pillar of tawḥīd (monotheism). He says, “Whoever rejects the ṭāghūt and believes in Allah has grasped the firmest handhold” ⦗3⦘. Thus anyone who rules by such statutes is no monotheist, for he has ascribed to Allah a partner in legislation and obedience, has failed to disavow the ṭāghūt he was commanded to reject, and has in fact obeyed Satan, as Allah says, “And Satan desires to lead them far astray” ⦗4⦘.
Allah has also informed us that when the hypocrites are summoned to accept the judgment of Allah’s revelation they refuse and turn away. He, Most High, says, “And when it is said to them, ‘Come to what Allah has revealed and to the Messenger,’ you see the hypocrites turning away from you in aversion” ⦗5⦘. He further tells us that they regard corruption as reform because their innate nature has been overturned and their hearts corrupted. He says, “And when it is said to them, ‘Do not spread corruption on the earth,’ they say, ‘We are only reformers.’ Unquestionably, it is they who are the—”