Kitaab At-Tawheed, Chapter: 37

Allah's Words: " Do You Not See Those Who Claim That They Believe in What Was Revealed to You and to Those Before You? They Wish to Resort to At-Taaghoot for Judgement..."

" Do you not see those who claim that they believe in what was revealed to you and to those before you? They wish to resort to At-Taaghoot for judgement" (Qur'an 4:60)

In this verse, Allah , Most High, rebukes those hypocrites who pretend to believe in the Revelations sent down to the Messengers, but then make their hypocrisy clear by referring their disputes for judgement to other than Allah and His Messenger , contradicting their claims of faith, for they were ordered in the Last Revelation to reject the judgement of all, save Allah and His Messenger ; but Satan - may Allah curse him - makes their deviation from the Law of Allah in favour of the opinions of men who seem attractive to them, in order to lure them to that which is false and to lead them far astray from the Straight Path, and then he abandons them to their fate.

Benefits Derived From This Verse

 

1. That the Books of Allah are revealed, not created.

2. The forbiddance of seeking judgement from other than the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.

3. That seeking judgement from other than the Law of Allah is a sign of hypocrisy in belief.

4. That whoever judged by other than what Allah has revealed, is a Taaghoot - This includes all those who judge by man-made laws in contradiction to the Qur'an and Sunnah.

5. That the cause of the Muslims' problems and hardships in this day and age is their shunning Allah's Law.

6. The forbiddance of separating the Religion from all matters of life, including politics and law.

That it proves the hypocrisy of those who seek judgement from other than Allah and His Messenger .

That the verse rejects those who do not fulfill the obligations of the shahaadatain: Laa ilaaha illallaah, Muhammadur-Rasoolullaah, which include faith in the judgement of Allah's Messenger and action in accordance with it.

..ooOOoo..

Allah, says:

 

" And do no mischief on the earth after it has been set in order, but call on Him with fear and longing for the Mercy of Allah is [always] near to those who do righteous deeds" (Qur'an 7:56)

Islam came to set the world and Allah's slaves to rights; for this reason, Allah , Most Glorified, Most High, forbids in this verse all manner of corruption on the earth and wanton destruction, such as cutting down trees, vandalising private property etc. or violating the rights of others, such as murder, theft, rape etc. after Allah has set it in order by sending Messengers with Revealed Books full of wisdom, knowledge and guidance for mankind and the jinn. Then Allah commands us to turn to Him in supplication in fear of His punishment, but in hope of His Mercy; so that the worshiper might not lose hope if his prayer is not immediately answered, He , Most High, informs us that His Mercy is near to the Believers, who do righteous deeds in the best way, in the knowledge that though they do not see Allah , He is always watching them.

Benefits Derived From This Verse

 

1. The forbiddance of spreading all manner of corruption on the earth, by any means whatsoever.

2. That every kind of righteousness and goodness in the earth is the result of obedience to Allah and His Messenger.

That the verse forbids spreading corruption on the earth, which includes seeking the judgement of other than Allah and His Messenger .

Relevance of This Verse to the Subject of Tawheed

That it includes a prohibition of seeking judgement from other than Allah and His Messenger , because this conflicts with the testimony of the Muslim: Laa ilaaha illallaah, Muhammadur-Rasoolullaah (i.e. none is worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah saas ).

..ooOOoo..

Allah , says:

 

" And when it is said to them: "Do not make mischief in the earth," they say: "We are only peace-makers." Of a surety, they are the mischief-makers, but their [hearts] understand not" (Qur'an 2:11-12)

Allah , Most Glorified, Most High, makes clear in these verses, the depth of wickedness and foolishness of the hypocrites, and that when it is requested of them that they cease their disobedience and their attempts to divide the Muslims, they reply that they want only to achieve peace between the Muslims and the People of the Book by their actions. But Allah makes plain to us in the second verse, that they, themselves are the cause of the corruption and mischief and that the reason for their willful deception and misguidance is their ignorance of the fact that Allah will send down revelation to His Prophet , exposing them and revealing their hypocrisy.

Benefits Derived From These Verses

 

1. That disobedience causes corruption in the earth.

2. The danger of the hypocrites who dwell among the Muslims.

3. The prohibition of acting upon opinion when it contradicts with the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

4. That attempting to justify acts of disobedience is an attribute of the hypocrites.

That they prove the forbiddance of spreading corruption in the earth, which includes seeking judgement of other than Allah's Revelation.

Relevance of These Verses to the Subject of Tawheed

That they prove the forbiddance of abandoning the Judgement of Allah and accepting the judgement of others.

 

..ooOOoo..

" Do they then seek a judgement from the [days of the] Jahiliyyah? But who, for a people who have firm faith, can give better judgement than Allah?" (Qur'an 5:50)

In this verse, Allah , Most High, rebukes those who abandon the Judgement of Allah , whose wisdom, justice and mercy are complete and incomparable, in favour of the flawed, ignorant, unjust, vain judgements of His creatures. Then He , Most Glorified, Most High, confirms, a second time, that His Judgement is better and wiser than all other judgements, for He is the Creator of mankind and therefore, knows best what is beneficial for them and what is harmful to them; and there is general agreement amongst Muslim scholars that the Muslims will never be free from the serious problems which beset them unless and until they return to the teachings of Islam. The truth of this is apparent when one compares the situation of Islam's enemies to that of the Muslims.

Benefits Derived From This Verse

 

1. That every judgement which does not come from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger is of the Jahiliyyah.

2. The falseness of every judgement which does not come from Allah's Law.

3. The forbiddance of divorcing the Religion from the affairs of government.

That the verse proves the prohibition of abandoning the Judgement of Allah in favour of the judgement of others.

Relevance of This Verse to the Subject of Tawheed

That it proves the forbiddance of abandoning the Judgement of Allah in favour of that of others, for this constitutes a negation of the shahaadah: Laa ilaaha illallaah.

..ooOOoo..

It is reported on the authority of `Abdullaah Ibn `Amr (ra) that the Messenger of Allah said:

 

"None of you (truly) believes until his desires are in accordance with that which I have brought." (Narrated by An-Nawawi, who graded it as Hasan in his book, Al-Hujjah)

Allah's Messenger informs us in this Hadith that none will achieve the necessary complete faith unless and until his words and deeds and his beliefs are in accordance with the Prophetic Sunnah.

Benefits Derived From This Hadith

 

1. The incompleteness of faith of those, whose desires conflict with that, which Allah and His Messenger love.

2. The forbiddance of judging by other than that, which Allah has revealed.

3. The invalidity of every religious deed, which does not conform to Islamic Law.

4. That complete obedience is a part of complete faith.

That the Hadith proves the forbiddance of judging by other than Allah's Law.

That it proves the prohibition of judging by other than that which Allah's Messenger has brought, because this invalidates the shahaadataan: Laa ilaaha illallaah, Muhammadur-Rasoolullaah.

..ooOOoo..

Ash-Sha'abi said: "A dispute took place between a man from among the hypocrites and a man from among the Jews; and so the Jew said: "Let us seek judgement from Muhammad," for he knew that He did not accept bribes. But the hypocrite said: "Let us seek judgement from the Jews," for he knew that they accepted bribes. And so both of them agreed to take their case to a fortune-teller in Juhainah and seek his judgement; then Allah revealed:

 

" Do you not see [oh, Muhammad,] those who claim to have faith in what was revealed to you and to those before you? They desire to resort for judgement to At-Taaghoot" (Qur'an 4:60)

Ash-Sha'abi (ra) informs us in this narration that a dispute took place between a man from among the hypocrites (i.e. those who outwardly affected to have embraced Islam, while retaining disbelief in their hearts) and a man from among the Jews of Madinah; and so the Jew, knowing of the Messenger of Allah's impartiality, justice, honesty and even-handedness, suggested that they refer their dispute to him . The hypocrite, also knowing this, and fearing it, suggested that instead, they refer their matter to the Jews, whom he knew could be bribed. In the end, they both agreed to refer their case to a fortune-teller from the village of Juhainah, at which Allah revealed to His Messenger the above verse which exposed their wickedness, disgrace and baseless to the world until the Day of Resurrection.

Benefits Derived From This Narration

 

1. The miracle of the Prophet, that even his enemies testified to his honesty and justice.

2. The forbiddance of giving or accepting bribes.

3. That one of the signs of hypocrisy is seeking judgement from other than Allah's Law.

4. That one of the characteristics of the Jews is their acceptance of bribery.

That it proves the forbiddance of seeking judgement from other than Allah and His Messenger .

Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of Tawheed

That it proves the hypocrisy of those who claim to believe in Allah and His Messenger , yet seek judgement from others, for this is a negation of the shahadataan.

..ooOOoo..

It was also said that this verse was revealed with respect to two men who became involved in a dispute; one of them said: "Let us raise the matter with the Prophet ," while the other said: "(let us go) to Ka'ab Ibn Al-Ashraf." Then they went to `Umar (ra) and one of them informed him of what had happened. He (ra) then said to the one who had refused the judgement of the Messenger of Allah : "Is it so?" He replied: "Yes," upon which, `Umar struck him with his sword and killed him.

The narrator informs us in this account that the Words of Allah , Most High:

 

" Do you not see [oh, Muhammad] those who claim to have faith in what was revealed to you and to those before you? They desire to resort for judgement to At-Taaghoot" (Qur'an 4:60)

Were revealed concerning two men, one of them a Jew and the other a hypocrite, who fell into a dispute. The Jew suggested that they refer their dispute to the Messenger of Allah because of his well-known sense of justice and fair play and his honesty; but the hypocrite suggested that they go instead to Ka'ab Ibn Al-Ashraf, the Jew, because he knew that the Jews accepted bribes. In the end, they agreed to seek judgement from `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (ra), but when `Umar heard that the hypocrite had rejected the judgement of Allah's Messenger , he slew him with his sword.

Benefits Derived From This Narration

 

1. The miracle of the Prophet, about whose honesty and fairness, even his enemies testified.

2. That calling for judgement from other than the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger is a sign of hypocrisy.

3. The obligation to kill whoever cast aspersions upon the judgement of the Prophet or his Religion.

4. The obligation to feel anger for Allah , over one who profanes Him, His Religion or His Prophets.

5. The obligation to rebuke those who profane Islam.¹

Relevance of This Narration to the Subject of the Chapter

That it proves the prohibition of seeking judgement from other than the Messenger of Allah .

That the narration forbids seeking judgement from other than Allah's Messenger because doing so invalidates the shahadataan.

Footnotes

1. It must not be understood from this narration that it is the right of every Muslim in an Islamic State to punish the sinner or the disbeliever. The position of 'Umar (ra) due to his status as one of the foremost Companions and his great knowledge and wisdom is not to be compared to that of any Muslim today. Were it to be permitted for every Muslim to take the law into his own hands, the situation in Muslim societies would rapidly descend into chaos.