Q&A: A Question on Democracy | Sheikh Ata� Abu Rashtah

The following is the translation of an Arabic Q&A from the website of the noble mujtahid and mufassir Sheikh `Ata� Ibn Khalil Abu Rashtah (Allah preserve him).

Question:

Dangerous concepts as have penetrated our Ummah today and false beliefs alien to our pure religion have assaulted and attacked our creed from all directions and one of these dangerous concepts is �Democracy�. A serious problem for us is that some of the Muslims of Indonesia allege that Democracy is from Islam and use evidences from the Qur�an and Sunnahto justify this false concept.

1. Shaykh, what is your opinion regarding Democracy?
2. How do we rid ourselves of this problem?
3. What is your view o Shaykh? I request advice from you regarding this issue.

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Answer:

Wa `alaykum al-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

By �democracy� is meant �sovereignty to the people� (al-siyadah li�l-sha`b) which is to legislate with something other than with what Allah legislates. In other words, it means to make something either permissible (halal) or impermissible (haram) through other than Allah. Allah � glory be to He! � says: {and the rule (hukm) belongs to Allah}.[1] And in the noble hadithwhich is mentioned by al-Tabarani in his [al-Mu`jam] al-Kabir from `Adi b. Hatim who said: �I came to the Prophet (saw) and around my neck was a cross made of gold. [The Prophet] said to me: �O `Adi! Discard that idol from your neck!� So I discarded it. After having done that, he [saw] recited the following verse from surat al-Bara�ah[2]: {they took their priests and their rabbis as lords instead of Allah}.[3] I asked: O Messenger of Allah, we don�t worship them and [The Prophet] replied: �but do they not make impermissible what Allah has made permissible and do they not make permissible what Allah has made impermissible and you do that?� I replied: �yes� and he said: �then that it is [a form] worshipping them� � so legislating through other than Allah is a major sin. So, Democracy in this sense is a system of kufr as it gives the right of legislation to human beings and not the Lord of human beings.

In another sense, democracy refers to the four freedoms: freedom of belief, freedom of thought, freedom of ownership and freedom of personality. This implies that a person can do whatever they want. It would also mean a person can change their religion whenever they want. It also means to express any view one pleases even if it means blaspheming�it means owning both lawful and unlawful things. It means committing unlawful sexual relations (zina) as along as it is consensual. All these are prohibited matters in Islam. Apostasy is prohibited,zina is prohibited, unlawful means of ownership is prohibited and cursing and blaspheming is also prohibited. Therefore, democracy in this sense of �freedoms� (al-hurriyyat) is a system ofkufr because it is tantamount to abandoning the Shariah rulings. There is a book called al-Dimuqratiyyah: Nizam al-Kufr available from the Party�s website in your country which details how democracy is a system of kufr.

Finally, I impart you my greetings, pray for you that Allah grants you help and ability regarding what you have written as well as goof for Islam and the Muslims.

Your brother, `Ata b. Khalil, Abu Rashta.

[End].

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[1] Q. 6:57.

[2] �al-bara�ah� is another name from surat al-Tawbah.