Sovereignty is ONLY For Allah
Allah, the Exalted and Majestic says in the Qur'an: "No! Truly by your Lord they will not believe until they appoint you to judge in the dispute which transpired amongst them, and then they do not entertain within themselves a doubt in what you decided, and they accept it a sincere acceptance." [4; v 65]
Hakem has narrated in his Mustadrak that the reason for the revelation of this verse was that a Jew and a hypocrite had a dispute with respect to a matter, and they took it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him), so he decided the matter in favour of the Jew; the Jew accepted the decision, but the hypocrite did not, and said: "We should take the matter to Abu Bakr". Abu Bakr reached the same decision as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him). The hypocrite rejected the decision and said: "We should go to Umar". The Jew complained about the hypocrite to Umar and said: "We went to Mohammad, and he decided in my favour, so this man rejected the decision, then we went to Abu Bakr, and he decided in my favour, and the hypocrite rejected the decision." Umar then drew his sword, and striked at the neck of the hypocrite, and said this is the judgement with respect to he who is not satisfied with the judgement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him). The Messenger of Allah permitted the slaying of this person. The person who on the surface professes Islam, but refuses to accept the judgement of the Messenger of Allah is not a Muslim, and his slaying is permitted.
The issue with which the quoted verse of the Qur'an deals is a crucially important issue in these times. It is the issue of the complete sovereignty of Allah. It is an issue of conviction directly linked to 'no god except Allah', and is not a personal legal issue at the discretion of the individual.
Judging according to what Allah has revealed is the proof in deed of 'no god except Allah, Mohammad is Messenger of Allah'. The martyr Sayyid Qutb (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "If we liken this religion to a piece of metal, the first face would have written on it 'no god except Allah', and on the other face 'judging is according to the law of Allah'. These are two faces of the same coin; they can not be disunited or separated."
The matter poses extreme danger as this faith is understood, as "no god except Allah" means to judge according to what Allah has revealed, and refusing to judge with what Allah has revealed places other gods in the life of the person, and violently snatches at the right of Allah - Exalted and Elevated - to regulate the life of humanity. This leads to some of the people declaring themselves gods over others.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) explained this to 'Adiie the son of Hatem when he came to him wearing a crucifix. The Messenger (peace and blessings upon him) told him to cast off the symbol of pagan idolatry, thus the Messenger (peace and blessings upon him) regarded the cross as an idol, and then recited to 'Adiie: "They took their rabbis and monks as lords to the exclusion of Allah, as they also took the Christ the son of Mary, and they were not commanded but to serve Allah, One God, there is no god except Him Glorified and Exalted is he above what they associate." [9; v31]
'Adiie was amazed at this, as the idea of servitude and worship which developed in his mind was contrary to this. In his mind worship is bowing and prostrations, the raising of banners, and the offering of sacrifice. So he said to the Messenger of Allah: "We did not worship them." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) said: "yes indeed; they made permitted for them what is not permissible, and made impermissible what is permissible, so they followed them, and that is their worship."
Worship therefore entails laws and regulations, injunctions and permissions; thus, when these laws and regulations are from Allah, then worship and servitude is being offered to Allah, but if they are from the people, then this worship and servitude is to the people, even if the people were to observe their fasts, prayers, and all the other religious obligations.
All Islamic scholars are agreed that the person who permits what is impermissible has rejected Islam, and the person who made permissible what is impermissible has also rejected Islam. The man- imposed laws are nothing but making permissible what is impermissible, allowing and forbidding at their own discretion. "Say: 'do you see what Allah as sent down to you of bounties, and you made of it permissible and impermissible' say: ' Has Allah permitted you, or are you lying concerning Allah'" [10;v 59].
So has Allah permitted for you to legislate for people, or is it clear transgression?!
Allah - Exalted and Elevated - completed the preceding verse with: "And they were not commanded except to worship a solitary God ..." [9; v31]. Taking directions and laws from anyone other than Allah contradicts monotheism, as Allah - Exalted and Elevated - is the solitary Law-Maker and He is the True Judge. "There is no god except Him, Exalted is He above what they associate." [9; v 31]. Allah the Elevated is the Judge, His book is the authority, and people have no duty when it comes to the Qur'an and Sunnah, except to fulfil their requirements, and obey. Therefore, dealing based on the words of the people willingly and obediently is a tearing away of the necklace of Islam from the necks. Any who is satisfied with turning their back on the Words of Allah, and taking as sovereign the words of any other, or to pledge submission to the words of any person has no part in the Islamic way of life. This would without doubt or suspicion be rejection.
Now to look around us, we would see the astonishing and amazing in the land which was dominated by Islam. We would see the vast majority of its children in one of two situations: one is a person who submits to false gods, and has put aside submission to the divine laws, not understanding the reality of this tragedy through which a person can leave the way of life set by Allah the Exalted and Elevated; and the other, whilst also submitting to false gods, declares enmity to this way of life openly, even if his birth and birthplace both bear witness of this person's Islamic origin.
This dangerous issue had found its way to the Muslims whilst they were in a distracted state, and whilst the Islamic authorities and the Muslim Imams were absent. It came after the Jews succeeded in their political schemes to cause the downfall of the Sultan AbdulHameed, an effort which received the co-operation of many secret organisations raising different banners and ideals.
It is within our right to declare at this point: any who refuse to refer matters to the judgement of Allah the Exalted, or prefer any other human made laws to the laws of Allah , or who associate with the laws of Allah human made laws, and every person who willingly exchanges the law of Allah with another law has exited from the bounds of this religion, dispersed the Islamic necklace from his neck, and has become satisfied to leave this faith as a rejecter.
Sayyid Qutb says: "Truly those who declare the worshipper of idols as an associator, and do not declare the one who takes laws from other than Allah as an associator, and shy away from the first and not from the other ... Truly these have not read the Qur'an, and do not know the nature of this faith ... Let them read the Qur'an as revealed by Allah the Exalted and Elevated, and take the words of Allah with conviction: "And if you obey them you would be associators." [6; v 121]
So Judging should be according to what has been revealed by Allah, 'The Judge' being one of His names and His attributes. The person who chooses to adjudicate with his or her own fancies is proclaiming godhood, and affirming this with behaviour, even if this person does not declare this with words. It is the same whether this is done by one class of people, the whole people, or one group, party, or organisation, or even an individual. The result is one, and it is the usurpation of the rights of Allah in legislating for the people; this is association which takes its practitioners outside the Islamic faith. Evil is evil regardless of whether it is Arabic or American as it is one ideology. Those who legislate with anything other than what Allah has decreed are classified as rejectors regardless of whether they pray, fast, and fulfil all the Islamic practices. So the law which governs chastity, blood, and money, identifies the nationality of the ruler as one of rejection or faith. He who obeys the human-made regulations and laws accepting these wholeheartedly is practising associationism which takes its practitioner outside the Islamic faith.