a compendium of rulings that he borrowed from a variety of religious codes—Judaism, Christianity, and even some aspects of the Islamic faith—together with many regulations that came solely from his own reasoning and desires. Among his descendants this code became a formal statute that they placed above the judgement of the Quran and the Sunnah. Whoever does that is a disbeliever who must be fought until he returns to the judgement of Allah and His Messenger, refusing to rule by anything else, whether in great matters or small… ” End of Ibn Kathir’s words.
Comparable to the Tatar code Ibn Kathir mentioned—and for which he ruled that substituting it for the Islamic Sharia constitutes disbelief—are the modern, man-made statutes now adopted in many countries as primary sources of legislation, for whose sake the Sharia has been set aside, except for what they label “personal-status” issues.
The evidence that anyone who behaves this way is a disbeliever appears in many verses, among them: “Whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed—it is they who are the disbelievers.” ⦗1⦘ “But no, by your Lord, they will not truly believe until they make you the judge in all disputes among them.” ⦗2⦘ and His words: “Do you then believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part? The reward for those of you who do so is nothing but disgrace in this worldly life; and on the Day of Resurrection they will be returned to the most severe punishment. Allah is not unaware of what you do.” ⦗3⦘
As stated earlier, the Sharia must be upheld as a creed and a religion by which one worships Allah, not merely as a quest for justice.
Moreover, a servant of Allah must accept His judgement—whether it favors him or is against him, whether it agrees with his personal desires or not. Allah says, “But no, by your Lord, they will not truly believe until they make you the judge regarding whatever disputes arise among them, then find within themselves no discomfort concerning what you have decided, and submit in full submission.” ⦗4⦘ He also says, “It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, once Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to have any choice in their affair.” ⦗5⦘ And He, exalted be He, says, “If they do not respond to you…”