—details laid down by the ruler, and they contain no element of sin. Whoever violates them, therefore, is both guilty and sinful. Take, for example, driving on the left or on the right, using a specified lane, or stopping when the light is red—all such rules must be observed. If the signal is red you are required to stop. Do not protest, “Allah never ordered this.” Your rulers have organised traffic and told you to follow it; if you run the light you are a sinner, for you have effectively said to your Lord, “I will neither listen nor obey”—Allah forbid.

Allah says: “O you who believe, obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you” (Q 4:59). The same applies at intersections: it is well known that the vehicle on the main road has the right of way. If you are on a side road and see someone coming on the main road, do not proceed, because the system forbids it.

The very same principle governs the regulations of the governorship, the judiciary, and every other system that does not contradict the Sharia: we must obey the rulers in all of them. Without this, matters would descend into chaos—everyone would have an opinion, everyone would rule as he wished, and the rulers would become meaningless, princes without power and judges without judgment.

A person, then, is obliged to comply with the rulers’ directives except where they entail disobedience to Allah. If they were to say to us, for example, “Do not go to the mosques; do not pray the Friday prayer; do not pray in congregation,” we would answer, “There is neither hearing nor obedience.” If they said, “Wrong people in some matter,” we would likewise reply, “There is neither hearing nor obedience.” Everything that Allah has commanded or