Are the verses related to those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed about unbelievers?

- Is Muslim’s Hudud 28 hadith sound (sahih)? If so, how should it be understood?
“If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.” (al-Maida, 5/44)
“And if any fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (No better than) wrong-doers.” (al-Maida, 5/45)
“If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel.” (al-Maida, 5/47)
- Regarding the reason for the revelation of those verses, the narration from Bara b. Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) is as follows: (I am not writing the details due to lack of space) After saying this, Bara b. Azib (ra) said: “All those verses were sent down about unbelievers.”

Dear Brother / Sister,

A narration found in Sahih Muslim is considered sound unless proven otherwise.

According to this sound narration, the reason for its revelation was the Jews’ incorrect attitudes and behaviors regarding stoning. It is also known that the terms “zalim (oppressor)” and “fasiq (evildoer)” refer to unbelievers.

Presumably, the question here refers to the situation of Muslim officials in secular regimes. It is a fact that there are those who see no problem in declaring them unbelievers.

- Naturally, according to the principle that “the specificity of the reason for revelation does not prevent the generality of the decree,” this decree may also apply to others. In that case, it would be useful to see what our scholars understood from the verse:

1) Tabari

“If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.” (al-Maida, 5/44)

In the interpretation of the verse above, scholars like Ata state that the unbelief mentioned in this verse is not an unbelief that excludes a person from Islam, but rather an unbelief of a degree below/outside it. Some scholars use the expression “kufrun duna kufr” (unbelief below unbelief) to express it while others use other expressions with the same meaning. (See Tabari, Razi, interpretation of the verse in question)

2) Regarding the issue, Ibn Abbas clarifies the phrase “kufr duna kufr” and says: “This (unbelief in the verse) is not the unbelief that people know. This unbelief is not the kind that causes one to exit the religion. This unbelief is something other than real unbelief.” The narration from Ibn Abbas is included in Hakim. Hakim declared this hadith to be sound; Dhahabi also agreed with him. (Hakim / Dhahabi, al-Mustadrak, 2/342)

3) Imam Maturidi explained the phrase “If any do fail to judge by what Allah hath revealed” in this verse, as “he who denies Allah’s judgment and does not consider it to be true...” (See Tafsirul-Maturidi, interpretation of the verse in question)

Samarqandi also understood this verse in this way and reported that Ibn Abbas also explained it in this way. (See Samarqandi, interpretation of the verse in question)

4) Fakhruddin Razi also mentioned various interpretations of this verse. He also included the Kharijites’ view, based on this verse, “If any do fail to judge by what Allah hath revealed, they are Unbelievers” that it means “anybody who does not judge by what Allah has revealed, that is, every sinner who disobeys Allah and is an unbeliever.”

In conclusion, Razi explains the interpretation, which he knew belonged to Ikrimah, he considers the most accurate among the 4-5 interpretations, as follows:

“Whoever does not affirm with his heart what Allah has revealed, but denies it with his tongue, is an unbeliever. However, whoever affirms with his heart and acknowledges with his tongue what Allah has revealed, but does not actually implement it, is regarded to have judged according to Allah’s decree (by affirming it with his heart), but has abandoned it in practice. Therefore, such a person is not included in the threat of the verse in question.” (Razi, interpretation of the verse in question)

5) Let us hear the explanation of the application of this verse in the question – in summary – from the mujaddid of the century, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi:

“In the final period of the Ottoman State, the drafting of a “Constitution” and the declaration of freedom, within the framework of certain reforms, was considered unbelief by some, and state officials were therefore declared unbelievers. The justification given by them was the following verse: was, “If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.” (Maide, 5/44). (See Asar-ı Bediiye, p. 463)

Disagreeing with this view, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi tried to clarify that the meaning of the verse should not be understood in that way, and stated the following regarding the issue:

“Some people accuse the Turks, who are considered the pillars of Islam after the Arabs, of aberration. Some of them even declare the lawmakers to be unbelievers. They consider the constitution established thirty years ago and the declaration of freedom to be unbelief, and they cite the verse, ‘If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers’ as evidence. Those poor souls do not know that the meaning of the phrase ‘If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed’ means ‘If any do fail to approve (the light of) what Allah hath revealed.’” (See Asar-ı Bediiye, 434)

6) We also approve our investigative scholars, that the word “ma” in the phrase “ma anzalallah” in the verse is a general expression, meaning everything that Allah has revealed...

Accordingly, if it is accepted that whoever does not do what Allah has revealed is an unbeliever, then it will also mean that whoever lies, backbites, hurts another’s feelings, or commits any other sin —even the smallest one— would be considered an unbeliever. This idea is incorrect according to the unanimous agreement of Sunni scholars.

Therefore, someone who accepts what Allah has revealed but does not practice it does not become an unbeliever, but rather a sinner.

Therefore, the meaning of the verse, “If any do fail to judge by what Allah hath revealed, they are Unbelievers” is, “If any do fail to accept what Allah has revealed, they are Unbelievers.”

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